#candy making

So it all started when I got a little bag of citric acid. I wasn't familir with what citric acid was; it looked like white sugar, and I assumed it was similar to lemon-flavoured sugar, and dropped a few spoons in a cake dough. It was not the right thing to do; the cake was nearly inedible. With my intense love of sour acidic food, I still ate it, with a lot of jam on top.

Afterwards I became obsessed with the citric acid. It was like a forbidden food; if I tried to eat it with a spoon it hurt my mouth, but the sour taste is irresistible. I realized because this had strong lemon flavouring, I could make lemon-flavoured sour candy with it.

I looked at many candy recipes on youtube; I noticed the most of them had the aid of a food thermometer but assumed I was just going to make the perfect candy without one because I'm just so whimsical and fun. The recipe for hard candy seems simple: boil some sugar with a spoon of vinegar and some water, when it boils to a certain temperature add flavour and coloring, then spill the mixture on parchment paper or silicone and wrangle it while it's hot into a twisted noodle you can cut into candy pieces with scissors. I would later realize that if I'm very quick, I can roll the candy pieces into little balls to make them look nice!

So I was off. I put in sugar, citric acid because it looked the same as sugar, vinegar and water into a pot, and the end result was so disgusting it was inedible. It tasted liked burned and charred sugar. Maybe there is something about a food thermometer, I thought, but immediately tried a second batch, which I lingered over attentively so it wouldn't catch a dark color. I pulled it off fire early and – it wouldn't set and make candy. It made a honey-like gel. Next few batches went exactly the same, either a burned mess or a honey-like liquid, that I still used to make lemony drinks.

After 4 failures I decided to look it up, and learned some valuable info: it's the citric acid that burns! You are supposed to be able to boil sugar until it goes dark caramel in color, without burning it, but citric acid will burn as soon as it's boiling temperature. I was supposed to add it after the boiling was over. I also realized that one of my mistakes was using a black pot, which didn't let me see the color of sugar at all, and without a thermometer, it was the only way to monitor the temperature.

So I picked out a nice metal pot, with a thick bottom, and this is the first time I actually took pictures. Look how pretty this processs is!

These also tasted like disgusting burnt mess. I put the citric acid in after turning the fire off, but because my pot had a thick bottom, it was still a very high temperature, and it burned instantly.

I was at this point, so sure that the next batch will be perfect, because what else could I possibly mess up. I had experience messing up in every single stage, I was an experienced loser, and I knew what to do – be very very careful not to burn it, but to get it to correct temperature so it still sets into hard candy. My next try was done so carefully. Get the pot off the fire before it boils, to make sure all sugar has melted perfectly before boiling so it doesn't crystalize. Watch the pot attentively without stirring. When the color starts to turn gold, turn the fire off. Wait until it stops boiling completely. Only then add citric acid and stir with the thinnest little stick (I used a chopstick) so the sugar doesn't crystalize.

I did everything right per say, but was so scared I'll burn it, I didn't put any vinegar in, and I only added a tiny bit of citric acid in, and the end result was... edible but not super tasty. It was the taste of melted sugar that someone rolled into a ball. Not super enticing to eat, but at least I could eat it. I technically had... candy.

(the honey gel failure and sugar tasting candy)

I waited a day before putting my foot down. I could make better candy. Now I had the final two pieces of info: a spoon of vinegar is absolutely necessary for the flavour, and you need a full teaspoon of citric acid to make the flavour good. I repeated the process above, this time adding things in the right quanitity. And:

These taste perfect! This is exactly what I wanted! I am absolutely thrilled. They are sour and lemony and delicious. I can't even taste the sugar. This was my 7th batch. I needed 7 tries to get it!! I would have been mortified about all the sugar I wasted, but it was all worth it. I can now make candy for life. The reason why this was so hard was just that I insisted on using citric acid as flavouring, if I had used a fruit extract I would have made it on my first or second try. If I got my hand on some extract, I could now make all kinds of flavoured candy, gift it to people, I could make lollipops!

I've finally done it!

I've been on a quest for the past month or so to make candy that looks like energon cubes, and I've finally made a batch that I think fits the bill!

These candies are a traditional Japanese candy called kohakutou, which have a crunchy crystal-like exterior covering a jelly-like interior. I thought they would be perfect for my energy cube project lol

This will be for 1 molds worth, double the recipe per mold needed.

