Recipe: Candy Crystals

April 5, 2025

I made this recipe for the 2022 Draconic Summit as part of a presentation I gave on preparing food suited to draconic identities. They turned out beautifully! They're also fairly easy to make, but note melted sugar is extremely hot, so take care if you've never made hard candies before.

Candy Crystals

Adapted from https://www.marthastewart.com/315383/candy-gems

Yield ~15 medium crystals

Ingredients

2 cups sugar

½ cup water

¼ cup corn syrup

¼ teaspoon flavor extract (e.g., vanilla, cinnamon, lemon)

Gel-paste food coloring

Special equipment

Candy crystal/gem molds (e.g., FUNSHOWCASE Crystal Silicone Molds)

Candy thermometer

Directions

Bring sugar,  water, and corn syrup to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Heat until syrup registers 300ºF on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat. Using a rubber spatula, stir in flavor extract and 1 or 2 drops food coloring gel. (Mixture will steam and bubble when liquid is added, so be careful.) Transfer mixture to a glass liquid measuring cup, and let the bubbles settle slightly, about 15 seconds. 

Slowly pour mixture into candy molds just below the top. Let cool until candies harden completely before removing from molds.

For multiple colors, split ingredients between two pans, adding a different gel color to each, then pour some of each color into each candy mold.

Candies can be made and stored in an airtight container for up to 1 week.