Gingerbread Exchange Community

Hard Candy (Gingerbread House Windows & Ponds)

One of the quickest and easiest candies you can make! If using molds, be sure to use molds designed for high temperatures. Cook in a heavy saucepan, no more than two-quart capacity. This may be used to make windows for Gingerbread houses, but you have to work quick and safely - this mixture is VERY HOT and dries VERY FAST.

1 cup granulated cane sugar
1/3 cup hot water
1/3 cup light com syrup

Combine sugar, hot water and corn syrup in a heavy saucepan. Place on high heat and stir with a wooden spoon until all sugar crystals are dissolved. Wash down sides of pan with a pastry brush dipped in hot water. Clip on thermometer. Continue cooking, without stirring, to 290F, then remove from heat. Entire cooking process takes about ten minutes.

If desired, add flavoring and food color and stir to blend.

If using for Gingerbread House windows - place your Gingerbread piece on aluminum foil and pour candy into the window area until desired window thickness.

For Gingerbread House ponds - Place a piece of blue paper onto a cookie sheet or cutting board.  Pour a puddle of clear hard candy onto the blue paper into the shape of the pond/water desired.  This provides the look of depth, as you look through the clear candy onto the blue paper.  Let harden (about 10 minutes) and place the blue paper/hard candy onto your Gingerbread display yard and apply frosting around the edges to create the desired shape.

I have tried both hard candy and gelatin sheets - in the humidity and warmth of our summer Christmas the gelatin sheets curled, and the hard candy ran.   

Does anyone know if Isomalt candy is likely to set more stably than crushed down hard candy?  I was thinking of switching to Isomalt this year, but only if it won't run out of my windows like the candy did last year! Yellow/orange streaks down blue walls meant I had to pipe a lot more running vines over my house than I anticipated!  Camouflage covered a multitude of sins on last years' project