3oz box of flavored jello.

5-6 tbsp of beef gelatin. (softness desired, more = harder)

1/2 cup non-carbonate liquid. (Water, juice, flavored syrup.

Citric acid powder. (brings out sour flavors & makes the gummy shelf stable.)

Optional: If using liquid, include 2 tbsp corn syrup. Do not use if using thick flavored liquids.

▪︎ Using a small sifter to break up lumps in the powders, sift all dry ingredients into a bowl & mix gently.

▪︎ Add liquid to small sauce pan but don't turn on the stove.

▪︎ Using a silicone whisk, stir thoroughly while slowly pouring in powder mix. Try not to take more than 2 minutes to do this.

▪︎ Let mix sit for 5-10 minutes.

▪︎ In the meantime, set up the molds securely with rubber bands & hold upright in stable cups. If using silicone mold trays, have a dropper ready for easy fill control. Silicone molds usually don't need lubricants, but if using non silicone molds, spray/wipe lightly with coconut oil. (Olive oil will be too greasy & other oils can change the flavor. Use an oil with no flavor or something fruit/nut derived.)

▪︎ After the cool mixture has sat for 5-10 minutes, turn the heat on med-low & keep gently stirring continuously. Heat & stir for 8-10 minutes / until all grit is dissolved & fluid looks uniformly smooth. (Do not whip mixture, you don't want air bubbles. Never let the mixture sit or get hot enough to bubble.)

▪︎ If adding corn syrup, flavor enhancers, or cbd oil, add it after everything else has dissolved, stirring well for 1 minute.

▪︎ Once the mix has fully dissolved, turn off the heat & immediately pour into molds. You can't let the mix sit, as it hardens fast.

▪︎ Immediately place in fridge & let stand minimum 1 hour. The larger the gummy, the longer it needs. Life-size dongs need 4 hours minimum to set.

▪︎ Gently pop out gummies & let sit on parchment paper or wire rack in well ventilated area for 4 - 48 hours. Cool, dry areas are best, but infront of an open window is good so long as no dirt blows in. You can also use a fan on low. Avoid direct sunlight. (Larger gummies need more time to dry.) Gummies should be dry to the touch & not have any sweat spots.

▪︎ Once dry, you can chose to store them as they are or roll them in a coating. The two coatings I know are 1:1 Corn Starch & Powdered Sugar, or 5:1 Sugar & Citric Acid. You can also roll the gummis in glitter sugar sprinkles, but be aware the color will leech onto the gummy. (If the sugar won't stick, very lightly wet the gummy with a mist of water or oil.)

▪︎ Let dry on parchment paper/wire rack for atleast 1 hour before storing in air tight container in a cool, dry place away from sunlight. Plastic or glass containers work, including mason jars. Ziplocks & plastic bags will not work, as they are not moisture tight over long periods. If storing gummies together, it's highly encouraged to coat them to avoid sticking together.

ID credit: 9685294947 on 小红书

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i'm really glad i had the foresight to make all that prickly pear jelly right before the storm hit! not because i think this disaster warrants nor is helped by 12 shelf-stable jars of jelly, but because the juice would've definitely gone bad otherwise ;o;

i kinda made a mess in the process but it was such a blast, and i got a perfect seal on every jar, all on my first shot! i'm really proud to have done all of this myself, from spotting the perfect cactus on the side of the road all the way to checking the seals on the jars. i can't count how many thorns i've picked out of my hands!!

i used the Sure-Jell recipe for nectarine jelly almost verbatim, with one important adjustment: peeling the prickly pears! to make them safe to peel, i first held them with some egg tongs over the flame of a burner on my gas stove and burned off all their thorns— any open flame, like a lighter or a handheld propane torch, should work too. the process of transporting them made them stab each other quite a bit, so i also had to use tweezers to pull some out of the skin.

once peeled, i mashed them into a pulp, boiled them, and strained out the juice according to the recipe and proceeded as normal. a full grocery bag of prickly pears translated into 4 cups of juice! since i picked two bags, i had enough fruit to make the recipe twice, giving me 6 full jars each time, with some juice still left over. and what's really fun is it turned out hot-hot-hot HOT pink— it looks like magenta printer ink once i spread it on bread!