Candy Conversation Hearts

[Darienne]

Everyone has seen those little sugar pastel-colored hearts with silly sayings on them...'love ya', 'be mine'...in the grocery stores. Yes, they taste awful , but children love them and this is about children.

I made a batch of this candy in February, colored and flavored it in 4 sections, rolled and cut it into largish shapes, allowed it to dry 2 days...it takes at least a day to dry out...made Royal icing in several colors, bagged it and sent it all to the Multicultural Center in Moab for the little Hispanic children who are learning English. They had a ball decorating the shapes and I only wish that I had photos. These little kids have so little, in a land of so much, and it is really something to watch their joy.

Now I am going to make some pastel colored little critters and a bunch of chocolate eggs for the Easter season.

The recipe is from About Candy.com by Elizabeth LaBau. It contains a little bit of the following: gelatin, corn syrup, 1/2 cup of water and 2 lbs of icing sugar which you mix in cup by cup. My Black & Decker hand mixer died two weeks ago and I fear greatly using my brand new KA handmixer. I have arranged with the local Seniors' Center to use their stand mixer. OK so far.

Questions:

* how long might this candy keep in a covered container without going bad in some way? I suspect for half of forever. The recipe says to store in an airtight container at room temperature, but gives no time frame. I would like to get this job done as soon as possible. (I'll make the icing at the last minute.)

* What if I made the stuff, cut it, dried it and put it in the freezer? Would this change the composition of the stuff at all? I suspect not, but then I have learned so many things that I was wrong about in the last few months...like about the whipping of heavy cream.

This candy is wonderful for children. If you had two days, you could have the children basically make it with supervision one day and then decorate it the second day.

Edited March 25, 2009 by Darienne (log)

[tmriga]

I love those colors, and want the same colors for the shop I would like to open some day.

I would be hesitant to freeze them, because I have seen what condensation does to sugar products which have been removed from a freezer. If nothing else, it may bleed out the color on the surface, or cause the sugar to re-crystallize on the outside.

On the other hand, you are right, they do last "half of forever" in an airtight container, away from bright light (prolonged exposure to bright light (UV or fluorescent) can fade the colors, especially red or anything with red in it).

Theresa

[Darienne]

I love those colors, and want the same colors for the shop I would like to open some day.

I would be hesitant to freeze them, because I have seen what condensation does to sugar products which have been removed from a freezer.  If nothing else, it may bleed out the color on the surface, or cause the sugar to re-crystallize on the outside.

On the other hand, you are right, they do last "half of forever" in an airtight container, away from bright light (prolonged exposure to bright light (UV or fluorescent) can fade the colors, especially red or anything with red in it).

Theresa

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That sounds good. Make them ASAP, etc, and put them in an airtight container in the closet or whatever for using on April 6 or 9 depending upon the wishes of my next-door neighbor/landlady/friend, Denny, who works with the kids.

[Lisa Shock]

As far as I know, those candies are pastillage -which lasts for decades. I'd store them with some dessicant packets if you have a humid environs.

[Darienne]

As far as I know, those candies are pastillage -which lasts for decades. I'd store them with some dessicant packets if you have a humid environs.

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I laughed out loud when I looked up the word pastillage and got the eGullet pastillage demo. Here I was making this thing and had no idea that it had this other name. Another learning experience.

So if it lasts forever, then I'll make it ASAP. What a hoot! I've watched those crazy TV food challenges a couple of times to see who can make the biggest Walt Disney cake or something, and the chefs are always judged partly on their pastillage. Ooooh, thought I. I wonder what pastillage is and how hard it is to make. I'll try it someday.

Thanks so much, Lisa, you made my day.

[Lisa Shock]

Have fun with it! My advice is to make a large batch and wrap it up quickly and store in the fridge. It will last a week or more before possibly turning moldy.

You can, of course, add color and flavors to it. The other big-name candy made from pastillage is Necco Wafers.

Experiment with a small amount before committing to a larger project. It dries quickly. I know that thicker pieces can take days to fully dry, but, it develops a skin pretty quickly and if you manipulate it while it is wet inside with a skin on the outside, it can get a funny wrinkly texture. The wrinkles can be sanded off, but, that's a lot of work on a tiny candy.

Good luck! Maybe you can post some pics when you're done?

[Darienne]

Have fun with it! My advice is to make a large batch and wrap it up quickly and store in the fridge. It will last a week or more before possibly turning moldy.

You can, of course, add color and flavors to it. The other big-name candy made from pastillage is Necco Wafers.

Experiment with a small amount before committing to a larger project. It dries quickly. I know that thicker pieces can take days to fully dry, but, it develops a skin pretty quickly and if you manipulate it while it is wet inside with a skin on the outside, it can get a funny wrinkly texture. The wrinkles can be sanded off, but, that's a lot of work on a tiny candy.

Good luck! Maybe you can post some pics when you're done?

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Thanks. This time I will get photos.

[reenicake]

another thing you might want to try if the kids make the candy themselves (rolling and cutting etc) is making impressions in the shapes with smaller cutters, or stamps, or other textured (food safe) stuff like brushes.

It would be like clay that you can eat.

[Darienne]

another thing you might want to try if the kids make the candy themselves (rolling and cutting etc) is making impressions in the shapes with smaller cutters, or stamps, or other textured (food safe) stuff like brushes.

It would be like clay that you can eat.

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An excellent idea. I'll put it to my friend and see if she thinks it could work for the group.

[Darienne]

In addition to the basic ingredients of 10x sugar, gelatin and water, the Aboutcandy.com recipe for what I now know is pastillage calls for 2 tsp corn syrup and the use of a stand mixer. (I probably burnt out my B&B hand mixer making the stuff.)

The two recipes used by Chefette in her wonderful eG tutorial on making and using pastillage call for corn syrup and vinegar in both of them and a stand mixer. She credits Ewald Notter for her recipes.

On the other hand, RLB calls for far more gelatin, additional cornstarch and an optional pinch of cream of tartar and she mixes it by hand.

I know that I am comparing by this time oranges and cucumbers. I suppose the question embedded in all of this is: has anyone used the RLB recipe?

I don't have a stand mixer. I am not willing to test my new KA hand mixer. I have to go to quite a lot of trouble to use someone else's stand mixer. So I might try the RLB recipe and wonder how it compares.... Considering I am making candies and not cake decorations....

Thanks.

[alanamoana]

i was taught to use a mixer, but my most recent boss had me make it by hand. no biggie to do so. use gloves and knead until smooth! just make sure your gelatin mixture isn't too hot when you add it so you don't burn yourself.

[Darienne]

i was taught to use a mixer, but my most recent boss had me make it by hand.  no biggie to do so.  use gloves and knead until smooth!  just make sure your gelatin mixture isn't too hot when you add it so you don't burn yourself.

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Thanks, I think I'll do just that, but I'll use the recipe from Candy.com just to make sure that the pieces are strong enough to withstand children and their enthusiasm. I don't know how strong the RLB recipe would be. At least, not at this point in my career.

ps. Bought some Neccho wafers and looked up the company. It started in the 1800s and the name stands for New England Confectionery Company. Interesting website.

Edited March 30, 2009 by Darienne (log)