Lollipops, without exaggeration, are the favorite delicacy of both children and adults. The story goes that the first lollipops appeared in ancient times. The method of making them then was quite simple: candied fruits or pieces of fruit were dipped in honey and planted on sticks so as not to get your hands dirty. In this case, honey acted as a natural preservative. Lollipops came to Europe in the XNUMXth century. Then these were medicines in the form of candies, which were placed on sticks for ease of use. Today, despite the abundance of ordinary sweets, lollipops remain a popular and favorite delicacy, which has not yet been invented.
Lollipops are also called lollipop, which means “sweet tongue”. Indeed, if you suck on such a candy, there will be a pleasant sensation of sweetness in your mouth (while not at all cloying). The main advantage of such sweets is that they can be easily prepared on their own at home.
Lollipop recipe
For the traditional recipe for lollipops you will need: – 1 large glass (250-300 g) granulated sugar; – 100 ml of water; – sticks; – molds (available at the grocery store).
Cooking such a simple delicacy does not take long. On average, it takes about 10 minutes. Combine water and sugar in a saucepan and put it on fire. Naturally, it should be small, otherwise the whole mixture will burn quickly and nothing will work out. Remember that the sugar should remain white during the cooking process, that is, if a brown tint appears, this will mean that you have digested the mixture. But it is also impossible to undercook caramel, because then your candies simply will not solidify.
Make sure that the caramel is not burnt, otherwise the candies will taste bitter and are unlikely to become a tasty treat
As soon as the caramel is cooked, which means that it should be uniform, pleasant in color and moderately viscous, arrange the sticks in molds so that the tip sticks out, and fill everything with caramel. Leave to freeze. On average, this can take several hours.
The delicious sweets, experts say, are made from burnt sugar. To prepare such candies you will need: – 300 g of sugar; – 1 tbsp. icing sugar; – 150 g of water.
If you are planning a treat for adults only, you can drip a little brandy into the mixture.
Combine the ingredients and put them on low heat. Start stirring and do not stop doing this until the mixture boils; it should go in small golden bubbles. Pour everything into molds immediately. It is better to pre-grease the forms with vegetable oil so that the candies are better received. Insert the sticks and hold them in place. When the sticks stop falling, you can set the molds aside to harden further.
Alternatively, you can make fruit syrup lollipops. To do this, squeeze the juice from fruits and berries, strain it and add two-thirds of a glass of sugar to a glass of liquid. Put the mixture on fire (be sure to slow it so as not to burn) and cook, stirring constantly. A signal of readiness will be the fact that the mass will acquire a golden hue. To enhance the flavor, you can add lemon juice, cinnamon or vanilla here. Then also pour the caramel into molds, insert the sticks and set to set.
How you can make candy on a stick even more fun
The good thing about making homemade lollipops is that you can make them completely different. So, for example, nothing prevents you from putting fruits, nuts, various sweet spices, etc. into the caramel. All this will make the sweets more original.
If you don’t like the natural color of the candy, you can use food coloring. They will make candy more fun and appetizing. If you wish, you can even mix the dyes and get a multi-colored delicacy that will noticeably cheer you up just by its appearance alone.