r/CandyMakers

Just a few of the batches I've done recently. All infused🌿, all shelf stable for up to a year.

It worked! Took the sugar to 268° to be on the safe side.

Hello everyone! I recently started making my own lollipops, is there a trick to make them less sweet?

Made from sugar and syrup + flavour and colour

I make hard rock candy on the stove- pour into pan, allow to harden then crack mix with powdered sugar and put in bag.

Recently I had someone ask for sour flavor and told me about an additive that enhances flavor and makes it sour. (LorAnn Tart and Sour Flavor Enhancer). I used the recommended amount and followed the same steps/recipe I always use. Everything seemed to turn out fine but the next day the candy had softened and melded back together. All 3 batches (different flavors) did this. The candy tasted great, if that makes a difference .

What did I do wrong? What should I be doing differently? Thanks in advance!

UPDATE: I took the suggestion of letting them dry on a wire rack. This did not go well, but at least the rack was set on a clean glass cooktop so I could spatula up the ones that sank through. (Most were about halfway when I caught them.)

I re-heated, added some more white chocolate, brought it to 250F, then re-molded.

It was starting to set before I finished getting it all in molds; I had to press the last bits in by hand. I was done including unmolding and trimming about an hour after starting!

They are no longer orange and glossy. They have the general appearance of gingerbread, completely dry to the touch, and with an interesting texture between caramel and fudge. Nothing is scorched and they still taste good. Unfortunately I can’t add another pic.

They should confuse the heck out of people at the party!

ORIGINAL POST:

Today I somewhat unintentionally made caramels from candy corn. (Candy corn, white chocolate, evaporated milk, sugar.) I was aiming for fudge and missed.

For a Summerween party. So they are festive. Taste shockingly good.

Undercooked just a tad, I don’t think I quite hit 240°. They are molded and turned out very nice, but I had to freeze to demold. Pic is on waxed paper in freezer.

They are soft at room temp and even at fridge temp. Stick to waxed paper.

So short of just rolling them into balls and dunking in chocolate, or melting into a sauce for ice cream, any recommendations how to serve them in a pot luck setting?

Things that come to mind are:

- Keep frozen then serve on a plate heavily dusted with powdered sugar, sea salt, or festive holiday sprinkles

- Serve on a plate over ice (atop parchment paper)

- Buy something at Safeway

I’ve been working on hard candy and a handful of failed taffy attempts. Switched it up the other night and made some caramels with the guidance of Jami Curl’s book “Candy is Magic”.

I have to say this is easily the tastiest candy I’ve made to date. Took the book’s advice and cooked this down without a thermometer using the color of the candy to determine when it was ready.

You will need:
1 cup(237 mL) heavy cream
4 tablespoons(57 g) butter
14 oz.(397 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided into 6 oz.(170 g) and 8 oz.(227 g) portions
1 cup(220 g) granulated white sugar
1/2 cup(171 g) light corn syrup
1/4 cup(59 mL) water
1/2 teaspoon(1.6 g) kosher salt, plus extra for decoration

Spray an 8"x8" or 9"x9" pan and line with parchment. Spray the parchment as well. Cut the butter into 4 equal pieces. Place the cream and butter in a small saucepan over high heat. When the butter is fully melted, remove from heat. Add the 6 oz.(170 g) portion of chips to the milk. Let rest for two minutes, then stir until the mixture is thick and smooth. Set aside. Combine the sugar, corn syrup(use a spatula to get as much as possible out of the container), and water in a medium saucepan over high heat. Stir constantly until the sugar is fully dissolved. When the sugar is dissolved, leave the pan on heat without stirring. Swirl the syrup occasionally. When it reaches a honey-like color, then reduce the heat to medium and temporarily remove from heat. Add the chocolate-cream-butter mixture to the syrup(be careful as it will bubble vigorously and the mixture can cause severe burns) and mix thoroughly before returning to heat. Clip on a candy thermometer and whisk constantly all over the pan. The viscosity of the candy will begin to increase; cook to 250F. Pour the candy, very carefully, into the parchment lined pan and get as much as you can using a silicone spatula. Spread smoothly with the spatula. Let cool until under 100F, then refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours. When the caramel is set, remove from the pan using the parchment and place the whole slab on a cutting board. Cut into about 64 pieces. Invert a cookie sheet and line with waxed paper. Melt the remaining chocolate in a small bowl in 30 second bursts in the microwave, stirring well between each(it took about 2 minutes in mine). Coat the pieces, one at a time, in the chocolate. Place on the waxed paper line baking sheet. When all are coated, sprinkle with kosher salt and freeze about 10 minutes to set the chocolate. Remove and enjoy!

