How to Make a Large Stand-Up Lollipop

A large lollipop makes a great treat for kids.

Lollipops are usually made by pouring hot candy syrup into manufactured molds. The first automated lollipop production began in 1908 by the Racine Confectionary Machine Company, but candy-making enthusiasts have long made their own at home. To make an oversized, stand-up lollipop, it is best to make your own mold, since commercially made ones are unlikely to be the right shape and size. Freestanding lollipops don't require a stand to display them. Does this Spark an idea?

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Nonstick saucepan
1/2 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup corn syrup
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
Small plastic bottle, 10 to 12 oz. size
Craft knife
Parchment paper
Nonstick cooking spray
Candy thermometer
Toffee apple sticks
Spatula

Instructions

- 1
  
  Heat a nonstick saucepan on a stove set to low heat, and stir in your lollipop ingredients. Add 1/2 cup of water, followed by 1 cup of sugar. Now add 1/3 cup of corn syrup, to make the lollipops opaque, and 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar, which will help prevent the candy from crystallizing. Stir just enough to mix the ingredients as you add each one, but try not to over-stir the mixture since this can make it solidify.
- 2
  
  Prepare a mold to pour your lollipop mixture into. Remove the lid from a small plastic bottle, such as those used for water or soft drinks, and use a craft knife to cut off the screw thread from the neck end. Stand the bottle up and cut it in half lengthwise. Each bottle half will act as a mold for your large freestanding lollipop. Lay the bottle halves down, line their insides with parchment paper and coat the paper with nonstick cooking spray. Cut away any excess parchment paper that has scrunched up at the neck end of the bottle, since this is where the lollipop stick will go.
- 3
  
  Check the temperature of your lollipop mixture using a candy thermometer. Place it into the mixture, but do not allow it to touch the sides of the saucepan. When the thermometer reads 300 degrees Fahrenheit, it is ready to pour.
- 4
  
  Tip the saucepan carefully over the center of the parchment paper so that the candy mixture pours out. Allow the mixture to spread out inside the bottle half until it is nearly, but not completely, full. Place a toffee apple stick carefully into the mixture, since regular candy sticks will be too small to support large lollipops. The stick should be laid flat as possible into the liquid mixture, with one end near the middle of the mixture in the mold and the other end extending out of the neck end of the bottle.
- 5
  
  Allow the lollipop to cool with the stick in place for at least 10 minutes. Once it has become solid, remove it from the bottle mold. Use a spatula to remove the lollipop from the parchment paper. If you want to make more lollipops, reheat the remaining mixture and pour it onto some freshly prepared parchment paper in the mold.
- 6
  
  Stand the lollipop on a clean, flat surface with the stick end pointing up. The base of the lollipop will be large enough that your candy is freestanding.

Tips & Warnings

Wrap your lollipop in a clear plastic cover and twist it around the stick with a ribbon bow, for an attractive finish.
Prop your bottle mold up on either side, so that it does not roll around when you pour into it.
Consider adding oil flavors to your lollipop mixture.
Ensure your saucepan and work surfaces are clean before you begin.
Take care when working with hot candy syrup.
If your toffee apple sticks have sharp ends, break these off before using them.