Content

• Ingredients
• Steps
• Method 1 of 4: Basic recipe
• Method 2 of 4: Fruit drops
• Method 3 of 4: Lollipops
• Method 4 of 4: Barley Sugar
• Tips
• Warnings
• What do you need

Old-fashioned lollipops, a delicacy known for many generations, remain popular today. Also known as hard candies or crunchy candies, old-fashioned hard candies are more suitable for sucking than chewing.The advantage of lollipops is that you can enjoy their taste for a long time, making them ideal treats for boosting energy on hiking, camping, outdoor activities, and more. What's more, eating a few hard candies can suppress the urge to eat a lot of gummies. This little trick will help you quench your cravings for sweets.

Best of all, the candy is surprisingly easy to make, provided you use the right ingredients and tools. Once you master the process of making candy, you will probably be inspired to make more and more batches of sweets. In this article, you will learn how to make simple caramel, fruit drops, lollipops, and old-fashioned barley sugar.

Ingredients

Basic recipe:

• 2 cups sugar
• 2/3 cup light corn syrup
• 3/4 cup hot water
• food colorings

Fruit drops':

• 450g / 1 lb sugar
• 100g / 4 oz glucose powder
• 5ml / 1 teaspoon cream tartar (potassium tartrate)
• A few drops of fruit extract (essence) or aromatic oil - try pear, strawberry, peach, apricot, orange, lemon, black currant, mango, etc.
• icing sugar (confectionery sugar), for rolling

Lollipops:

• 450g / 1 lb sugar
• 15ml / 1 teaspoon glucose powder
• 3 or 4 flavors and food colors (orange oil, lemon oil, raspberry flavor, peppermint oil, etc.)
• 150 ml (1/4 pint) water

Old fashioned barley sugar:

• 250g, 9 oz., 1 1/4 cups hulled barley
• 5 liters, 8 1/2 pints, 5 1/2 quarts of water
• 1 kg, 2 1/4 lbs, 4 cups sugar

Steps

Since making candy requires precision, it is important for you as a budding candy maker to understand a few basic points before attempting to make one of the following recipes.

1. 1 Read the entire recipe through to the end before making any candy. You need to be thoroughly aware of what is required in the recipe before you start, because caramel requires careful temperature control and precise timing of the recipe. Most importantly, remember that good caramel has nothing to do with burnt caramel!
2. 2 Check the temperature before making candy. They should not be cooked in very humid or rainy weather, or if a sudden change in weather is expected. Check the room temperature - it should be between 60ºF-68ºF (15.5ºC-20ºC) in low humidity.
   • If you are unable to cook at optimal temperature conditions, you can compensate by increasing the cooking temperature by 1–2 degrees above the recommended cooking temperature.
   • Altitude affects the result; if you live high above sea level, you may need to adjust according to the general guidelines for high altitude cooking.
3. 3 If you still don't have a high quality caramel thermometer, get one. You will achieve happiness by working with great precision in the preparation of lollipops - it is a science like art.
   • For more information on choosing a thermometer for caramel, see the Internet or on our website.
   • Never touch the caramel thermometer to the bottom of the pot. The pot should always be high enough so that the thermometer hanging on the edge of the pot does not reach the bottom.
4. 4 Do not alter the amount of ingredients in the recipe. They are accurate because they work. Even duplicating ingredients in a candy recipe can lead to failure.
5. 5 For the heat source, choose a burner that is wider than the pan in which you are cooking, this will provide you with even heating.
6. 6 You need to know how to test the hardness of a hard candy. This can be done manually or using a thermometer. It's easier to use a thermometer, but it's helpful to know how to check the temperature manually, which you can find out about before starting a recipe by reading one of our many recipe articles (or just online).

Method 1 of 4: Basic recipe

1. 1 Prepare the required ingredients and tools before you start. Let everything be in place.
2. 2 Combine sugar, corn syrup, and water in a large saucepan. Stir over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until sugar dissolves.Without interfering, let the mixture boil, this will happen within the next five minutes.
3. 3 When it boils, turn the temperature to “high”.
   • Before the mixture reaches 300ºF / 150ºC, add food coloring and flavoring. This action will allow the sugar and color to mix evenly during the boil.
4. 4 Monitor the thermometer until the temperature reaches exactly 300ºF / 150ºC. (If you don't have a caramel thermometer, you can fill a glass with very cold water and drip a drop of caramel liquid into it - if the drop solidifies into a ball and floats to the surface, then the caramel is ready for the next step.) Immediately remove the mixture from the 300ºF heat. / 150ºC, otherwise it will burn!
   • After that, the temperature will continue to rise, but this is no longer a problem because you removed the mixture from the 300ºF / 150ºC heat.
5. 5 While the mixture is still very hot, add a dash of aromatic oil and a few drops of your chosen food coloring or Kool Aid. Stir quickly.
   • Mix food colors for fun shades. Try adding the color after the flavor has been mixed and spoon 1-2 times for a whirlpool effect.
   • Mix flavors or Kool Aid or pour over dried fruit for added texture.
6. 6 Pour the melted sugar onto a greased baking sheet. Let it cool down. Smooth out the mixture until it's too cold.
   • It is not recommended to put the mixture in the refrigerator, as it hardens too quickly.
   • Try pouring the mixture into candy or mini cupcake tins to make them the same shape.
7. 7 After the mixture has cooled (30 minutes to 1 hour), break the caramel into several pieces.
8. 8 Dust with powdered sugar. Alternatively, do not dust them with anything - just leave them as they are, then they will look like colored glass.
   • The icing sugar keeps the candy from sticking together and turning them into one big lump. If you like powdered sugar-free colors, make sure the candies are kept out of touch on the baking paper.
9. 9 Storage as needed. These lollipops are great in paper bags or metal boxes as a fun treat or a quick satisfying sweet tooth.

