These totally remind me of walking through The Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas!  You know those amazing  glass flowers that hang from the ceiling?  Well, I don’t know if they are still there but they are so beautiful…  This project is definitely easier when you have a couple people assisting (and you aren’t trying to take pictures along the way of the process).  Candy is a funny thing.  I don’t play with sugar often, but I wanted to share this with you before Valentine’s Day.  Nothing like waiting til the last minute, right?  The first time we made them, I was a slightly impatient and didn’t wait until the “Hard Crack” stage on the candy thermometer…If you know me at all this shouldn’t surprise you. They looked good, tasted good, but after a few minutes began to droop like wilting flowers.  This time, I was determined to WAIT!!!  Patience, Patience….UGH

To make lollipops, you don’t need many ingredients…

The picture above does not include the Sugar and Water, but basically its a good idea to get everything situated before you start the stove top because once it reaches the hard crack stage, you cannot doddle at all!  Get your pot ready with the thermometer, sugar, corn syrup and water.

Put some parchment paper down on your work space and get the food colorings open and ready as well as an ice bowl.

Once the liquids boil and reach the hard crack stage, stir in the flavor (strawberry, root beer, cherry or whatever) and remove from heat.  Immediately dip the pot in an ice water bathe.  I didn’t get a picture of this but our bowl was full of snow!  This is very hot and not something a child should do.  I had Charlotte, who is 15 on stand by for the coloring.  Be ready to move quickly and pour little circles of goodness out on your parchment paper.

Then start dropping a drop or two of food coloring (1 is plenty and it is difficult to do 2 colors on all of them because it does begin to harden fast) onto each circle and swirl it around with a toothpick.  Place your sticks in now as well.  If you want you can make larger ones like the picture at the top or you can make smaller ones.  This batch makes about 16-18 smaller Lollipops.

They are a lot of fun!

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Sugar
• 2/3 Cups Corn Syrup
• 2/3 Cups Water
• Food Coloring
• 1/2 tsp. Flavoring

Directions:

You will need a candy thermometer and a pot.  Bring the sugar, corn syrup and water to a boil.  Once it reaches Hard Crack stage, add the flavoring and remove from heat.  Dip the pot in a ice water bath to stop the cooking and quickly (and carefully) pour small circles of the liquid onto your parchment paper or lined baking sheet.  Decorate by dropping food colors and swirling with a toothpick.  Add the sticks and voila. Beautiful…and tasty!