Cakespy: Homemade Candy Corn
Note: Jessie Oleson (aka Cakespy) drops by every Monday to share a delicious dessert recipe.
[Photographs and art: Jessie Oleson]
Ever wondered how candy corn is made? Well, to give you the short answer, with lots of equipment, over a four to five day period. But don't let the process daunt you, because it is possible to make your own micro-batches of the classic Halloween candy at home.
This surprisingly simple recipe yields large, plump candy kernels infused with a sweet vanilla flavor. I found that using salted butter adds a nice, rich finish. Conclusion? These homespun tricolor treats are definitely worth the time and effort. Once you've tasted them, you may never buy candy corn by the bag again.
Homemade Candy Corn
- makes about one pound of candy corn -
Ingredients
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup salted butter
2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/3 cup powdered milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
red and yellow food coloring
Procedure
1. In a medium sized bowl, combine the sifted confectioners' sugar and powdered milk. Set to the side.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine the granulated sugar, corn syrup and butter. Bring to a boil on high heat, stirring constantly. Once it reaches the boiling point, reduce heat to medium and continue stirring for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the vanilla extract and remove from heat.
3. Add the confectioners' sugar and powdered milk mixture to the wet ingredients; stir well until the mixture is thoroughly incorporated and smooth.
4. Let the dough cool until it is firm enough to handle, about 30 minutes to an hour (I just let it cool in the saucepan).
5. Divide the dough into three equal parts and set each third into a separate bowl. Add 2 to 3 drops of yellow food coloring to one dish, one drop of red and two drops of yellow to another dish, and leave the remaining dish uncolored. Knead the dough to which you have added food coloring until the color is even (you may want to use gloves to ensure that you don't stain yourself). If the dough is feeling very soft or sticky, you may want to chill the dough for about 20 minutes in the refrigerator before proceeding with the next steps.
6. On top of a sheet of waxed paper or parchment paper, use your hands to roll each color of dough into a long, slender rope. You can roll it out to your desired thickness: for larger candies, make each rope thicker; for smaller candies, make each rope thinner.
7. Line the three ropes of dough together: white, orange, and yellow. To ensure that they will stick together, lay a piece of waxed paper on top and give them a very gentle rolling with a rolling pin. You just want to adhere them, not to flatten them.
8. Using a very sharp knife, cut the dough into triangles. Keep a damp cloth nearby so that you can wipe off the knife if it begins to get a candy residue. This method will result in half a batch of traditionally colored candy corn and half a batch with yellow tips (it's OK—they taste the same). Let the finished kernels sit for an hour or two (do not stack them on top of one another as they will stick together!) to become firm.
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24 Comments:
I've never been a fan of candy corn, but this intrigues me!
I'll definitely be passing it onto my Mom-the unofficial Candy Corn Queen!
gastronomeg at 10:13AM on 10/12/09
Love the photo! The store-bought ones look intimidated by the homemade ones. Especially the one in the back.
jo_wang at 11:45AM on 10/12/09
I've made cherry candy corn. It was pretty good. It was for a friend that is obsessed with candy corn. She ate 2lbs in 3 days. The original is much better, but cherry is good.
Also, I'm pretty sure all store bought candy corn is from a large vault left over from 1440 bc.
Monkey4Sale at 11:52AM on 10/12/09
These are too cute! I wonder how long they'll keep? (ie: how far in advance could they be made for Halloween?)
jujyfruit at 12:06PM on 10/12/09
SO cool. I'm obsessed with baking up some sort of candy corn recipe each year come Halloween. This is so creative!
RecipeGirl at 12:21PM on 10/12/09
OMG, Jessie you are an old-skool nut! Love you!
MichaelNatkin at 1:13PM on 10/12/09
Oh I should not have looked at this. Now you are telling me that I can get candy corn year round? I'm in trouble. Can't wait to try it though :)
Deseree at 5:26PM on 10/12/09
The one thing this recipe is missing is temperatures...too hot and it'll be a rock solid brick of orange. I'd love to make it though, do you have any suggestions for what temp to cook the sugar to?
thoomin at 9:27PM on 10/12/09
Thanks everyone!
Thoomin: I actually made these without a candy thermometer. Now, I am sure that this is probably a crime, but they actually turned out just fine. I made two batches to make sure it wasn't just dumb luck, and both times they were ok!
Jujyfruit: I am not 100% sure but I think that these candies are built to last. The one concern is that they probably shouldn't be stacked on top of each other because they might stick.
cakespy at 10:44PM on 10/12/09
This looks fun! I have a ? tho. The recipe is what appears to very similar to what used to be or is sometimes still used as an icing for cupcakes. It gets poured on. Not a frosting but somewhat similar to the thick icing on petit fours. (Fondant like-but a little lighter.) Does anyone know a recipe for that.
