Saturday, November 6, 2010

Noms - Gummi Candies

My fiancé and I picked up this candy cookbook a while back and I just adore this book. I made some gummi candies using the "gummy bear" recipe it has. It's the second time I've used this recipe. I'm trying to make some of my candies be deliciously sour, so I'm experimenting around now.

WELL! I made them, impatiently waited for them to cool after pouring [i.e. I put them in the freezer for a short while], then cut them. Tip: Pizza cutters are amazing for this. Knives are a terrible, terrible idea.
Like delicious pieces of stained glass.
ANGLES, OH MAN
Yellow brick road?


Okay enough of that.   Now for coating them, I go with superfine sugar. For superfine sugar, I just throw granulated sugar into a blender for a minute to mash that stuff up well. Now that I have my citric acid, I went with about an 8:1 ratio of sugar to citric acid. Like I said, experimenting. I didn't really account for how sweet the candy itself would be against the coating.


Mmmm...
Coated them all, separated them out, going to leave it out overnight and hope it firms up a bit more.



Next time: I'm going to add more citric acid into the sugar mixture of the candy itself. I'm having issues, though. I'm unsure how to make the candy firmer. Is it something to do with the amount of water going into the gelatin mixture or what? I don't like how super chewy and flimsy this stuff is. It makes me feel like my blood is thickening with every piece of this stuff is. Haha... :<

Monday, November 1, 2010

Polymer Clay - Boo's new hat!

Last year, I made a Christmas ornament for my boyfriend(fiancé) which was Boo (From Mario!) with a Santa hat.   See below(photos from before he was glazed :<) :
*cackle*
   I love him. He's great. However my fiancé's complaint is that his Santa hat is no bueno for the rest of the year! I agree.

He'll look absolutely smashing!
I'm already getting started on making some Christmas presents, so whatever. Boo will receive a dapper little top hat this holiday season.



For inquiring minds:  Boo is an aluminum foil core covered in polymer clay. While I didn't capture it in the picture, his backside does taper out into a tail. Hats have a hole run through them before baking big enough for the hanging loop to be strung through it and hold it on.