Every year, my grandmother would make this Christmas Hard Rock Glass Candy. We always knew where to find the jar filled with the colorful and tasty gems.
The holidays wouldn’t be the same without this delicious and beautiful candy. It’s known by many names, such as Rock Candy, Hard Tack Candy, Stained Glass, or Broken Glass but what really matters to me is that you can make it in just about any flavor and color desired.
Handmade Christmas Gift
This is a great gift idea for anyone who loves rock candy. The flavor of the hard pieces of sugar varies depending on what type of flavoring extract you use and what color you pair with the flavor. This is especially fun to give as a Christmas time gift because it’s something that the recipient can enjoy over and over again, even if they’re not sure what flavor they want to try first.
Christmas is a time for family and friends to come together. One of the best parts about the Holidays is all the delicious treats and time spent together making them.
Let’s get cooking.
Ingredients Used to make Stain Glass Candy
Not only can this candy be enjoyed by children, but adults love this too because they can have their favorite flavor of candy too. Learn how to make your own holiday candy that looks like hard rock glass pieces. All it takes is a few simple ingredients.
- Sugar
- Light Corn Syrup
- Water
- Flavoring
- Food Coloring
Powdered sugar is used for lining the sheet pan. This helps the candy mixture not stick to the pan while it is cooling.
What kind of flavoring is used in rock candy?
You can purchase a wide variety of candy flavorings and pair them up with a color of candy. Some of the more popular choices are cherry, lemon, lime, strawberry, raspberry, orange, mint, and cinnamon.
Change up the color to match the flavor. As you can see, we made a rainbow assortment. We have many flavors and colors. This is such a pretty combination. Here are a few flavor and color combinations to get you started.
- Black = Licorice
- Blue = Blue raspberry
- Brown = Chocolate, peanut butter, root beer
- Dark Blue = Anise
- Green = Spearmint, Wintergreen, apple, lime, crème de menthe, lime
- Orange = Orange. Mango, orange cream, peach, tangerine
- Pink = Peppermint, tropical fruit punch
- Purple = Grape, tutti fruitti
- Red = Cinnamon, cherry, raspberry, cranberry, pomegranate, strawberry, watermelon
- Tan = Butterscotch, caramel, cookies and cream, egg nog, English toffee, maple,
- Yellow = Lemon, butter, butter rum, pineapple
Create your own delicious hard candy. You can use colors that match up to what a flavor or different colors that make people guess at the flavor combinations. It is so much fun to be creative.
How to Make Rock Candy
Begin by preparing the sheet pans before starting to make the candy mixture. Line a baking pan with foil and add powdered sugar to the pan. Make “S” shaped wells in the powdered sugar. There should be 9 grooves in the powdered sugar in each pan. We used 3 pans per batch.
Use a large heavy saucepan to make the candy mixture. Combine the granulated sugar, corn syrup, and water in the pan. Cook over medium-high heat stirring constantly until all the sugar in the mixture dissolves.
Once the sugar is dissolved, stop stirring and let the mixture come to a boil. Insert a candy thermometer and continue to boil until you reach the hard crack stage at 300 F (150 C).
Once the mixture has reached the hard crack stage, remove from the heat, and add the food coloring and flavoring.
Carefully pour the hot sugar mixture into the wells that have been prepared in the powdered sugar. Allow the candy to cool completely. This will take approximately 1 hour at room temperature.
Once the candy cools and has hardened, use a scissors to snip the strips of candy into little pieces.
Dust with a bit more powdered sugar so the candy does not stick and store in an airtight container.
Pro Tips for Old Fashioned Hard Candy
Prepare your cookie sheet pans or a jelly roll pan with the confectioners’ sugar before you start to cook the sugar mixture as you will want to pour the contents while it is still hot.
Use one sheet pan for each color and flavor of candy. We have found if you are making quite a few colors and flavors, they can sometimes blend together if the wells in the powdered sugar are not deep enough.
It is important to make sure that you reach the hard crack stage at 300 F (150 C). While you can check to see if the candy reaches the hard crack stage using a bowl of cold water, I like to use a candy thermometer. It is just so much more accurate. If you don’t get the candy to the hard crack stage, it can stick to your teeth when enjoying it later. They are not that expensive and make all the difference in the world when making candy. If you do use the cold water, when you drop a little of the candy mixture in the cold water, it should form brittle threads when it is at the hard crack stage.
Stir just until the sugar dissolved. Then stop stirring otherwise sugar crystals can form and change the texture of the candy.
Alternative Method for Breaking up the Candy Pieces
Another method of pouring and breaking up the candy into small pieces. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with a nonstick cooking spray. Add a generous amount of confectioners’ sugar all over the sheet pan. Pour the sugar mixture on top of the sugar. Let sit at room temperature to harden. Then just break apart using something heavy like a mallet.
You can pour this into candy silicone molds for fun shapes and let it cool and harden. Add a stick and make a lollipop.
Making Additional Colors and Flavors
If you prefer more than one color and flavor for each batch of candy, separate the hot sugar mixture into separate containers before adding the flavoring extracts and food color. The candy will set up quickly, so you will need to work fast on this step.
Once you have added the color and flavoring, then carefully pour into the wells made in the powdered sugar. I use a different sheet pan for each flavor and color.
Storing and Giving Hard Rock Candy as Gifts
Use an airtight container such as glass jars to store this treat. Make sure to store at room temperature as it will last the longest. If you put this in the refrigerator, condensation could build up in the container and the candy will stick together.
Place a decorative ribbon around the top of the jar and give as a pretty edible gift during the Holiday season.
This is a homemade hard candy recipe is a fun recipe to make as a family. It is an easy treat and budget-friendly too.
Make your own rock candy today.
Another Christmas candy that we love to make and eat is the Easy Caramel Puff Corn.
Make sure to check for other candy recipes as we add them.
Christmas Hard Rock Glass Candy
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Kitchen Essentials
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Water
- 4 Cups Granulated Sugar
- 1 1/2 Cups Corn Syrup
- 2 Teaspoons Flavoring oil 2 Tsp. Flavored Oil or 4 Tsp. Flavored Extract
- 1 Teaspoon Gel Food Coloring
- 1 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar
Instructions
- Begin by preparing the sheet pans before starting to make the candy mixture. Line a baking pan with foil and add powdered sugar to the pan. Make “S” shaped wells in the powdered sugar. There should be 9 grooves in the powdered sugar in each pan. We used 3 pans per batch.1 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar
- Use a large heavy saucepan to make the candy mixture. Combine the granulated sugar, corn syrup, and water in the pan. Cook over medium-high heat stirring constantly until all the sugar in the mixture dissolves.1 Cup Water, 4 Cups Granulated Sugar, 1 1/2 Cups Corn Syrup
- Once the sugar is dissolved, stop stirring and let the mixture come to a boil. Insert a candy thermometer and continue to boil until you reach the hard crack stage at 300 F (150 C).
- Once the mixture has reached the hard crack stage, remove from the heat, and add the food coloring and flavoring.1 Teaspoon Gel Food Coloring, 2 Teaspoons Flavoring oil
- Carefully pour the hot sugar mixture into the wells that have been prepared in the powdered sugar. Allow the candy to cool completely. This will take approximately 1 hour at room temperature.
- Once the candy cools and has hardened, use a scissors to snip the strips of candy into little pieces.
- Dust with a bit more powdered sugar so the candy does not stick and store in an airtight container.
Your Own Private Notes
Notes
Nutrition
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