DIY Christmas Candy Canes for Kids

The best New Year's gift for children for the New Year is edible! Festive recipes among the abundance of salads should contain sweets! And New Year's lollipops for kids are the best option to keep children from getting bored in this holiday bustle. And if they are made with your own hands, then parents will be pleased to see their children gobbling up such a delicacy.

In addition, homemade lollipops look very festive and unusual, so you can pack them as a gift to your family and friends. And also decorate the Christmas tree with them!

Cherry Lemon Flavored Lollipops

The basis of this recipe is cherry and lemon juice. The lollipops are brightly colored and have a sour taste.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup cherry and lemon juice
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/4 cup corn syrup
  • powdered sugar

How to make homemade lollipops with your own hands:

  1. Fill a flat, wide-bottomed dish with powdered sugar. Use a shot glass or a round object to draw circles on the sugar to form lollipops. Place lollipop sticks in each circle.
  2. Mix cherry and lemon juice and boil until you have two tablespoons.
  3. In a saucepan, combine water and corn syrup. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until the temperature reaches 150 degrees.
  4. Immediately pour the sugar mixture into a measuring cup. Add juice and any additional ingredients to your taste. Stir with a silicone spatula. Pour into prepared circles in powdered sugar. Let cool. This takes about 15-20 minutes.

Mint flavored lollipops

These lollipops will be transparent, so you can use colored edible sprinkles, crushed lollipops, nuts, cranberries for decoration. And besides mint flavor, you can make any other flavor using food additives using the same principle.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2/3 cup corn syrup
  • 2 teaspoons flavored extracts (mint or vanilla)

How to make Christmas lollipops for kids:

  1. Prepare two baking trays and line them with parchment paper. Also take a large bowl and fill it with water and ice cubes. Set aside for now.
  2. Place a small saucepan over medium heat and combine the sugar, corn syrup, and 1/4 cup water. Attach a candy thermometer to the inside of the pan.
  3. Increase the heat and stir until the mixture boils, so that the sugar dissolves. It is better to stir with a pastry brush, previously moistened in water. This will prevent crystals from forming on the bottom.
  4. Future lollipops need to be boiled to 150 degrees. This is about 5-7 minutes. Immediately place the saucepan with the mixture in a bowl with ice for 10-15 seconds for quick cooling. Make sure that no water gets into the sweet mixture. The flavor extract should be added to the mixture immediately after the ice bath.
  5. Quickly, before the mixture cools down, pour the syrup onto a baking sheet, forming future lollipops. For this, you can use confectionery molds, or just freehand circles of arbitrary sizes. You need to leave gaps between the lollipops so that they do not merge into one lump. Put sticks (toothpicks) on the future candies and sprinkle with colored decorations, pressing them into the syrup. Cool the lollipops and the treat is ready!

Raspberry flavored lollipops

This type of lollipops can also be used for Valentine's Day, as red lollipops can easily be turned into hearts. But for New Year and Christmas, kids will love raspberry lollipops, as they are bright and very easy to make. You can experiment with other food additives and make candies of other flavors.

 

Ingredients:

  • 250 grams of sugar
  • 100 grams of water
  • 1/2 teaspoon citric acid
  • food coloring - raspberry
  1. Pour granulated sugar into a saucepan or stewpan. Heat the mixture by stirring well to 130 degrees. You can control the temperature with a food thermometer, but if you don’t have one, there is another way. Take a little syrup and drop it into a spoon with cold water. The resulting drop should have clear edges, but still be soft in consistency.
  2. Add natural raspberry flavoring and red food coloring. Heat to 150 degrees, and in cold water a drop of syrup should become solid. Mix equal parts citric acid and water, add to syrup. Stir again.
  3. To lay out the lollipops, it is better to take a silicone mat or parchment greased with vegetable oil. You need to form the lollipops with a large spoon, giving the desired shape. You can sprinkle edible colorful food additives, nuts, coconut flakes or powdered sugar on top.
  4. Place wooden sticks on each caramel and let cool.

Keep in mind that it is not enough to simply apply the skewer. You also need to rotate it around the axis by 360 degrees so that the stick gently dips into the caramel (this is very important, almost the main secret!).