Have you ever wondered how your favorite candy is made? From lollipops to brittle to marshmallows, the candy-making process is a fascinating and intricate one. I won’t get into the history of candy making, that will be another post, but I will share a bit of the process and sugar love that goes into making candy. Candy making is magical and can transform grown adults into giddy little children. It’s fun to make, brings joy to many and it’s the reason I started making candy. Let me give you a behind-the-scenes look at Hot Lollies and learn what goes into creating my sweet treats.
The Shop: Hot Lollies & Hot Stuff Subscription
If you’ve been around for a while you know that Hot Lollies first started as a spicy food blog. I took a break for a while but right before the pandemic I relaunched the Hot Lollies candy shop. While we were all on lock down, I pivoted the business and launched Hot Stuff Subscriptions to help others discover great, small batch spicy food brands. I really wanted a way to share all the amazing products I’ve come across over the years and spicy subscriptions had been on my mind for years. Now I run both so I’m the business owner, web designer, candy maker, operations, inventory manager and fulfillment!
Key Ingredient: Sugar
Candy making starts with sugar, and lots of it! I typically use granulated, powdered, and light corn syrup to create different textures and consistencies across several of my candies. I have tried working with other sugar substitutes to make sugar free candies but not really happy with the flavor. For example, Monk Fruit sugar is a great sugar substitute for diabetics but it gives candy a horrible aftertaste (IMO). I love sugar and for me, candy is a special treat you indulge in once in a while. While many avoid it for health reasons, moderation is key for those that can have it. To make basic hard candies you just need to add light corn syrup and water to your sugar. Most like to add flavors or colors for variety but at Hot Lollies, I use fruit purees which gives my hard candies their natural color and amazing natural taste.
Colors and Flavorings
I purposely selected tropical fruits from my childhood and those with strong flavors. Fruits and roots like mango, turmeric, ginger, coconut milk and guava are great for candy making because their flavors lingers even after cooking. For example, I love watermelon and lychee but it’s incredibly difficult to get that Jolly Rancher watermelon flavor without using artificial flavors. For coloring, I found veggies like beets and flowers like hibiscus are great for getting a nice pink or light red color. Besides, who really needs bright red and artificially flavored candy anyway? We have plenty of those in supermarket aisles. Another ingredient needed in candy making is light corn syrup or substitutes like honey or golden syrup. The syrup is essential to create a smooth candy and to ensure the candies don’t crystalize.
The Kitchen: Mixing and Cooking
Sugar cooking isn’t easy. The outside temperature, heat and humidity, can seriously impact how candy sets and cooking temperature will impact the final product. When you’re sugar cooking, the difference between making caramel, nougat, marshmallows and hard candy is really about cooking temperature. For example, smooth caramel and marshmallows can be achieved at 245 degrees while hard candies must be cooked to 300 degrees. Cooking at high temperatures ensures that all the moisture in the hard candy is cooked off to eliminate any potential for bacteria. This is why hard candy has a long shelf life, zero moisture means you can enjoy it a year later. It may melt in the meantime but it won’t spoil, unless of course you add other fruits and nuts.
I rent a small kitchen in Jersey City to prep, cook and make all my candies. It isn’t a sprawling kitchen or warehouse space but it works for now while the business is still small. I can actually get plenty done in the time I’m there and can easily make items to order. I’m currently at the Bellworks Fresh Market in Holmdel every Wednesday this month and plan to start testing new products, like my new spicy raspberry marshmallow recipe!
Packing & Shipping
The process doesn’t end when all the candies made and packaged, that’s the fun part of running this business. Now is when sheer grit kicks in and my project management and QA background takes over! Right now, my assembly and shipping “room” (dining room haha!) can get quite messy, especially when I’m shipping subscription boxes. The folks over at Sticker Mule makes things easy with all their fun brand products, pins and stickers. As a small business owner, I need to keep my costs down and while I would love the fancy, printed boxes, the branded packing tapes available at Sticker Mule are pretty awesome. It gives me the look I want and packages looking presentable. It’s the little things that make it special. Oh, and they even make their own sweet & spicy hot sauce, it’s so good! Making some spicy hot wings with this one!
