How to make rock candy?

Simple! First you find a good rock... then you get out your candy-making wand, wave it over the rock a few times... and then... WALLA! Rock Candy!

Well it is not quite that magical, but the results of homemade rock candy is about as magical as it gets in candy making. It is not only fascinating but it is also very, very easy... and on top of that, it taste good and is unique as a snowflake.

Indeed, one of the easiest and most intriguing candies for you to make with your kids is rock candy... and other hard candies come in second. Rock candy is a great way to use the kitchen to introduce many things beyond kitchen art.

Among those "other things" is the fact that cooking is chemistry in action... action that you can monitor, and even control to some extent. Some of the best learning is accomplished when the atmosphere does not suggest "school" or "study." In the making of candy such insights and enlightenments are part of the learning experience. In addition many, many, aspects of the physical world can be observed through making candy in general, and rock candy in particular.

Truly, rock candy is very easy to make. It takes about an hour to make... at least to prepare it to the point where it does its own thing. The actual forming of the candy can take anywhere from an hour to several days... depending on the concentration of the recipe. In fact there are several ways to make rock candy... all quite simple.

The only ingredients needed to make rock candy are sugar and water. The basic recipe can be modified by adjusting the proportions of the ingredients. All you really do is prepare a sugar syrup, set up conditions that allows the sugar in the solution to form crystals as it cools... or as the water evaporates. And that's it!

This is how it is done!

Collect and prepare your materials: Materials: Clean jar or jars; cotton string cut to the length of height of the jars plus an inch; tape; pencils and the ingredients for the candy itself, sugar and water. Prep: Tie a thick cotton thread to a pencil and place it across the top of a jar, making sure the string is about an inch from the bottom of the jar. Wet the thread and roll it in granulated sugar Let the sugar coated thread dry. This will make the thread a "seed" or "magnet" for the rocks of candy to be attracted to and to grow on.
Prepare the syrup. In a medium-sized pan bring about two cups of water to a boil. Begin adding the sugar to the boiling water, one cup at a time... four cups total. Stirring after each addition. The task is to totally dissolve all the sugar into the water. As you add the sugar, the longer it will take for the sugar to dissolve. Be patient... Continue to stir and boil the syrup until all of the sugar has been added and is completely dissolved. