A few months ago we launched our new cook book with a big ol’ party at our favorite cooking store, Orson Gygi in Salt Lake City. Hundreds of you showed up to say hello, have some munchies, and celebrate with us. (Thank you!) It was seriously one of the best days ever. Since neither Kate nor I live in Salt Lake City, every time we do an event at Orson Gygi we stock up on goodies for ourselves. This past trip I spent a really long time in their aisle of colors and flavorings, partially just out of sheer awe at the selection. They have literally hundreds of flavors, half of which I never knew existed.
I sat there wanting to buy one of everything, but not even knowing what I would use them for. That’s when I remembered last Christmas when my friend Cami borrowed some peppermint oil from me to make homemade gumdrops. She brought over a plate of the sparkled jewels when she was done and they were so fun to eat! I thought it would be the perfect thing to stock up on flavors and colors for so I grabbed a few at Orson Gygi that day. And then I ordered just a few more on-line. I have difficulty making decisions, okay?
This is the basic recipe you see all over the place for “Homemade Gumdrops” but I think that name is a bit misleading. These aren’t as chewy and sticky as a gumdrop, they’re more soft and jelly-like. Almost like (and I really hate to use this comparison, because they’re way better than this- I swear) a glorified Jell-O jiggler. But they’re delicious and sparkly and kind of addicting. My kids couldn’t keep their little fingers away from these, and they loved helping smell the flavors and pick color combos.
These take quite a bit of gelatin, you’ll need a couple of boxes at least. Keep in mind you’re buying unflavored gelatin (which is found near the baking supplies and Jell-O in the grocery store.) And yes, all of that sugar is going in. C’mon, it’s candy!
To use unflavored gelatin, you first soften it by sprinkling it over cold water. It will instantly take form as the granules of gelatin absorb the water.
After it softens, add boiling water to dissolve it and you’ll have a liquid. Once the gelatin is mixed in and dissolved, add the sugar.
Bring this mixture to a boil on the stove-top. You’ll want to keep an eye on it, and like, maybe not turn it up crazy high because you’re too impatient to wait for it to come to a boil and then leave it like that while you go feed your kids Corn Pops for lunch and get distracted when said Corn Pops end up in a splat across your freshly mopped kitchen floor. If that happens, you might end up with sticky-scalding-jelly-sugar all over your brand new (and therefore pristinely clean) stove top.
The stove-top that you ironically snapped a photo of just minutes before, simply because it was so pretty and so, so clean and the fact that it’s shaped like a star makes you smile.
The same burner you then spent approximately 47 minutes cleaning.
Tips from a pro, folks.
K, back to cooking. Once the mixture finishes boiling remove it from the heat. At this point, it’s pretty much done and you can color and flavor it. (I like that there are Christmas lights flickering in this photo!)
It will easily make 2 8×8 pans if you want to just to do two colors (like red and green). If you want to experiment with a variety of colors and flavors, you can use any containers. I used a bunch of little plastic rectangular food-storage containers and I found it easiest to line them with plastic wrap and spray the plastic wrap with non-stick spray. You can pour the sugar mixture directly into the containers first and then add colors and flavors, but I mixed small batches in a mixing bowls first and then poured them in.
Are you noticing the change in background in these photos? These are my pretty new counter tops in my new kitchen. I’ve gotten lots of requests to see photos of my new cooking space so as soon as I can get through Christmas I’ll take some photos of it to show you guys. I love, love, love how it all turned out.
If you’re experimenting with small batches in random-sized containers, a good trick is to use a measuring cup to measure how much water fills the container up about 1/2 inch so you know how much sugar mixture to color.
Add food coloring and flavoring as you like. I used oils and started with about 1/8 teaspoon per cup of sugar mixture, and increased to taste from there. I’m using oils, but regular extracts will work fine too. If you can find oil, they work particularly well in things like this because you don’t run the risk of having an alcohol-ish after taste from extract. The mixture should be cool enough to test by this point so you can go by taste.
One of my favorites was coconut. Did you know they make white food coloring? I learned that from Bridget, who uses it to make her white icing bright white.
Once they’re in their containers or pans, chill them for at least 4 hours in the fridge. When they’re chilled and set, pull the mixture out by the plastic and peel off onto a cutting board that’s been sprinkled in sugar. Since I was making small batches, I placed them directly on a plate of sugar and turned to coat all sides.
