Goboenomo's Easy Candy Making Guide (With Photos)

[goboenomo]

You will want the items in the photo below.
water, sugar, corn syrup, flavour, measuring cups, a pot, a spoon, a candy thermometer and also a greased baking sheet.

Next add 3/4 cups of water, 2/3 cups of corn syrup and 2 cups of granulated sugar to the pot.

Turn the heat on to medium and stir until the sugar dissolves and it starts to boil, then stop stirring.

Put in the candy thermometer making sure it is deep enough into the mix to get a reading, but not touching the bottom of the pot.

Turn up the heat to high and continue NOT stirring. When the temperature reaches 270 degrees on the thermometer add the flavour and still do not stir.

When the flavouring is added be sure not to burn yourself on the steam. The smell makes me cough, so you might want to watch that too.

Once the temperature reaches 300 degrees take it off the heat right away, and then stir in the flavouring.

 

[goboenomo]

Next pour the candy onto the greased baking sheet. My candy flavouring is coconut, so there is no colour in the candy. But normally the colour from the flavour comes with it. Like with my root beer candy in my baking thread.

Scrape under the candy with a knife so it's easier to take off later. You may have to do it a few times while it's cooling.

This time I decided to experiment shaping the candy, if you decide to do this, you can bunch up the candy and keep moving it around until it you are able to handle it. I would recommend using gloves of some sort. I have seen gardening gloves used before, so if you have some clean ones, go for it.

Once you can handle it, start stretching out the candy into long strands. You have to act fast because it cools quickly and starts to break. Another reason I recommend gloves is because while I was stretching out the candy I got a big blister that ended up splitting open (after I was done).

Then break the strands into pieces. As you saw I have 2 thick strands and 2 thin strands. It was a pain breaking them into pieces.. and pretty messy. I ended up doing this on the table in the backyard. Thick strand pieces are on the right of the knife, and the thin strand pieces are on the left.

 

[Dina]

I'd start opening that candy shop or bakery Gobo.

 

[goboenomo]

Something to look into.

 

[deelady]

how did you get interested in making candy?

 

[goboenomo]

When I was younger one day I asked my mom if we had cookies, she said no... if i wanted them so bad... make some. So I did. I dug up a cookbook and made cookies. I had fun doing it. So I did it a few times after that, and then my mom asked me if I enjoyed it, and I told her yes. So she started buying baking stuff for me. I had also been working on the prep and line and montanas. I started looking up other things I could make after a while and started getting cookbooks as gifts. Then I found this site, I baked all that stuff you see in my baking thread, and tons of other things I don't have pictures of, like ice cream, cakes, pies, different kinds of cookies, muffins. I saw these flavourings while I was at this store called the Bulk Barn (Bulk Barn Online Retail Bulk Food, Health Store) and decided I wanted to make candy, eventually I did, and I made many different flavours. I plan to keep going. Bubblegum is the next thing on my list to make once I find some gum base. None in this city...

 

[Maverick2272]

OK, I followed your link to your baking thread, found the root beer hard candy, but the link for the recipe didn't work?
Can you repost that one? We love root beer hard candy, and I would love to make a go of it and see if I can make it.
Or is it the same one you posted here, just with root beer flavoring in it?

 

[goboenomo]

It's the same recipe. But thanks for telling me. I fixed the link.

 

[Maverick2272]

Very cool, so now I just need to find some root beer flavoring, LOL.

I agree, you should consider setting up your own shop, maybe pairing with someone who does cakes and pies and pastries as well, add in a little coffee shop section. I bet you would be good at it and have a lot of fun doing it as well!
I don't know about around your area, but here any shop that still specializes in hand made candies and such does real well.

 

[goboenomo]

Very cool, so now I just need to find some root beer flavoring, LOL.

I agree, you should consider setting up your own shop, maybe pairing with someone who does cakes and pies and pastries as well, add in a little coffee shop section. I bet you would be good at it and have a lot of fun doing it as well!
I don't know about around your area, but here any shop that still specializes in hand made candies and such does real well.

Thanks for the suggestion. I think this would be something to look into when I'm finished school. I bet having an accounting background can only help. I actually spoke to a friend yesterday who I went to school with at college. She told me she's in the process of setting up her own spa business. I was talking to her about getting a business for this kind of stuff and we had the idea that I she could offer people truffles or a nice finger treat while they're at the spa.

Also, if you have a problem finding a root beer flavouring let me know. I'll see if I can do something for you.

 

[Maverick2272]

Definetely do some business courses, many a good business idea has failed just because the person didn't have business knowledge to go along with their skills. I thought of the coffee part because there is a guy at the farmers market that got into that. He converted a gas grill into a roaster to roast his own coffee beans. He has gotten real good at it and it is excellent coffee. Now he has paired with a guy that does welding and they have perfected the design of the roaster and selling them as they build them. It is too expensive and makes too much coffee for home use, and too small for large coffee shops, but perfect for small shops that are paired with something else and the coffee is on the side.
This kind of pairing has kept a lot of places around her afloat and eases the burden of owning your own business and being responsible for everything. Of course, you have to choose your partners carefully, just ask Abe Lincoln! LOL.

 

[goboenomo]

Aha yea! Well it'll be tough to find somebody who likes doing cooking and baking like i do. The only other people I know have kids my age that dont like it, and they are close to retiring. We'll see where time goes.