Great Recipe for Old-Fashioned Hard Candies
Hard Candy Recipe
These candies are delicious, yet the recipe is simple enough for children to help out. They make great gifts, as they can be placed in decorative boxes, or used as part of a hamper. Use suitable colours and flavours depending on the time of year.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Makes: 1 pound of candy
Useful Equipment
Ingredients
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
1 cup water
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon food colouring
1 teaspoon flavoured oil
Method
1. Cover a cookie sheet with an abundant helping of confectioner's sugar, then set it to one side.
2. Empty the light corn syrup, water, and sugar into a heavy-bottomed saucepan and mix them together until the sugar granules dissolve.
3. Bring the contents to the boil over a medium-high heat and cook until it reaches a temperature of 300 - 310°F (or 149 - 154°C), then take the pan from the heat and stir in the food colouring and flavoured oil.
4. As soon as possible, pour the mixture in a thin stream onto the prepared cookie sheet, and when the outside has hardened to a point where it will retain its shape, use scissors to cut the candy into bite-sized pieces, then let the candy cool and harden completely.
Food Colourings
Notes & Tips
-In step 2, you will know the blend is at the right temperature if a small drop of syrup placed in cold water forms hard, brittle threads.
-Store the candy at room temperature in an air-tight container.
-In step 4, you can use candy moulds instead of a cookie sheet if you wish.
-In step 4, you can wait until the candy has cooled completely and then break it up with your hands, rather than using scissors while the sweets are still cooling down.
-If you'd like the flavour in your candy to be extra strong, add another 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of flavoured oil.
-Experiment with different flavoured oils. Clove, peppermint, cinnamon, cherry, lemon, apple, etc, are all great.