Homemade gum drops are a fun and tasty science experiment you can easily make at home. Give this colorful candy making a try!
Gum drops are something I recommend every home cook make at least once. Not only are they fun and cute, it’s actually really good practice in the science of cooking. Lots of different chemical reactions are happening in this recipe and it is a fun experience to watch the process as it moves along. Sure, you can’t eat the candies for a few days, but it’s a great kitchen experiment. Kids will love watching the process as well as eating the results. I do love some good, clean kitchen fun!
Homemade Gumdrops
- 6 envelopes
- unflavored gelatin
- 1 cup cold water
- 1½ cups boiling water
- 4 cups sugar
- ¼ tsp flavored extract (lemon, orange, peppermint, etc)
- food coloring
- extra sugar for coating (1/2 cup)
- In a large pot (yes, a large stew pot, you'll need it!), stir together the gelatin and cold water. Let sit 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, let the additional water come to a boil in a small saucepan or in the microwave.
- Pour the boiling water over the gelatin mixture and stir until dissolved, about 1 minute.
- Stir in the sugar.
- Place the pot over a burner at medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Let simmer for about 25 minutes stirring constantly and scraping sides to avoid burning any sugar. The mixture will get quite thick.
- Remove from heat and stir in the flavor extract of your choice. Next, add food coloring, or divide the mixture among bowls and add food coloring for multiple colors.
- Pour gelatin into silicone mold
- Refrigerate 8 hours.
- Remove candy from molds. If you need to cut the candies, run your knife under hot water before each cut to avoid sticking. Roll in extra sugar to coat.
- Place on a wax paper lined tray. Cover with a tea towel and let sit at room temperature for 48 hours to crystalize.
2-4 silicone candy molds
Note: Want sour candies? Instead of rolling the candies in plain sugar, add a tablespoon or two of citric acid.
What kind of candy mold should I use?
I used a square silicone mold
and then cut each square into 4 pieces so that the candies would be bite sized, but there are lots of other options. Everything from squares and circles to cartoon, bugs, and robots.
Anonymous says
what can I use instead of the silicone molds?
Rachel Farnsworth says
The silicone pans make a HUGE difference in your ability to get the candy easily out of the mold. However, you could always use a shallow pan and simply cut it into pieces. I'd recommend glass.
Michelle Nahom says
What a fun idea! I wonder if this is similar to making gummies…my youngest son went through a science phase where he was making them nonstop for him and his friends. I know I was buying him the unflavored gelatin but I never watched him to see what he was doing. I'll have to try this for myself!
July says
What is the quantity of gelatine in one sachet as I have 50gms packet.
Rachel Farnsworth says
1 packet is 7 grams
Jacque says
Can this recipe be cut in half?
Rachel Farnsworth says
Not really. There’s a lot of chemistry involved in making gumdrops and halving or multiplying the recipe should only be done with a lot of candy making experience.
Jacque says
Ok! Thank you for getting back to me. I’m making a batch right now ❤