I’m hoping someone with commercial candy-making experience can help because I’m completely stumped.

I’ve made butter toffee successfully for years using the same recipe. I’m now producing larger batches in a commercial kitchen, and I’m consistently having two different issues.

Large batch recipe

• 9 cups unsalted butter
• 9 cups granulated sugar
• 3 cups brown sugar
• 2 cups water
• 2¼ tsp salt (¼ tsp per cup of butter)
• 4½ tsp baking soda (added at the end)

This is cooked in my large-capacity copper candy pot over a commercial gas range.

Small batch recipe

• 3 cups unsalted butter
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• ⅔ cup water
• ¾ tsp salt (¼ tsp per cup of butter)
• 1½ tsp baking soda (added at the end)

This is cooked in my original copper candy pot that I’ve used successfully for years with this exact recipe.

Issue #1 – Butter separation around 250–260°F

This doesn’t happen every batch, but when it does, it almost always starts around 250–260°F.

The butter begins separating from the syrup and I develop an oily ring around the edge of the pot. Sometimes it progresses until the emulsion completely breaks.

On my most recent attempt, I switched to a different burner and cooked much more slowly over very low heat. The batch looked much healthier than previous attempts, but it still never developed the thicker, more viscous consistency I’m used to seeing before adding the baking soda. It looked smooth, but it felt thinner than my successful batches, even though the thermometer read about 310°F.

During successful batches, the syrup noticeably thickens as it approaches the finish temperature. In these failed batches, it reaches the target temperature but never develops that same viscosity.

Issue #2 – Something changes immediately after adding the baking soda

Even on the batch that looked the best during cooking, I could tell immediately after adding the baking soda that something wasn’t right.

I’ve made this recipe enough times that I know what this step normally looks like. As soon as the baking soda is stirred in, the color and appearance of the foam are different than what I’m used to seeing. Before I even pour the batch, I already know it isn’t going to turn out correctly.

Looking back, I think the syrup may already be thinner than it should be before I add the baking soda. The baking soda doesn’t necessarily cause the problem—it just makes it much more obvious. After it’s added, the candy looks darker than I’m used to seeing, remains noticeably thin, and the finished sheet is full of tiny bubbles instead of having the dense, glossy texture I’m used to.

After I pour the toffee out of the pot, there is a gritty residue left behind in the bottom of the copper pot. It almost looks like fine sand or tiny granules that have settled out. I don’t normally see this after a successful batch.

What makes this even stranger

I recently made four consecutive successful small batches at home using the exact same ingredients in my tried-and-true copper pot.

To eliminate ingredients as the cause, I brought that same small copper pot to the commercial kitchen and made the exact same small batch recipe there.

It failed too.

So my results are:

• Small batch + home kitchen = successful (4 batches in a row)
• Small batch + commercial kitchen = failed
• Large batch + commercial kitchen = failed

That makes me think the problem is something about the commercial kitchen or the cooking process rather than the recipe or ingredients, but I honestly don’t know what.

Things I’ve already checked

• Two ThermoPro thermometers agree within about 0.5°F.
• Boiling water reads about 206°F, which is correct for my altitude.
• Same ingredients.
• Same recipe ratios.
• Same baking soda and salt amounts.
• Same small copper pot that has produced successful batches for years.

Questions

1. Has anyone seen butter toffee consistently begin separating around 250–260°F?
2. Could a commercial gas burner be creating localized hot spots that break the butter/sugar emulsion?
3. If the syrup feels noticeably thinner than normal despite reaching temperature, what could cause that?
4. Why would the foam immediately look different after adding the baking soda, even if the underlying problem started earlier?
5. What could the gritty residue left in the bottom of the copper pot indicate?
6. Has anyone experienced this moving from a home kitchen to a commercial kitchen, even with the same recipe and the same copper pot?

Any ideas are greatly appreciated. At this point I’ve lost several batches and have spent days trying to isolate variables without finding the root cause.

Photos attached in order:

1. Finished batch immediately after adding the baking soda and pouring onto the sheet pan.
2. Example of the butter separation I’m fighting during cooking (around 250–260°F). Even when it isn’t severe, it feels like I’m constantly trying to keep the batch together.
3. What one of my successful batches normally looks like just before adding the chocolate topping.

This has been something that I have wanted to make for a long time, but beign a time consuming classical piece montée from a time before even our grandparents, there isnt too much instruction on how to make it. It is missing the pulled sugar flowers and candy/ice cream fruits to finish it.

It is my first proper attempt with the time to produce it. The only non edible piece is 12 sugar coated wires.

I can't believe it, but I google was zero help in finding what I assume to be a quite simple recipe to create something like these. Can anyone help? Im not an experienced candy maker at all, btw.