By kelly / inspired edibles 22 Comments
We’re just getting back from a little road trip down the coast (LA) and into the southeastern interior of California (Mojave/Colorado deserts), Arizona (Flagstaff, Grand Canyon) and Nevada (Vegas).
We drove over 2 thousand miles in 4 days but it was worth every neck cramp, backseat brawl, and early morning rise. There was a jacuzzi at dawn in a pine forest (complete with a visit from a wild rabbit), roadside frisbee under dark desert skies and some rather colorful scenery on the Strip to keep us all amused. There was also an amazing night of eats and entertainment to kick it all offhere.
So while I gather and organize the photos from our trip and we settle back into school, work and life, I’m sharing a simple and festive recipe for homemade gummy candy with you today!
If you like gummies (or know someone who does), this is a really fun idea — you can use any mold you like and with all the online shopping options that exist these days (read Amazon), it’s easier than ever to find just about any shape, size or theme you’re looking for (and quick delivery too ;-), so have fun exploring.
I strongly recommend that you seek out silicone molds wherever possible because they make the task of unmolding – which turns out to be not such a small task at all – much (much) easier. You can certainly make this recipe using a traditional chocolate/candy mold (plastic) as I have done here but you might find yourself pulling out your hair and a toenail in the process. I have included tips in the Nutrition & Cooking Notes below to guide you through the later, just in case.
This recipe uses only four basic ingredients with a base of natural fruit and vegetable juice. I went with a company headquartered around the corner from us here in Half Moon Baybut you can work with any quality juice of preference. The resulting gummy candy is slightly softer than the commercially processed candy but I think we can agree that’s not a bad thing. My teenage boys had no trouble gobbling these love bunnies up. Hope you and yours enjoy them too!
Homemade Gummy Bunnies!
Per Batch (use a different colour/type of juice for each batch):
- 1/2 cup all natural fruit or vegetable juice
- 4 Tbsp fresh lime or lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp honey or pure maple syrup
- 2 Tbsp unflavored gelatin powder dissolved into 4 Tbsp boiling water, (consider agar-agar for a plant-based gelling agent)
Each batch makes approximately 50 mini bunnies (using a 1-1/8″- 1-3/8″ by 1/4″ mold)
Nutrition & Cooking Notes:
- As mentioned above, silicone molds are preferred for unmolding however if you cannot find one you may wish to gently spray the interior of a candy/chocolate (plastic) mold with a touch of olive oil before pouring the gummy mixture.This will help enormously with unmolding.A little dab will do and you can work the oil into all the nooks andcavities of your mold with your index finger. The oil taste dissipates quickly once the candy is unmolded. The trick is to allow the gummies to get nice and cold/hard in the fridge before trying to release them (doing otherwise is an exercise in complete frustration that may lead to inadvertent utterances ;-).
- Choose an assortment of fruit and/or vegetable juices as desired for your base. Some natural juices have extraordinary colours, so you can really have fun with it. I used mango, carrot, strawberry and blueberry. Adding the lime/lemon can change the colour of the juice (tends to make it lighter) but that too can create a beautiful effect. We found the carrot juice really dazzling.
- If you like your gummies on the sour side, and who can blame you, adding more lime or lemon juice is the trick. The current recipe offers a little kick but if you prefer predominantly sour, you can increase the citrus content relative to the juice base (try a half cup lime or lemon and a quarter cup frut/veg juice) for a more pronounced pucker effect ;-).
Directions:
- Be sure to have your molds ready as the gelatin will set fairly quickly once added to the juice mixture. If you are using a plastic mold, you may wish to gently spray the interior with olive oil to assist with unmolding – just a little dab will do and you can work it into all the nooks and cavities of your mold.
- In a small bowl, dissolve 2 Tbsp of gelatin powder into 4 Tbsp of boiling water – whisk the gelatin until it is fully dissolved into the water. Set gelatin slurry aside to hydrate (or ‘bloom’).
- Meanwhile, place fruit or vegetable juice of choice in a bowl and whisk in lime (or lemon juice) and honey (or maple syrup).
- Give the gelatin slurry a final whisk before adding it to the juice mixture, whisking to fully integrate.
- Working quickly but carefully, transfer the mixture into a pouring device (I used a large measuring cup with a pouring snout) and begin pouring the gummy mixture into the molds just until almost full.
- If the mixture solidifies before you have finished pouring it into the molds, you can reheat the remaining mixture in a pot on the stove top for a moment and continue pouring.
- Allow the mold/s to sit for a moment before carefully transferring to the fridge and allowing the gummies to solidify fully before unmolding (the gummies should no longer be sticky when you touch the backs). If you are pressed for time, you can cool the molds in the freezer but be careful not to burn the little guys.
- We find the gummies store best in an airtight container in the fridge.
- The nutrition facts below are based on a generic all natural mixture of fruit juice (not a particular brand).
© Inspired Edibles
