Erythritol Hard Candy

[Kevinpa]

I had my Mad Professor Hat on last night trying to develop a thick erythritol based liquid that I could use as a sub for honey. Although I didn't have much luck with the honey, I did stumble onto some killer hard candy.

I brought and kept a ratio of 3:1 erythritol to water to a slow boil in a non stick pan for approx 5 minutes. At that point I added 1/2 tsp of LorAnn's peanut butter favor oil and let the motion of the low boil incorporate the flavor thru-out for another 5 minutes. The temperature at this point was 300 degrees and I removed it from te heat. I then poured the ultra hot liquid into cooking oil sprayed mini muffin pan. What I ended up with was a very smooth, very hard, non grity piece of peanut butter candy, with no cooling effect. Dang, now I wished I would have used a smaller mold.

[Bfranke]

My mother used to make awesome hard candy, of course it was made with sugar, corn syrup, LorAnn flavoring. Many years she made as much as 25# for gifts. What she did was to oil an 8" x 8" pan, and pour the cooked to temp candy into it. As it cooled, she used a metal spatula to score it. She did this several times, and when cool, she could just tap it on the counter and it would break in to neat 'pillows'. I wonder if you could do this with your cooked candy to make smaller pieces?

Actually, hard candy was something I have wondered about, and hoped one day we would have a recipe.

Bette

[magnamater]

I know you said 3:1. . .but for that amount of flavoring, 3 cups or what?

Yeah, I know, I said no treats! But this does sound promising. . .for the future. I'd want smaller molds. . .maybe order some from lorann.

[Kisal]

Okay ... I'll be making a mini batch of this over the weekend. I have my candy molds out and ready to go, because I was planning to make some more coconut bark (I found some antique molds made of metal). Also, my latest order from netrition arrived yesterday, so I have a lot of the LorAnn oils to play with.

[Kevinpa]

Originally Posted by magnamater

I know you said 3:1. . .but for that amount of flavoring, 3 cups or what?

Yeah, I know, I said no treats! But this does sound promising. . .for the future. I'd want smaller molds. . .maybe order some from lorann.

Originally Posted by Kevinpa

I brought and kept a ratio of 3:1 erythritol to water

When it had boiled down what was left filled up 12 mini muffins.

[That Girl]

my sister used to make candy for the holidays, she would pour the hot mixture on a cookie sheet and when it was cooled she would crack it up w/a hammer. dusted them w/powdered sugar lightly to prevent sticking. that was a great treat. might have to try your recipe. thanks

[Kevinpa]

Let me add that depending on how sweet you like your hard candy you may want to add some form of splenda to this. I for one do not like my hard candy super sweet so I did not.

[Kisal]

I didn't get to play with making the hard candy this weekend, but I did get my yard work finished. On Wednesday, the painters are coming to do the inside of my house, and they're gonna start with the kitchen, so I won't likely get to the candy for a while.

I do have a question, though, Kevin. Instead of using erythritol to make a substitute for honey, would it work just to thicken some DaVinci's sf simple syrup by reduction, and then add honey flavoring to it? I don't have enough experience at this kind of stuff to know why erythritol is the better way to go, so any information would be appreciated.

[Kevinpa]

Originally Posted by Kisal

I do have a question, though, Kevin. Instead of using erythritol to make a substitute for honey, would it work just to thicken some DaVinci's sf simple syrup by reduction, and then add honey flavoring to it? I don't have enough experience at this kind of stuff to know why erythritol is the better way to go, so any information would be appreciated.

Kisal, if you were to heat and reduce sugar water the mixture would thicken because of the sugar in it. Without that sugar you would have water and no matter how much it was reduced, it would never thicken....just evaporate. The same thing happens with davinci, it would never thicken....just evaporate. This is why most commercial fake honey's have maltitol in it for the sugar like properties. I was experimenting to try and find an alternative that was more friendly to the digestion. The real tough part is being able to do it without the very strong crystallization of erythritol getting in the way. One thing is certain, it will take more than simple reduction to make it work.

[Kisal]

Got it! Thank you, Kevin!

[sabal5]

Originally Posted by Kevinpa

I had my Mad Professor Hat on last night trying to develop a thick erythritol based liquid that I could use as a sub for honey. Although I didn't have much luck with the honey, I did stumble onto some killer hard candy.

I brought and kept a ratio of 3:1 erythritol to water to a slow boil in a non stick pan for approx 5 minutes. At that point I added 1/2 tsp of LorAnn's peanut butter favor oil and let the motion of the low boil incorporate the flavor thru-out for another 5 minutes. The temperature at this point was 300 degrees and I removed it from te heat. I then poured the ultra hot liquid into cooking oil sprayed mini muffin pan. What I ended up with was a very smooth, very hard, non grity piece of peanut butter candy, with no cooling effect. Dang, now I wished I would have used a smaller mold.

Do you think there's a way to create something like a "Coffee Nip" using this recipe? (Nestlé USA | Find Nestlé Brands)

[Kevinpa]

I think lorann oils has a coffee flavor you could use, but it would be just hard candy and not have the chewy center like nips do.

[sabal5]

Originally Posted by Kevinpa

I think lorann oils has a coffee flavor you could use, but it would be just hard candy and not have the chewy center like nips do.

Do you think it might turn out chewy-er if cooked for less time?

[Kevinpa]

Originally Posted by sabal5

Do you think it might turn out chewy-er if cooked for less time?

no, erythritol crystalizes very quickly.

[sabal5]

Originally Posted by Kevinpa

no, erythritol crystalizes very quickly.

Oh, that's too bad. Well, it was nice to dream for a while! LOL

Thanks, Kevin.

[Soobee]

What if you layered your candy? First layer erythritol hard coffee-flavored candy. Second layer coffee flavored fudge. Third layer erythritol coffee-flavored candy.

[Kevinpa]

Originally Posted by Soobee

What if you layered your candy? First layer erythritol hard coffee-flavored candy. Second layer coffee flavored fudge. Third layer erythritol coffee-flavored candy.

That may work as long as the hot candy didnt melt the fudge. I never tried it though.

[jacksmixedtape]

I wonder why this doesn't have the cooling effect. I was trying to make candy the other day with erythritol and it crystallized quickly and became cloudy and hard to pour, sort of like fudge that has set too quickly. It had a very strong cooling effect.

I will have to follow your recipe exactly and try this! Sounds great. I wonder if it'd be possible to make a gooey caramel topping for the honey consistency. Perhaps if you boiled it at a hot enough temp like with caramel making?

[CreekWatcher]

Originally Posted by jacksmixedtape

I wonder why this doesn't have the cooling effect. I was trying to make candy the other day with erythritol and it crystallized quickly and became cloudy and hard to pour, sort of like fudge that has set too quickly. It had a very strong cooling effect.

I will have to follow your recipe exactly and try this! Sounds great. I wonder if it'd be possible to make a gooey caramel topping for the honey consistency. Perhaps if you boiled it at a hot enough temp like with caramel making?

Scott123 reported some time ago that he made a good caramel sauce with a mixture of sugar subs, poly-d primarily; it's in the poly-d sticky for this forum, post # 47 page 2.