20 Easy Candy Recipes Perfect for Beginners (2025)

FAQs

What are the basic ingredients in candy? ›

Sugar, mainly sucrose from sugar beets or sugarcane, is the major constituent of most candies. Other sweeteners employed in candy manufacture include corn syrup, corn sugar, honey, molasses, maple sugar, and noncaloric sweeteners.

In a bowl, combine sugar and citric acid and whisk until evenly distributed. Remove candies from molds (or, if you used a single pan, remove the entire piece from the mold and cut it into bite sized pieces or use a cookie cutter to stamp out shapes). Roll the sticky candies in the sour sugar until fully coated.

Recipes for hard candy use a sugar syrup, such as sucrose, glucose or fructose. This is heated to a particular temperature, at which point the candy maker removes it from the heat source and may add citric acid, food dye, and some flavouring, such as a plant extract, essential oil, or flavourant.

The English word ”candy” derives from the Arabic word “qandi”, meaning ”made of sugar” and came to use in the 13th century. You might not have given much thought about it, but most of the vocabulary we have for sweets today comes mostly from ancient cultures in Asia, Africa and North and South America.

To make sour gummy candy, first, puree frozen fruit, like strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries, in a food processor or blender. Once it's smooth, simmer the fruit on the stove with water, lemon juice, and honey. After 2-3 minutes, whisk some gelatin in, which will eventually give it a gummy texture.

If the gummy appears to be too hard, soften them by rehydrating them in a bowl of hot or warm water (not cold water) until the desired consistency is achieved, usually around 20 minutes.

Hard candy like lollipops can last up to a year when stored at room temperature or in a cool, dry location. Gummies last for six to nine months from the date of purchase. Soft candies like caramel and jelly beans last six to nine months if the package has been opened and left at room temperature.

Scrap candy is formed during the production of sweets. The scrap candy is formed when changing from one batch to another (intermix), or due to off specification product (candy) or bad packaging due to failing equipment (eg, malfunctioning of packaging machinery).

"It depends on properties of the candy itself: how much moisture is in it and how much fat," Aramouni said. According to Blakeslee, if a candy appears extremely sticky or has a grainy texture, then it has most likely expired due to temperature abuse and the crystallization of sugar.

Five of the most common acids used in sour candy include citric acid, malic acid, fumaric acid, and tartaric acid. Citric acid is one of the most common ingredients in sour candy, providing the perfect pop of tartness. Malic acid takes things to the next level, being the acid responsible for extreme sour flavor.

What do they put on sweets to make them sour? ›

Sour sanding, or sour sugar, is a food ingredient that is used to impart a sour flavor, made from citric or tartaric acid and sugar. It is used to coat sour candies such as lemon drops and Sour Patch Kids, or to make hard candies taste tart, such as SweeTarts.

If you ever wonder what gives off a burst of tartness, then it is likely citric acid. Citric acid is derived from lemons, grapefruit, and other citrus fruits. As you can imagine, this is what causes the sour tang to many sour sweets.