Jelly Candy is easier than you'd think. You don't need a thermometer or any special equipment plus it's delicious and doesn't stick to your teeth. You can coat it in chocolate or roll it in sugar or even did it in lollipop syrup.
Jelly Candy
1 pkg pectin
3/4 c sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
Combine these in a small saucepan and mix on low. When it starts bubbling leave it, but continue to stir now and then while you work with the other pan.
2c sugar
2T lemon juice
1/2c water
Combine these in a medium saucepan on low heat. Stir slowly as the sugar disolves. Once it clarifies, wipe down the sides with a damp pastry brush to get rid of any stray crystals. If you pull out your stirring tool at any time be sure to wash it before putting it back in. Increase the heat to medium. As soon as it starts to boil, add in the pectin mixture. Stir and boil for one minute. Remove from heat. Add in flavorings and colorings as desired.
1 1/2tsp extract or 1/2 tsp flavored oil or 1 dram of candy flavoring
As soon as it's well combined pour into greased pan and let set over night or twelve hours. When you are ready loosen the sides and over turn it on parchment for dipping or on a sugared plate for coating. Cut into the sizes you want, coat as desired and let it sit another hour before serving or packaging.
These are corn syrup free and very allergy friendly.
Allergies have plagued my kitchen experiences but through the trails we can rise to new heights of creativity. Being a celiac myself and having three children who have problems with soy, milk, and eggs, as well as a husband who can't eat nuts, squash, cucuberts, shellfish, or beef we get real creative around here. I present my journey through the allergy world and my adventures in starting a business, writing cookbooks, and creating a farm.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
Holidays and Treats
Christmas is coming faster than I'm ready for and I have a stack of treats to make before the holidays hit. High fructose corn syrup and even regular corn syrup are the bane of my existence. I can't digest corn syrup so even when I manage to find something that is gluten and milk free it still has that dreaded corn syrup. Even in things you wouldn't expect like BBQ sauce and mayo.
The is my basic list and it isn't easy to please. The experiments include eggless meringue cookies, divinity, caramel, fudge, lollipops, cordial cherries with homemade maraschino cherries, mike-n-ikes clones, as well as hard candied jellies. All of them have to be soy, milk, corn, and nut free. Corn and milk have been my hardest to overcome but strides are being made and I'm getting the hang of inverting the sugar so that I don't end up with crystalized candy. It's actually much easier than you would think. I'll be posting some recipes for corn syrup free candy over the next few days, yes it is possible to make candy without corn syrup. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise. Happy Holidays and happy homemaking.
The is my basic list and it isn't easy to please. The experiments include eggless meringue cookies, divinity, caramel, fudge, lollipops, cordial cherries with homemade maraschino cherries, mike-n-ikes clones, as well as hard candied jellies. All of them have to be soy, milk, corn, and nut free. Corn and milk have been my hardest to overcome but strides are being made and I'm getting the hang of inverting the sugar so that I don't end up with crystalized candy. It's actually much easier than you would think. I'll be posting some recipes for corn syrup free candy over the next few days, yes it is possible to make candy without corn syrup. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise. Happy Holidays and happy homemaking.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Corn Syrup Free Lollipops
Our first experiment with corn syrup free candy making my sister and I decided to go to the highest temps where sugar is going to crystalize no matter what unless you have something to stop it. This was our make or break recipe as to whether or not we could pull it off.
Well, they turned out beautifully. There was not a single bit of sugar crystals to be found anywhere in the batch.
First attempt I made the sugar syrup and then made the lollipops to make sure we could do it. They turned out fine and had a wonderful rootbeer flavor from the extract. The second attempt I made everything at once, streamlining the process. Again, everything turned out fine for a soft peppermint flavored lollipops.
Corn Syrup Free Lollipops
3c sugar
1c water
2T lemon juice
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp oil flavoring or 1 dram of the candy flavorings or 1 1/2tsp-1T extract depending on desired strength.
food coloring if desired
Prepare a medium to large saucepan. Be careful to select a large enough pan, you do not want it boiling over on you. Combine water, lemon juice, cream of tartar, and sugar in sauce pan. Stir softly. Consider that you're scraping the sugar crystals off the side and bottom of the pan rather than stirring. Heat on low until sugar dissolves. You'll know it has dissolved when the liquid goes clear, it might be a bit foamy or have a surface white sheen from the cream of tartar but don't worry, it will disolve in quickly. Once the sugar is dissolved, wipe down the sides with a damp pastry brush. It's okay to go into the sugar syrup a little bit to ensure all the sugar crystals are out of your pan. Scrape the bottom and edges again to make sure the crystals are gone. Once they are and before it really starts boiling take the stir tool out of the pan. Clip on your themometer. Watch and wait for it to reach hard crack, carefully it can skip quickly. Be sure you adjust your temperature for your altitude and not just blindly follow the candy thermometer.
Once it reaches hard crack remove from heat. Let it cool to 275 before adding flavors and colors. The high temperature will burn your flavorings if you put them in right away. Once you stir in the flavors and colors with a clean wood spoon or spatula, pour it into your pan for stained glass candy or moulds for lollipops.
Pictures coming soon!
Well, they turned out beautifully. There was not a single bit of sugar crystals to be found anywhere in the batch.
