Homemade Gumdrops

Gumdrops were a favorite sweet of mine growing up. However, my recent rediscovery of them has left me a little disappointed: maybe the quality has gone down since I was a kid, or maybe my tastebuds are more refined. Either way, I felt the need to try making some with actual fruit juice...actually, I felt compelled to make pear-flavored gumdrops shaped like slugs.



Homemade Gumdrops, recipe i found on whatscookingamerica.net (which has some good basic candy recipes, by the way)

3/4 cup fruit juice
1 (1 3/4 oz) pkg of powdered pectin (like used for making jam)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
optional food coloring to match juice and make it look more colorful

first, prep a standard size loaf pan by greasing. then line with tin foil and grease that too.

1. over low heat in a small saucepan mix the granulated sugar and corn syrup until the sugar is fully dissolved. turn the heat up to medium, insert a candy thermometer and cook until 280 deg F. (soft crack stage) if you don't have a candy thermometer, you can test the sugar stage by dropping a bit into a glass of cold-ish water. the syrup is ready when it freezes into threads (not a ball) that are still soft.
2. while the sugar gets to temp, put the fruit juice, baking soda and pectin in a medium saucepan over medium heat. this mixture will foam up a bit like a science project volcano. bring the mixture to a boil and then lower the heat and do not let it boil again.
3. when the syrup is ready, pour it into the juice mixture in a slow stream, stirring constantly. remove from heat and stir in food coloring if using. let stand a moment, as some juices will have foam on top still and it'll need to be skimmed off.
4. pour into your prepared pan and let set overnight. when set, use a knife dipped in sugar or lightly oiled to cut into pieces. The gumdrops will still be a little sticky, so you might like to oil your fingers lightly. roll in sugar and let set out a few hours to firm up. store in an airtight container in the fridge.

i have a bit of a problem following directions, so in making pear flavor gumdrops i made these alterations:
for the 3/4 c juice: 1 fresh pear plus a few canned pears and a bit of the liquid pureed to a fine pulp, then strained, plus a drizzle of honey. i let it sit out to get sort of slug-colored, the way pears do if you don't douse them in lemon juice.
i didn't have enough corn syrup so i subbed some for the canning liquid of the pears plus a little more sugar. this turned out to be good, but could have gone wrong, as the pear syrup made the boiling syrup start to brown and caramelize before it really reached 280. i barely let it get to temp before i was worried the flavor would ruin and then added it to the fruit juice.
also, i added a half a shot of elderflower cordial to the finished gummies, which made them not set as hard as they otherwise would have.
next up: lime green gummies shaped like inch worms?