Many thanks
Gail
Gail Blackman at 2:40PM on 10/14/09
Sounds good and got me thinking about the use of corn syrup [HFCS] with high glycsemic index # and since most all candy recipes were reworked from about 1967 on why not go back to useing cane sugar or some other granulated sugar such as palm sugar or other sugars with unique flavor tones. It's probably my ignorance as karo syrup has been around longer than I have and it may be necessary to achieve a soft texture to the candy please educate me. This is because I'm a diabetic and if I'm gonna cheat a low glycsemic index would make me feel better about it.
butterfingers at 3:58PM on 10/15/09
I just tried making these. I boiled it for 5 minutes which was probably about a minute too long. It far too stiff. I managed to get two colors formed into logs but not the third one. The two that I managed to snake-ify were too dry to stick to each other. We ate some bits of it though and it tasted good. I'll try again.
Heatherdee at 5:59PM on 10/15/09
@thoomin: this recipe is identical with one that comes from a Washington Post article, but it has temps: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/mighty-appetite/2007/10/getting_handy_with_candy_corn.html
Also, I've had awesome success adding peppermint extract instead of vanilla, dividing the dough into two portions, one colored red, and twisting to make candy canes.
dinosara at 10:21AM on 10/16/09
butterfinger- Corn syrup (like Karo) isn't high in fructose, but is mostly glucose, one half of what makes up sucrose (the other being fructose) and is usually used to reduce uncontrolled crystallization and make a creamier mouthfeel and more consistent result in home-made confections. It's used in making caramel or other sugar syrups for the same reason. It also lends an appealing shine to the product. Any other glucose syrup or invert sugar should have the same effect.
sarahj at 10:48PM on 10/17/09
Would paste (or gel) food colors work the same as liquid food coloring or do you think the color would be too intense?
beckyleeprice at 11:01AM on 10/19/09
Beckyleeprice: Generally the paste food colorings are super concentrated, so you would want to add a lot less. I don't have much experience with them but it's worth a shot. I would just add a very little bit at a time.
cakespy at 6:36PM on 10/19/09
I was wondering if I could use honey instead of corn syrup. I like the taste of Brachs candy corn made with honey.
neiorah at 12:42AM on 10/23/09
I've made two batches now One came out hard as a rock; probably boiled it too hard for those five minutes - should have simmered! I found that adding about a tablespoon of honey with the corn syrup, then adding another tablespoon of honey with the vanilla gets you closer to that Brach's taste. I also dabbed paste colors on - orange and yellow - the colors were fine.
2newfies at 3:32PM on 10/23/09
Okay so I just made this and followed the recipe exactly. I completely agree with the other comments that said that it was boiled too long on a high temperature. The end result was a bunch of crumbs as hard as rocks. My advice is to cook the wet ingredients on medium heat and then turn it down to low and continue stirring for 3 or 4 minutes. It was fun anyway! :)
MaryE at 5:54PM on 10/24/09
I cooked mine to the temps listed in the Washington Post link, and they turned out super soft, like when I made tall narrow pumpkins out of it within 15 minutes they were short and flat. They didn't hold their shape at all. Next time I'll cook it longer.
pictures here: http://sarahjbakes.blogspot.com/2009/10/home-made-candy-corn.html
sarahj at 6:45PM on 10/26/09
You can't just go by a time for boiling when making candy. Your altitude (and I suppose you attitude so some degree . . .) changes the boiling point. The higher the elevation, the longer it takes to get to the boiling point. We need to know the "ball" stage.
Kargyle at 11:21PM on 10/30/09
Whoa, be very careful with this recipe! I was following these instructions, was boiling the corn syrup, butter and sugar. I turned off the heat and added the vanilla, and BOOM, the candy EXPLODED! I was lucky enough to be out of the way.
Follow the instructions on the Washington Post article. They tell you to put the vanilla in to boil, rather than putting it in later.
Otherwise, it's very good so far! That was just a scary moment.
Jewelsie at 1:37PM on 10/31/09
I made these and was lucky enough to have the consistency come out great! I used a thermometer and went a little over the recommended temp of the Wash. Post but way under the cooking time in the recipe posted here. I may try using some honey next time, as recommended. I thought they tasted 'ok' but not really like real candy corn (which I do have a problem with...I am unable to stop eating them once I start) but everyone else that tasted them really liked them because they didn't taste just like candy corn. In any case, they were so cute I didn't care that they didn't taste just like I expected.
mrsmoosie at 4:48PM on 10/31/09
I made these over the weekend and they came out great. Everyone loved them. I did use vanilla bean paste instead of vanilla so it had a richer taste, but other than that, they were very tasty. I need to do some work on making them hold together better, but I only had about 1/4 lose their tips. I did discover if I lightly misted the rolls with cold water before pressing with the rolling pins, it helped stick together better.
sylphon at 1:52PM on 11/02/09