First attempt I made the sugar syrup and then made the lollipops to make sure we could do it. They turned out fine and had a wonderful rootbeer flavor from the extract. The second attempt I made everything at once, streamlining the process. Again, everything turned out fine for a soft peppermint flavored lollipops.
Corn Syrup Free Lollipops
3c sugar
1c water
2T lemon juice
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp oil flavoring or 1 dram of the candy flavorings or 1 1/2tsp-1T extract depending on desired strength.
food coloring if desired
Prepare a medium to large saucepan. Be careful to select a large enough pan, you do not want it boiling over on you. Combine water, lemon juice, cream of tartar, and sugar in sauce pan. Stir softly. Consider that you're scraping the sugar crystals off the side and bottom of the pan rather than stirring. Heat on low until sugar dissolves. You'll know it has dissolved when the liquid goes clear, it might be a bit foamy or have a surface white sheen from the cream of tartar but don't worry, it will disolve in quickly. Once the sugar is dissolved, wipe down the sides with a damp pastry brush. It's okay to go into the sugar syrup a little bit to ensure all the sugar crystals are out of your pan. Scrape the bottom and edges again to make sure the crystals are gone. Once they are and before it really starts boiling take the stir tool out of the pan. Clip on your themometer. Watch and wait for it to reach hard crack, carefully it can skip quickly. Be sure you adjust your temperature for your altitude and not just blindly follow the candy thermometer.
Once it reaches hard crack remove from heat. Let it cool to 275 before adding flavors and colors. The high temperature will burn your flavorings if you put them in right away. Once you stir in the flavors and colors with a clean wood spoon or spatula, pour it into your pan for stained glass candy or moulds for lollipops.
Pictures coming soon!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Life Without Soy
A lot of people I've met have no idea that people can even be allergic to Soy. Well, surprise, you can. At least my kids are. It's actually one of the top eight allergens. When we first discovered my son was allergic to soy I thought this wouldn't be so bad, all I'd have to do is cut out Chinese food and related sauces right?
I can hear the laughter. Oh wait, that's me laughing. During the first few weeks as we went through our cupboards after my son continued to be sick, I discovered much to my dismay that soy is everywhere! About 80% of all people allergic to soy don't react to soy oil or lecithin. We weren't so lucky. My kids are truly allergic and they most likely will not grow out of it as they are growing more and more sensitive to it.
That's not so bad, you just have to make everything right? Try finding soy free chocolate. Ouch. There are a few spots online that sell it, but they are rather spendy. The next time I go up north to visit my sister I'll be stopping by Kitchen Kneads which thankfully sells soy free chocolate in bulk. Soy Free Sales also features soy free chocolate.
Now, there are companies that sell soy free bread and crackers and other goodies. It's great. Fantastic. They don't come to my area. Being in the middle of nowhere has its marked disadvantages when it comes to finding special foods.
All in all though we get along rather well. I have learned to experiment with food and to try new things and we have been able to replace almost everything...except that pesky chocolate. Still gotta buy it already made.
I can hear the laughter. Oh wait, that's me laughing. During the first few weeks as we went through our cupboards after my son continued to be sick, I discovered much to my dismay that soy is everywhere! About 80% of all people allergic to soy don't react to soy oil or lecithin. We weren't so lucky. My kids are truly allergic and they most likely will not grow out of it as they are growing more and more sensitive to it.
That's not so bad, you just have to make everything right? Try finding soy free chocolate. Ouch. There are a few spots online that sell it, but they are rather spendy. The next time I go up north to visit my sister I'll be stopping by Kitchen Kneads which thankfully sells soy free chocolate in bulk. Soy Free Sales also features soy free chocolate.
Now, there are companies that sell soy free bread and crackers and other goodies. It's great. Fantastic. They don't come to my area. Being in the middle of nowhere has its marked disadvantages when it comes to finding special foods.
All in all though we get along rather well. I have learned to experiment with food and to try new things and we have been able to replace almost everything...except that pesky chocolate. Still gotta buy it already made.
Welcome!
We discovered my children were allergic to Soy over a year and a half ago. Since then it has been a very bumpy ride but not nearly like it was before the discovery. On top of that my husband has allergies to beef, shellfish, and iodine, and my middle child has a severe allergy to bee and wasp stings.
Which leads me to cooking. It's amazing how much I relied on some common prepackaged items that I suddenly couldn't use anymore. It was quite the learning experience.
I started seriously considering writing as a career when I was only twelve years old. In those early misguided attempts at producing a best seller, I started my first novel. I battled floppy discs, windows 3.0, and an early version of microsoft works which liked to frequently forget how to recognize what was actually on the disc. Had software and discs not improved considerably since then I probably would have thrown my hands up in frustration and moved solely to pen and paper. Though that form wasn't without it's own set of problems. Lost pages, water damage, faded or smeared ink. Still, here I am, forging my career as a writer.
Which leads me to cooking. It's amazing how much I relied on some common prepackaged items that I suddenly couldn't use anymore. It was quite the learning experience.
I started seriously considering writing as a career when I was only twelve years old. In those early misguided attempts at producing a best seller, I started my first novel. I battled floppy discs, windows 3.0, and an early version of microsoft works which liked to frequently forget how to recognize what was actually on the disc. Had software and discs not improved considerably since then I probably would have thrown my hands up in frustration and moved solely to pen and paper. Though that form wasn't without it's own set of problems. Lost pages, water damage, faded or smeared ink. Still, here I am, forging my career as a writer.
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