1.75 oz powdered fruit pectin
1 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup*
3/4 cup apple cider
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
extra sugar for dredging
Directions:
Warning: this is a two day project. Oil a flat sided loaf pan. Whisk together pectin, apple cider and baking soda in small pan. Cook on high heat. At the same time, bring the sugar and corn syrup to a rolling boil, stirring occasionally. When it reaches boiling, add the pectin/cider mixture. Cook for about 1 additional minute stirring constantly. Pour into the prepared pan and allow to cool, loosely covered with plastic wrap, overnight. The next day invert the pan on to a plate full of sugar. If you have trouble unmolding the candy, use a knife to loosen it from the perimeter of the pan and carefully slide your fingers underneath the candy to gently peel the candy out of the pan. Press both sides of the candy into the sugar. Use a pizza cutter to cut the candy into 1/4 inch slices, then cut each slice into cubes. Roll each cube in sugar.
*I use HFCS-free corn syrup.
My thoughts:
Last winter I had this dessert plate at Woodberry Kitchen which had a variety of miniature sweets including one that seemed to be a homemade apple cider jelly candy. Every since then it has been on my “to make” list. I had to wait until I could buy apple cider at the farmers market but it was worth it. This might be my new favorite fall candy, it tastes just like cider in solid form.
This looks so delicious! How long do you think these keep?
That's so neat! I'm not normally the biggest fan of jelly candy, but this just seems so "fall" that I will have to try it 🙂
Nice! I'm definitely saving this recipe, I love anything jellied.
Kate:
I just made them yesterday so I am not sure but when I've made jelly candy in the past they lasted a couple of weeks in a cool, dry place in a air tight container.
Supercool, great fo an app plate with Cheeses & crackers too!
Oh yum! I had the ingredients to make your raspberry jelly candies but procrastinated-Am I glad I did!!
This looks awesome! I'll have to give it a try! Thanks for posting. 🙂
I currently have apple cider, but only no-sugar-needed pectin. Do you think that would work? @Jennifurla – what a great idea! This will be there at Thanksgiving!!! 🙂
Do you think no-sugar-needed pectin would work? That's all I have right now. @Jennifurla – what a great idea! These will definitely become a part of our snack hour at Christmas!!
wonder if you could use maple syrup or honey? i don't use corn syrup…
Casey:
I am not sure if that would be okay, I've only made it with regular pectin. If it works, let us know!
Java
I've only made this using HFCS free corn syrup and both honey and maple syrup have different properties that than but you are welcome try substituting them. Please let us know how it works out.
I'm not a big candy eater, but I think I'm actually going to try making these! The look delicious and the concept is awesome!
this WOULD be a great Thanksgiving treat! i tried to make Raspberry Jellies last holiday season and they never set…this just might convince me to try again!
WHERE on earth do you find HFCS-free corn syrup?!? I've never even heard of such a thing!
Phoebe-
At the grocery store. Not all corn syrup contains HFCS as an ingredient. HFCS has only been around since the late '60s and corn syrup has been around a lot longer than that.
Thanks, Rachel! I honestly had no idea. My family is looking forward to me making these….I just have to find some good cider! Maybe I'll make my own….
ok, so i made these last night…and they are SO sticky. they taste delicious, but they're a sticky mess! what did i do wrong? did i boil it too short of a time? too long? i left them to set up overnight, so they should have had sufficient time to cool and set. please help! they taste like homemade apple pie (at least with the cider i used)…i'd love to make them again and have them turn out beautifully like yours!
Sierra
I am not sure what exactly is wrong with your candy. Did they not set up or are they really sticky? Or both? If they are solid but very sticky to the touch, maybe you didn't coat them in enough sugar? They really need to be thoroughly covered.
they set up some, but they are definitely not in pretty little squares like your picture 🙂 i rolled them in plenty of sugar and i actually stored them "buried" in sugar. they're very very moist and it was almost like a really thick jam/jelly and doesn't hardly hold its shape. maybe i can google it and find out…
Sierra
I am not sure what happened. Could the pectin have been out of date or something? Was everything thoroughly mixed? I've made this sort of candy tons of times and have never had it not set up.
just checked the date, and it's good through 2013. i thought everything was mixed well, but possibly not. oh, i just remembered – i started to heat the cider/soda/pectin mixture and then shut it off for a minute or two because it started boiling really quickly and i was afraid it would burn. i bet that's why – the pectin may not have been boiled/heated long enough. arg. i'll have to try it again and not stop the cooking process momentarily!
That is probably it, Sierra. Next time just turn down the heat a bit but honestly, I wouldn't worry about it burning.
ha, sorry about that! it was a mistake of my own misjudgment! i will definitely try to make them again. thanks for the delicious recipe (even though i messed it up)! 🙂
I made the apple cider last night and this morning I tied orange but they aren't a firm as the apple not a sticky mess but not super firm either could the extra acid from the orange juice affected how the pectin set up and if so should I use more pectin?
LaLasha
I haven't tried it with orange juice so I am not sure. I guess you could try it with more pectin. Not a whole packet, though. That would probably be too much.
i tried these this evening, using the evaporated cane sugar syrup, i made the other day. now i don't have to use the corn syrup…anxious for tomorrow to come to check out how this recipe turned out!!!
Hi! I made these last night and I was really excited about them. I followed the recipe exactly, and they are absolutely gorgeous, but I have to say they are just so sweet they make my teeth hurt. I'm a huge fan of jelly in general, and I know there needs to be a lot of sugar, but this just kind of bowled me over, sweetness-wise. Is there a way to make these so they're not quite so darn sweet?
thank you!!!
Elizabeth
Jelly candies are sugar based candies, rolled in sugar. They are going to be sweet. I am not sure how to get around that. I suppose you could use a less sweet cider (most cider is unsweetened but perhaps your was not?) but honestly, if you don't like sweet candy, jelly candies are not going to be a good fit for you.
Can you buy pectin anywhere?
Of course. I've never been to a grocery store that didn't sell it.