Monday 23 January 2012

Mojito lollies

Wanted to try out a cocktail ,or mocktail in this case,flavoured lollypop.
Not seen these kind of flavours yet in sweet shops, artisan food delis or even food halls in Selfridges and Harrods. Always like to have a look at places like this around London, see what is out there and being done by other foodies like myself.



Tried putting lime and mint inside for extra flavour as after tutorial 
with course members who tested them, they like my ideas but the
flavours needed working on. Something more outrageous and this
Mojito lolly definitely came out trumps compared to the vanilla and orange 
lollies that I made with these.



Mint and lime syrups, 1 tbsp of sugar left to soak with mint and
lime for roughly 4-5 hours. After tasting the flavours, they
needed some oomph so I added more sugar and boiled them
in a saucepan to increase the intensity of the flavour in the syrup.










Used a green food gel which tend to come out brighter and more vivid in the 
colours but noticed that they are quite dark. Noted for next time only a small 
amount will do, especially when you dye everybody's tongues and teeth!







 Some leaked and oozed the juice from the lime which made 
some of them extremely sticky. Taste wise the lime inside came
out quite weak compared to the stronger hints of the mint leaf inside.










Orange Blossom lollies


Orange Blossom flavoured lollies

(Same process as before)
















Sunday 22 January 2012

First batch of lollies!

My first batch of lollies, these were orange blossom and vanilla extract 
flavoured with yellow liquid food colouring and red gel food colouring. 

The plastic moulds started off using 0.5mm vacuum form plastic bought in the 
college shop. I chose clear so I could see if the sugar had hardened underneath.

It was quite tricky to see if the plastic was industry food safe quality but the 
workshop technicians did say it probably would be as long as all the moulds 
would be thoroughly washed and cleaned.

This is my guide should you wish to recreate these at home!





Ice cube tray ready if had left over sugar mixture.



Basic recipe found on Youcast on a Youtube video.
Very helpful but have developed it as I use natural fruit flavourings.

2 cups of white granualted sugar
3/4 cup of room temperature water
1/2 tsp of cream tartar
few drops of colouring and flavouring

Equipment - 

Heavy duty bottom pan
rubber or silicone spatulas and spoons not metal
(metal will not work and be a bugger to clean hard suagr off!)
Gas/electric hob
Measuring cups
Flat tidy surface to prepare ingredients
Bowl of ice cold water big enough to fit required saucepan
Plastic or Silicone moulds


Mix on low heat  and stir until sugar dissolves


Pop in sugar/food thermometer and do not stir!




Once reached 300F on the temperature gauge and turning 
light amber caramel colour, take off the heat and carefully watching 
fingers pop in the ice bath. (Make sure heat has been turned off)

Now is the time to stir in colour and flavours with a plastic spoon, beating quickly til mixed in as air bubbles easily get trapped inside and these will show up in the final lolly.


Spoon out into moulds, working quickly as after about 8 minutes aprox the sugar hardens and becomes difficult towork with. If this happens before you've filled the moulds, pop back on the hob and melt the mixture again. This time do not put in the ice bath as it will solidify too quickly!










Popped 2 lolly sticks in the mould, a sharing lolly where you pull and 
tug each stick not knowing who's going to break off the bigegr bit!









Lovely shiny surfaces on the lolliues and sweets, the colours came out bold and bright.
Look very tasty and inviting!

Candy Floss

As sugar spinning didn't go as well as originally planned, some might say I have cheated but I see it as a practical solution. Here is my candy floss machine! It is meant for ages 12+ but the size is perfect to create small and different flavoured sticks of candy floss at at time. 










Made them quite large, these initial sticks used 3 teaspoons of granulated white sugar.
You need this type of sugar as it has a relatively low melting point and has a glossy finish once melted. It also mixes well with flavourings and juices once heated.