Hard Candy Christmas
December 15, 2008 by Kelly
The Contest is Over: Congratulations to Heather for Winning My Candy!
This is a pretty snapshot of my weekend activity which was making hard candy for Christmas. I made Pina Colada, Cinnamon, Watermelon and Anise. I still have plans to make Strawberry and more Cinnamon and Anise since those are our favorite flavors.
Making your own hard candy is easy. You’ll need a thick saucepan, a 7×10 cake pan and a candy thermometer – and the following recipe 
The ingredients: (This makes a small batch)
1 3/4 c sugar
1/2 c water
1/2 c light corn syrup
dash of salt
food coloring
flavoring oil
powdered sugar
Over medium heat, in your saucepan, combine sugar, water, corn syrup and salt and stir until the sugar dissolves. Cover and bring to a rolling boil. Remove lid, place thermometer in pan and cook until it reaches 250 degrees. Add food coloring (about six drops) and continue to cook until 300 degrees. (Pull the pot off the stove when the thermometer reads 290 because the temp will continue to rise a bit.)
Let the pot stand for two minutes, then add flavoring oil. (I use an entire bottle even though instructions say 1/4 tsp) Give it a quick stir with a fork and cover for five minutes.
Pour candy into the cake pan (you should butter or spray the pan first) to cool. When the candy is cool, break it into pieces, first with a hard smack on your counter, then by hitting it with the blunt end of a dinner knife. Once you have pieces the size you want, dust with powdered sugar.
Fill your pot with hot water immediately and let soak to dissolve leftover candy mixture.
Win a Bag of My Hard Candy!
I’m giving away an assorted batch of my yummy hard candy to one sweet commenter – so if you have a sweet tooth, leave a comment for me below and be sure to use a good email address so I can get in touch with you if your name is drawn.
Deadline for comments is Friday, December 19th at Noon Eastern.
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