Use a sharp knife (it might help to coat with cooking spray) to cut into cubes and roll the cubes in sugar. It helps to have a plate of sugar nearby to coat the sticky sides and make cutting easier. I also found we all liked these much better in smaller pieces, like 1/2 inch squares as opposed to 1 inch squares.
Leave the candies out at room temp for a day or two (overnight is fine) so the sugar can crystallize and form a crunchy exterior.
We did blue with blueberry, green with lime, lemon with yellow, tangerine with orange, strawberry-kiwi with pink, and coconut with white.
People are always asking us for goodies that pack and ship well- and these fit the bill!
I had excellent intentions of making a printable to go with these (Have a Holly-Jelly Christmas??) but I opted to take a nap today instead. Yes, really. So if anyone can think of a particularly catchy phrase for a printable I just might make one up for ya!
Sparkly Fruit Gummies
Recipe slightly adapted from LHJ Magazine
6 tablespoons unflavored gelatin (about 8 envelopes*)
1 1/2 cups cold water
2 1/4 cups boiling water
6 cups sugar, plus extra for coating
Extract or flavored oil
Food coloring
*Measure out the gelatin in tablespoons, as it may be more than 8 envelopes. If you have a partial pack at 6 tablespoons, just add all of the partial pack.
1. Line 2 8-x-8-inch pans, or a variety of smaller rectangular containers with plastic wrap and spray with non-stick spray. Set aside. Sprinkle gelatin evenly over the cold water in a 6-quart pot. Let sit for 5 minutes, then add the boiling water and stir until gelatin dissolves. Stir in sugar.
2. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and gently simmer for 25 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. At this point you may pour the mixture into the prepared pans and then add flavors and colors as desired, or carefully pour hot mixture into a mixing bowl in batches to color and flavor and then pour the mixture into the prepared pans. Cover finished containers with plastic and chill at least 4 hours or overnight.
3. Lift plastic from pans and peel off candy. Turn candy onto a cutting board that’s been sprinkled with sugar. Coat a sharp knife with cooking spray, then cut candy into 1/2-inch cubes. Roll in sugar.
4. Leave candies on parchment, foil, or waxed paper at room temperature for one to two days to allow the outside to crystallize. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.
PS: LAST DAY to enter our fantastic giveaway! Click here for the details!
(Edit: Lots of people have asked about the cute mason jar with the cut-out lid in the photo above. It’s from Orson Gygi, too!)
Questions & Reviews
So, if you package these together, will the flavors start to mix? I know if I even put different kinds of cookies in a single tin, they start tasting like each other… kinda weird.
I’ve had a bag of mixed flavors for several days now and there’s no flavor mixing. I think the sugar coating keeps the flavor in!
gorgeous!!
First time commenting! I am SO excited to see this recipe. Our family goes to a cabin in Northern Cali every year, and they have a “Old West” style town nearby called Columbia. They have a store that sells only old-fashioned style candy, and this is one of the things we bring home BAGS and BAGS of every year. I am excited to experiment and see if we can get the same flavors- I have a feeling they may have used fruit juice in their version. When we cooked up our first (and only so far) batch today, we had a LOT of foaming on top when done that I didn’t notice with yours. So much so it had to be skimmed or cut off after solidifying. Any ideas?
P.S. This is Kate’s cousin that stopped by at the Deseret Book signing in Mesa with my boys. Loving the posts you guys do.
Hi Kate’s cousin! I only had foaming on one color (and all of my colors came from the same batch) so I’m not sure why that is!
Have yourself a GUMMY little Christmas? …visions of GUMMIES danced in their heads? Haha, those are pretty bad. 🙂 But these look fantastic!
Haha, no I like those!
These look way fun and could be very festive during the holidays.
Did I miss the part about home much extract to use?
It’s really just to taste. I noted in the post that I was working with 1 C of sugar syrup at a time and I used 1/8-1/4 teaspoon oil.
Sarah- I wanna see pics of your new house!
those look soooo good! maybe for a printable you could say “may your days be merry and bright” or something, since they are bright and colorful…. I’m trying to think of a way to use sugar and spice… but nothing is coming right now!
