Gumdrop Flop

Gummy candies are hard to make. Dang.

This is not what my gumdrops looked like...
this is how I feel about them :(

My attempt at gumdrops looks a little too similar to my attempt at gummy worms. See Kelso vs Gummy Worm Round 1. They aren't QUITE as tough, but they taste about the same...bad!  haha, I guess I just need to keep trying right? If anyone has any good recipes for good gumdrops or gummy worms, please let me know!

How it started...
not looking good even in the beginning!

I had to move my tinfoil to a smaller pan after
I poured the "gumdrops" in so it looks kinda ghetto

VERY rubbery something or other

My gumdrop floppy

So I can add this project as another fail. Although, I did learn that you should dissolve sugar and gelatin separately, and that gelatin may be one of the nastiest smelling ingredients ever. I worked on two projects today--gumdrops (smelly gelatin) and painting some chairs for my porch (smelly spray paint). So I am probably a couple different kinds of high while typing this...haha 


At least one of my projects turned out okay!

My freshly painted green chairs! :)
Cute, despite the rainy weather here-
someday we'll use them in the sunshine hopefully!

Have a great Memorial Day weekend everyone!!

Candy Hunt

So I know this post is a little delayed, but I had to share what Matt did for my birthday (which happened to fall on Easter this year). I turned 24 on April 24th so it was my "Golden Birthday" even! Anyways, Matt spent the afternoon hiding candy filled eggs all around our house. It was a lot of fun, and it brought back lots of memories of Easter Egg Hunts as a child--followed by spreading all my goods all around the living room floor. Love it :)

This is all the candy I got for my birthday--AWESOME!!!

Lemonheads

I finally found & purchased one of the most vital ingredients in almost every sour candy-Citric Acid. (I found it at a kitchen supply store in the mall quite randomly after looking everywhere in Vermillion!) The label on my bottle says that:

"Citric Acid is a natural fruit acid with a strong, tart taste often used as a flavoring agent for foods or beverages. Used to enhance fruit flavors and as an antioxident to control discoloration of fruits."

It's also used to make candy delicious!!!


Acid drops or boiled sweets in Great Britain are one of those delicious treats! Drop candies were one of the first candies made by boiling sugar. Confectioners then learned that if you add acid, tartar, or fruit juice to the candies the sugar doesn't crystalize and thus hard candies came along.

Acid Drops (Lemon Drops)


1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tarter
2 teaspoons citric acid (crystals or powder)
1/2 teaspoons lemon extract
Yellow food coloring
Sherbert Powder (see recipe below)

Ready to go!

1. Coat a baking pan with cooking spray. Lightly spray a pair of kitchen shears.


2. Combine sugar, cream of tartar, & 1/2 cup water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.


3. Continue cooking until the mixture reaches 300 degrees (hard crack stage). Immediately remove saucepan from heat.

Just making candy

4. Pour candy over the baking pan. Sprinkle the citric acid, lemon extract, & food coloring over the candy. Using a metal spatula or a bench scraper (don't know what that is?? haha), turn the mass in on itself until the citric acid and coloring have been distributed evenly.


5. Let the candy rest until it is cool enough to handle, but do not let is harden completely.


6. Roll the candy into long ropes. Cut the ropes into small pieces and roll them in the sherbert powder to coat before letting them fully harden on a clean baking sheet.

Folding in the citric acid, flavoring, & coloring

A lump of delicious

Candy ropes

Lemonhead Squares

Finished product dipped in the sherbert powder

Sherbert Powder


4 tablespoons of powdered sugar (sifted)
2 tablespoons citric acid (crystals or powdered)
1 tablespoon baking soda


1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until very fine.


