Citrus Hard Candy

John 9a

9 years ago

I want to try making hard candy from citrus and would appreciate input before I dive in.

Here is the easiest recipe I have seen that uses lemon juice instead of lemon extract.

1 cup sugar

Lemon juice, just enough to dissolve the cup of sugar, freshly squeezed

Pour the lemon juice into the sugar in a mixing bowl.

Mix until the sugar is dissolved in the lemon juice.

Pour the mixture into a heavy-based saucepan. Bring to the boil.

Boil until the mixture reaches the consistency of a thick syrup. It should appear brittle when dropped in cold water. (I think this should be around 300-310F)

Remove from the heat.

Create the drops. Dollop small drops on a buttered or non-stick prepared cookie sheet or plate.

Allow to cool and harden. Once hardened, the lemon drop candies are ready for consumption.

Many recipes indicate cream of tartar must be used to prevent the sugar from crystallizing...interesting it isn't used in this recipe. Other recipes also use citric acid. Possibly not in this one since it would naturally contain citric acid.

Along with this discussion I would like to examine ways to concentrate lemon juice gently, that is without heating it more than necessary. I have noticed if I freeze fresh lemon juice in cubes or 1-cup containers, it seems to push the sugars out of the cube. The outside of the cube and the tray will be really sticky and have an intense lemon flavor. I think I could freeze lemon juice in a very shallow pan and the water would sublime off....fancy word but it goes straight from a solid to a vapor...in the deep freeze. One could also reduce pressure and boil at a lower temperature but I don't know of a kitchen-ready way to do that.

Any other thoughts on concentrating lemon juice or favorite hard candy recipes that use the juice, not extractives?

Featured Answer

User

9 years ago

Did the candies harden at all with time? I am interested in the process to do some with my orange tree so thanks for the pictures of your experiment.

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Comments (9)

myermike_1micha
9 years ago
Thank you John. Very thoughtful.............
Laura LaRosa (7b)
9 years ago
Great thanks John! I'm bookmarking this thread!
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John 9a
Original Author
9 years ago
Well, I don't know if that's a good recipe yet....just soliciting to see if anyone has suggestions before I begin juicing and cooking. Gotta come up with some new ways to use lemons real soon.
John 9a
Original Author
9 years ago
Well, either I'm not much of a candy cook or I need to try a different recipe. I didn't follow the recipe to the letter but I don't think the flavor will be intense enough as it was.

Here is what I did:

Here are my ingredients

I used the full cup of sugar as per the recipe. It took only 1/4 cup of lemon juice to fully dissolve the sugar. Once dissolved, I tasted the syrup and the lemon flavor was a lot less than lemonade so I added another quarter cup to make 1/2 cup of lemon juice. I also peeled a thin layer from a lemon and added the peel to the syrup for just a few minutes. This was a mistake as the final product took on more bitter than lemon essence.

Cooking down at low heat took about 45 minutes. I kept the heat low to avoid caramelizing the sugar.

The final product was still sticky so I took it off the heat a little too early. The drops are gooey and taste more like the peel than a bright lemon flavor.
Laura LaRosa (7b)
9 years ago
John, it was a good experiment. Did you measure the temperature of the candy as you cooked it? I have made candy for my bees before and remember needed to measure the temp of the cooking solution.
John 9a thanked Laura LaRosa (7b)
User
9 years ago
Looking at some other recipes right now (such as http://www.southernfatty.com/lemon-drop-candies/) they mention using a candy thermometer to get it to 300 degrees and then take it off. I haven't ever done it but want to try at some point. I have seen some spectacular fails with people carmelizing honey for mead or brewing (blackened mess in pan) so don't be discouraged. :)
John 9a thanked User
John 9a
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks for the comments, questions, and encouragement. It was a first for me to try hard candy and I live in a humid area so I entered the kitchen knowing my chances for instant success were small :>)

I had a candy thermometer on the stove but the mixture was so shallow I wasn't sure I could get an accurate measurement. I used the drop in water method which I have used for jellies and other candies but I wasn't sure what to look for in the "hard crack" (strictly candy-making terminology, ok) stage. I ultimately declared it done when the candy began to appear darker and was trying to boil up more at a setting I had been using for most of the cook period. By this point I had also tasted it and knew the bitters from the peel were going to override the lemony flavors I was trying for.

I watched the humidity in my house and it was running around 39%. The candy will get wetter in my area...and stickier, not drier sooooo, on to the next trial.
John 9a
Original Author
9 years ago
Here is step-one in a freeze-drying experiment. This is a thin layer of satsuma orange juice on a cookie sheet. We shall see how long it takes to dry out uncovered in the deep freezer. If I can remove most of the water this way, I should be able to reduce the cook time and hopefully preserve the fresh orange flavor.