How to Make Candy

Candy evolved as a way to satisfy our sweet tooth, and it was originally made from a simple honey syrup. Today, however, candy can be sweetened with refined sugar, honey, artificial sweeteners and even fruit juices. The following information reveals some of the tricks, techniques and tools used in candy-making.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Candy molds
• Melting chocolate or candy pieces
• Copper kettle
• Candy thermometer
• Lollipop mold
• Sticks

Mold Candy

1. Learn about mold candies. Mold candies are made by pouring melted sugar compounds into a plastic or resin candy mold. This type of candy can be made from chocolate, gelatin or simple sugar mixtures. They are popular for holiday candies as they can be shaped into holiday icons and designs.
2. Select molds for your candy. Craft and hobby shops are a great place to look for candy molds. You can find seasonal shapes and characters as well as cartoon characters and pop culture icons.
3. Buy the ingredients needed to fill the molds. You can find flavored candy chips, melting chocolate, melting white chocolate and melting caramel flavored chips for mold candies.
4. Prepare your molds. It is always a good idea to wash and sterilize your candy molds before using them. Most molds are going to be dishwasher safe, however, make sure they are dishwasher safe before use this cleaning method. After cleaning you will want to set up your molds on a level surface that is covered with wax paper. This will make clean up easier to do.
5. Melt your candy chips using a double boiler. Then pour the melted candy into your molds. Try to pour the melted candy level with the top of the mold.
6. Allow the candy to cool and set up. This can take any where from a few minutes to a few hours, depending on the type of candy poured. Once cooled, simply pop them out of the molds and they will be ready to eat.

Cook a Batch of Hard Candy

7. Find a recipe for hard candies. Usually the recipe will call for sugar water and flavoring. This is a fairly simple recipe, the difficulty level for candy making comes not from the ingredients but from the candy-making process.
8. Combine all the ingredients into your copper kettle and allow it to cook following the recipes directions. You will want to have a candy thermometer in the kettle and you will want to watch it closely.
9. Watch for the temperature of your candy syrup to reach between 300 and 310 degrees. This is the hard-crack stage of candy-making. At this point your sugar solution is 99 percent pure. When your mixture is at the hard-crack stage remove it from the heat.
10. Pour your mixture into lollipop molds or into a flat pan to cool. If you are making lollipops, then you will want to insert sticks into the molds before the mixture sets up.
11. Allow the candy to cool and set up. For lollipops you will want to pop them out of their molds and wrap them in cellophane. For glass candy you will want break the sheet of candy into bite-sized pieces using force or a hammer wrapped with plastic wrap.