Makes up to 80 pieces
Candy-dipped fruits are the perfect combination of fresh fruit and hard candy. They have a crisp outer shell of sugar and the season’s best fruit within—the perfect way to impress your guests at the end of a meal. They should never be refrigerated and must be used within hours of making.
Ingredients
- Up to 80 pieces fresh fruit, with skin (see Keys to Success below)
- 1 1/2 lb (3 cups) sugar
- 10 oz (3/4 cup) light corn syrup
- 4 oz (1/2 cup) water
Directions
- Clean and dry the fruit. Insert a toothpick into each piece to make them easier to handle. Lightly oil a sheet pan, or line it with parchment paper, to hold the dipped pieces.
- Combine the sugar, corn syrup, and water in a 2-quart saucepan. Stir while bringing to a boil.
- Cover the saucepan and boil for 4 minutes. Remove the cover, insert a thermometer, and cook without stirring until the temperature reaches 310°F.
- Remove from the heat and shock the saucepan in ice water for 20 seconds to prevent carryover cooking.
- Allow the cooked sugar to sit undisturbed for 5 minutes to cool and for bubbles to subside.
- Dip the fruits one at a time in the hot sugar to coat the outside of the fruit with candy.
- Allow the excess candy to drip off the fruit, and put on the prepared pan to cool and harden.
- Once the fruit has cooled, remove the toothpicks.
- Store at room temperature in a dry area and use within several hours, or the sugar will begin to dissolve.
Keys to Success
- The fruit must have a skin or its moisture will quickly destroy the sugar coating. Using pieces of cut fruit such as melon or pineapple will not work unless they are served immediately.
- Suggested fruits: strawberries, kumquats, grapes, clementine sections.
- Be careful to cook the sugar accurately. If the candy is cooked to too high a temperature, it will have a caramel color and flavor; if cooked too low, it will stick to your teeth rather than breaking cleanly.
- Exercise extreme caution when cooking sugar for hard candy, as it can cause severe burns.
- Do not stir the sugar during the cooling stage.