Cute!
Awesome! I just saw a similar recipe in Sunset Magazine and thought they looked like fun! I’m guessing you can’t just use fresh squeezed orange, lemon or tangerine juice and need to use the extract, right? The Sunset article used liquid pectin but I was hoping
you could use the unflavored gelatin (which I have on hand) 🙂
Have you experimented with substituting fruit juice for some of the sugar/water combo? Do you think it might work? I have been wanting to try making my own gumdrops/gummies for a while, and yours look amazing! Love OBB!
The knox gelatine boxes always have the recipe for knox blocks on the back- and that’s pretty much what it is, but with fruit juice. You could compare that!
I totally love that you fed your kids corn pops for lunch, its so good to know that I’m not the only one that has days like that. These little gummies look like so much fun, I can’t wait to try them!
FYI: When I clicked on Bridget’s link I was redirected to the Thermador website instead of hers.
Thanks Kay- I fixed it!
These look like they could be a homemade version of a very popular English sweet (candy for you Americans) called Fruit Pastilles – which are very yummy, and my hubbie’s favourite.
Cute idea. . . Thanks Sara. I’ve been looking for milk-free treat recipe this Christmas – something Brigham can enjoy with the rest of us. I thought about suckers but these look SO MUCH better!
Can I substitute gelatin with pectin?
No idea, sorry 🙂
The Sunset recipe uses liquid pectin but you’ll have to compare recipes for measurements
They look like they would be fun to make and eat! Silly question, but where did you find the cloth napkin/dish towel with the stripes. I would love to have some of those. Thanks!
Jennifer, those are from Pine Cone Hill. So cute!
I think you must have picked your colors just to match your napkin for photographic purposes! That was the coolest! I loved your beautiful star stove burner, and am super sorry you had to initiate it with such a sugary mess. That must have been fun times cleaning it up. Anxious to see pictures of your gorgeous new kitchen!
Love these! I spotted a similar recipe in Sunset magazine (Dec 2012 issue) and have been meaning to give it a try. Yours are beautiful! What about a printable that relates to the poem “The Night Before Christmas” where it says “Santa had a broad face and a little round belly that shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly!” I might print that part of the poem on a Santa shape to attach as gifts with the recipe printed on the back. What do you think?
These look so delicious!
I must make these!! So cute!
I have to be honest, I love your recipes, but what really keeps me hooked on Our Best Bites is how much you both make me laugh. Sometimes it’s just a Corn Pops for lunch day.
Wow! I never thought about making gumdrops – those are so adorable!
These look amazing! Can’t wait to make them. So if I’m using extracts instead of oils, are the amounts about the same? Is 1/4 t. extract per cup about the same as 1/4 t. oil or do I need more extract than oil? Thanks.
Generally speaking, you usually need a little more extract than oil, but I would start with a little and just go to taste.
Thank you! I spent an hour last night searching for a recipe to do this and came up with nothing! I plan to coat them with chocolate…think it’ll work?
Hmm, I don’t see why not. You’ll probably still need to coat them in sugar though, and then in chocolate.
I did, and they were delicious…
My First thought was “I can’t wait to try this” Followed directly by… “I need to go and get some new flavorings/oils…” My husband may not be so thrilled. 🙂
These look so yummy and wheat free – bonus:)
This is a cute idea! I love colorful candy.
OK, so totally saw that extracts are OK in your post, so never mind. LOL However, which food colorings did you buy at Orson Gygi. The soft gel ones?
I used soft gel colors, but mostly just because my liquid ones are still packed in a box somewhere! Liquid color tends to be better for coloring liquids, if you use soft gels, you just have to whisk them really really well and you still might end up with little specks of color in there, mostly just with really dark colors.
Holy coolness!! I so want to try these!! So since the recipe says extracts or oils, then my peppermint and coconut Watkins extracts from Walmart should work? LOL (seriously, though, just checking…) Love the white color for the coconut and nice tip for that for icing too!! Can’t wait to try that. I live about 15 minutes away from Orson Gygi and yet, I never go, mainly because my husband would die when I brought home so much stuff that he would say I don’t need. LOL
So pretty! (and so sorry about the stove mess…ugh!) My whole family would love these.