2. Pour into a clean, dry container and enjoy!


Sherbert powder is awesome. I love, love sugary, sweet, & sour candies and sherbert powder can make anything into that. When exposed to moisture, it dissolves and begins to fizz and bubble. It's similar to Pop Rocks candy, but without the "pop" which is created with carbonation. You can add sherbert powder to any dessert or drink to add some kick, or you can eat it plain, like Pixy Stix. Matt likes to challenge people who stop by our house to take a lick of it without making a face. If they pass, he moves on to straight citric acid, which, if you can eat that straight without making a face, you have no taste buds!! (Our friend Sanger for example who claims he was the champion of eating sour WarHeads candy growing up without even flinching...haha)


These candies are surprisingly simple to make and don't make too big of a mess! The only thing to beware of is that once the mixture is cool enough to handle, there is a small timeframe where you can form your candies into shapes. I got to roll about half of the lemonheads into "lemon" shapes, but the rest stayed in the square shape from cutting them up. 

Strawberry Acid Drops
...that just doesn't sound good--I'm up for suggestions
on a good name for this treat

These were so easy and delicious that I immediately wanted to try them again in a different flavor, so I did sour strawberry and they turned out great. You just have to remember to let the candies harden completely before storing them away so they don't all stick to each other in a big ol' ball of sour.


My first hard candy, and it was a great success! :) 

I love candy!!

Candy & Me

This is a neat book by Hillary Liftin that I first read as a freshman in college. It reminded me to always keep my passion for candy & to not be ashamed of my own candy consumption. Written with refreshing humor, it recounts how her sweet tooth helped her through many life milestones. To this day, everytime I work out (rarely! & mainly on my Wii...hah!) I count my calories in candy bar increments--200 calories, okay, I can go home and eat a Kit Kat now!! Great read for any candy lover!

Check out the full synopsis on kobobooks.com where you can buy and read the book online.

Shoot the Rainbow

Today I took a new spin on candy and tried a candy drink.  I found this recipe on www.stumbleupon.com (another great time wasting site with lots of interesting info). I know I've told you about how I've enjoyed my fair share of Ski-beers (beer with Skittles) but this recipe takes it a bit further and mixes in vodka! Could be dangerous...

"Infused" Skittles Vodka

Here's my process:


Skittles Vodka
2 - 1lb bags of original Skittles
1.75 liters vodka (don't go for the cheap stuff though)
coffee filters
5 empty bottles
---don't worry, you can eat the extra Skittles and drink the extra vodka later! ;)

Separating the Skittles
I had to have my dish of mixed Skittles
on the side so for inspiration :)

1. Separate your Skittles by color into 5 bowls. While doing this I found that there really is more yellow skittles than the other colors in a bag!! I knew it! (poor yellows aren't many peoples favorites, yet there are just soo many of them!!) You'll need roughly 10 skittles per ounce of vodka e.g. I used 80 Skittles for 8 oz vodka.


2. Measure out your vodka into the empty bottles and add your Skittles.


3. Now, shake, shake, shake the bottles!! The more the better. Let the Skittles "infuse" the vodka overnight, shaking a couple time throughout the "infusion process". Let it infuse. I just like the word "infuse" :)

Pre-shake/infusion bottles

4. You'll notice that there are some major floaters and there may be some last remnants of Skittles in the bottles. You will filter that out with coffee filters inserted in a funnel inserted in a large glass. I used about 2 filters per bottle.


5. Return the strained drink to the bottles, store in a freezer, and serve in shot glasses. Shoot the rainbow!! 

Post-shake/infusion bottles, notice the
nasty-ness on the tops. This is why you
need to strain it.

As I'm not a coffee drinker, I had no coffee filters .
I tried to substitute paper towels.

That didn't work. They were "quicker picker uppers"
& just soaked everything up :(

After another trip to HyVee for coffee filters, it worked much better.
This will take a bit, so be patient, & you might have to squeeze the
last liquid out of the filter too, so don't do this before you go
 to anything important that you don't want to smell like vodka at...hah! 

Finished product--if you have something fancier to put them in,
that'd be good, but my resources were a little limited
 here in Vermillion for glass resealable bottles,
so emptied water bottles it is!

I was a little nervous before the first shot I took with no chaser, but I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't even need one and it really did taste just like a Skittle...who'da thought?? :) This would be something great to bring to parties, or just keep in your freezer for after you have a tough day at work...hehe, just kidding! But seriously, it's good! Shoot the Rainbow!!