7 Tips for Hard Candy Making Success | LorAnn Oils (2024)

FAQs

Why is my homemade hard candy not hardening? ›

In hard candy making, it is important to cook all the water out of the sugar/corn syrup/water mixture. If the sugar mixture is not cooked to the proper temperature (the hard-crack stage 300-310° F {149-154° C.} or if you are working in a kitchen with high humidity, chances are your candy is retaining too much moisture.

Spray your preferred hard candy molds and inside of the candy funnel using a cooking spray. This is part of the mold preparation process before using it.

At the heart of candy-making is sugar. The type, quantity, and crystalline structure of sugar used significantly impact a candy's taste and texture. Candy-making is a temperature-sensitive process. The way sugar is heated and cooled can result in a variety of sweets, from hard candies to gooey caramels.

In candy making, it's used to add sourness, similar to the way vinegar adds tang to salad dressings. The strength of citric acid is notable, so a little goes a long way. For candy making, it's available in a powdered form, which is what you'll be using to make your sour candies.

Cream of tartar can prevent your homemade hard candy, caramel, and toffee from forming a gritty texture due to sugar crystallization. Adding a pinch of cream of tartar to your sugar syrup will help break down the sugar molecules and stop them from crystalizing early on.

If the candy cools too quickly, set it on a saucepan over hot water to soften it, but if it gets sticky, return at once to the work counter. Toss in a small amount of powdered sugar to keep from sticking together. Repeat with the second pan of candy.

Commercial-grade gummy molds arecoated with Teflon to add an inherent resistance to sticking. Before depositing the slurry into the molds to cool down and dry, the molds should be chilled and sprayed with a food-safe oil such as MCT or sunflower to add further slickness.

For hard candy use, all molds need to be prepared before use. Hand wash all molds in warm, soapy water and dry thoroughly. After the molds have dried, lightly spray the mold cavities with cooking spray (we recommend PAM).

Top-selling chocolates and sweets. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are the No. 1 selling candy brand in the United States, consisting of white fudge, milk, or dark chocolate cups filled with peanut butter. They were invented by H.B. Reese after he founded the H. B. Reese Candy Company in 1923.

Provides Smooth Texture: Corn syrup helps to create a smooth and glossy texture in candies, ensuring that they are not grainy or gritty.

What does vinegar do to candy? ›

But acetic acid reacts only with certain kinds of substances—and sugar isn't one of them. In fact, candy might dissolve more slowly in vinegar, since the acetic acid molecules don't dissolve sugar as well as water does.

The addition of more liquid flavor lowers the glass transition temperature (Tg), making candies more susceptible to changes during storage, resulting in graining, taste loss, and cold flow. If there is more acid in hard candy, it will invert and become sticky. Check the acidity of the filling as well.

Because excessive softness in candy results from high relative humidity, cook hard candies, such as nut brittle, to 2 degrees higher than the temperature your recipe calls for.

When the weather is hot or humid, it may take longer for the candy to cool, or it can absorb excess moisture from the air, which might cause the sugar to crystallize or the texture to soften instead of becoming hard and crisp.

If there is more acid in hard candy, it will invert and become sticky. Check the acidity of the filling as well. Acids promote sucrose inversion, especially at high temperatures, and are added after cooking, along with flavorings.

If your candied coating isn't hardening, the candying mixture did not reach a high enough temperature. Allow your candying mixture to cook until it bubbles, thickens, and turns a rich golden color, sort of like caramel. Then, quickly turn off the heat so it doesn't burn.

The final texture of a candy will depend upon the sugar concentration which in turn depends upon the boiling temperature. Higher boiling temperatures result in higher sugar concentrations as more of the water evaporates from the mixture producing hard and brittle candies.