Method 2 of 4: Fruit drops

Fruit drops are traditional candies that can be flavored as you wish.

1. 1 Prepare the required ingredients and tools before you start. Let everything be in place.
2. 2 Line a baking sheet with parchment or baking paper, or lightly brush.
3. 3 Place sugar, glucose in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and add 175ml / 6 fl.oz. water. Stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar dissolves.
4. 4 Put the saucepan on gas, bring to a boil. Cover, simmer for another 3 minutes.
5. 5 Remove the lid, simmer until the temperature reaches 154ºC / 310ºF, also known as the caramel stage.
6. 6 Add cream tartar and fruit extract (essence). Stir quickly.
7. 7 Pour the caramel syrup onto the prepared baking sheet.
8. 8 Wait until it has cooled down enough to be handled. With lightly oiled scissors, quickly cut the caramel into small pieces and use your hands to shape them into small balls.
9. 9 To finish, roll in powdered sugar.
10. 10 You can serve or hide. These lollipops look very cute when wrapped in clear cellophane or folded into a small candy box for gifts. If you are putting them in a metal can, line it with oiled paper.
11. 11 Store in an airtight container. Make sure your drops are protected from moisture, otherwise they will lose their attractiveness and become sticky.

Method 3 of 4: Lollipops

Some of the easiest old-fashioned candies to make, they make the perfect addition to your pastry repertoire. Lollipops are also known as "cockerels", "lollipops" and others.

1. 1 Prepare the required ingredients and tools before you start. Let everything be in place.
2. 2 Measure out the flavors. Depending on whether you are using 3 or 4 flavors, measure out a third or a quarter of the measuring container each.
3. 3 Add sugar and glucose to a saucepan. Add 150ml / 1/4 pint water. Heat gently and stir until sugar dissolves.
4. 4 Add the measured colors to the syrup. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 3 minutes.
5. 5 Remove lid, cook until temperature reaches 130ºC / 265ºF, hard ball stage.
6. 6 Remove the syrup from heat, quickly pour into three or four separate containers. Add a flavor of your choice to each.
7. 7 Pour small drops of syrup onto a parchment-lined baking sheet with a tablespoon or dessert spoon. Place a stick gently over each drop, covering it with a little syrup as needed.
8. 8 Let the candies cool and harden. Carefully remove them from the parchment and wrap them in clear cellophane or stick them into a lollipop holder. A treat or an original gift is ready.

Method 4 of 4: Barley Sugar

This traditional sweetness, thanks to the glucose it contains, is often used to "rejuvenate" when spending time outdoors or during emergencies.

1. 1 Prepare the required ingredients and tools before you start. Let everything be in place. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease a marble slab.
2. 2 Boil hulled barley in water for 5 hours. Boil it over low heat, remember that barley can easily burn, so keep an eye on the water level at all times.
3. 3 Drain off the liquid, it will look like white jelly. Then pour it into a saucepan.
4. 4 Add sugar to a saucepan and, stirring occasionally, simmer until completely dissolved.
5. 5 Boil the mixture until the temperature reaches 156ºC / 310ºF, caramel stage.
6. 6 Pour the caramel syrup onto a lined baking sheet or oiled marble slab.
7. 7 Once the barley sugar is cool enough to be handled, quickly cut it into long strips using lightly oiled scissors. After cutting, twist the strips into a traditional spiral shape.
8. 8 Leave the strips to cure. Then you can wrap them in clear cellophane or fold them into an airtight metal jar lined with oiled paper.

Tips

• Lollipops make great gifts. Fold in jars or plastic bags and decorate. Attach labels so the recipient knows what flavor to expect from them.
• The use of a candy thermometer is highly recommended. The candy will look more like "sugar" if you use traditional methods. In general, a thermometer greatly simplifies the process of making candy.
• If you don't have a thermometer, use a spoon to drip a small amount of syrup into the ice water every few minutes. When the drops turn into hard, non-sticky threads or balls that you can bend, remove the syrup from the heat. This is called the ball stage.
• If you like experimenting, try mixing flavors to get your own unique flavor.

Warnings

• Watch your teeth! It is always better to suck on hard candy than to chew or gnaw on it.
• Melted sugar is almost as hot as deep-fried fat. If it gets on your skin, it will stick and burn you for a few seconds. Children under 12 are not allowed to make old-fashioned lollipops. If you teach this to a child over 12 years old, be careful and monitor him constantly.
• Lollipops should be eaten in moderation and should not be included in the daily diet.

What do you need

The main method:

• Heavy Bottom Casserole
• Baking tray
• Thermometer

Fruit drops:

• Baking dish or tin 17.5cm, area 7 "
• Parchment (baking paper)
• Heavy Bottom Casserole
• Wooden spoon
• Kitchen scissors (lightly oiled)
• Clear cellophane or oiled paper lined gift box if you are making lollipops for a gift

Lollipops:

• Sticks
• Large baking sheet (or oiled marble board)
• Parchment (baking paper)
• Heavy Bottom Casserole
• Wooden spoon
• Measuring capacity
• Table or dessert spoon
• Cellophane or paper as wrappers

Barley sugar:

• Large heavy-bottomed saucepan
• Sieve or colander
• Wooden spoon
• Baking tray / baking dish and parchment (baking paper) or marble board and butter
• Slightly oiled kitchen scissors
• Cellophane or paper as wrappers