Some people call it hard candy, others call it lollies, some call it rock candy while still others, like me, call it hard tack, after the hard biscuits that were carried by service men, because we carried a pocket full of it when we hunted or fished.
Whatever you call it, Christmas isn’t Christmas without a batch of super flavored hard sugar candy. We’ve turned ours into lollipops, put it in molds and made perfect bite sized pieces or poured it onto a cookie sheet covered in confectioners sugar and smacked it with a spoon to break it up into pieces.
There are more ways to make it than there are people who love it, but you certainly can’t let the holiday pass without a batch or two of this to light up the eyes of those who anticipate the taste all year long.
2 c. white sugar
3/4 c. white corn syrup
1/2 c. water
Various extractions
Food colors
Combine sugar, corn syrup and water in saucepan. Cook over medium heat (do not stir until candy reaches hard crack stage, 300 degrees). Remove from heat and add extracts and coloring quickly. Pour into prepared pan or pans and cover with powdered sugar. When candy is cool enough to handle, quickly cut into very small pieces with scissors. Store in covered containers.Extracts: Amount used depends upon whether you use oils, concentrates or extracts. Oils make the best candy but are not available in all flavors. LorAnn flavorings can provide the widest array of them and the tastes are just excellent.
If oils are used, use less than 1 teaspoon per batch of candy.
Food colors and flavors I use:
Yellow – lemon
Pink – Strawberry or raspberry
Red – cinnamon or cherry
Blue (or clear) – peppermint
Orange – orange
Light green – lime
Green – wintergreen
Yellow orange – rum
Blue green – spearmint
Brown – root beer
