Goody, Goody Gumdrops: Homemade Gumdrops!

Posted February 29th, 2012 by michelle.p

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Yes, Homemade Gumdrops!

And you wouldn’t believe how easy it is to make them—if you can make jello, you can make homemade gumdrops!

A quick search of the Interwebs yielded many different recipes. Some with flavored gelatin and others with, oddly enough, applesauce. Variations of this recipe abound, and I love it both for its simplicity as well as its adaptability to any flavor or any color in the rainbow!

So, let’s get to it. First, get the gelatin mixture ready by pouring 1/2 cup of water into a bowl and sprinkling three envelopes of gelatin into it. Let the gelatin dissolve and soak. Next, put the sugar and 3/4 cup of water in a saucepan to make a really thick, gooey syrup. The trick with the syrup is just to bring it to a boil, then turn it to low and let it simmer for five minutes. It should look mostly clear, but a tiny bit bubbly. Next, mix the hot syrup with the gelatin, and stir until the gelatin is dissolved.

And that is that. All that remains is to add flavoring and color as desired, with extracts and liquid food coloring, respectively. I split my batch into six colors, used a couple drops of food coloring, and about four drops of extract in each one. It was easy to figure out: orange, lemon, cinnamon, and peppermint. I definitely wavered on vanilla and rum extract—which should be blue and which should be purple? (The rum flavor was an experiment. And actually, it was tasty! Or maybe, I just like rum.…)

You have two options for setting the gumdrops: use cute little candy molds or pour into small pans and cut into squares.

The last step is to roll the gumdrops in sugar, and viola! Gumdrops!

A word of caution about these little beauties. While they are delicate and delicious, they are not the rough-and-tumble-throw-in-a-baggie-and-tote-around-in-your-purse sort of gumdrops. They are, however, lovely little fancy things that will make people say, “Oooooooo! You MADE those?” You can definitely make the gumdrops a day ahead, but for best results keep them in the fridge in a single layer.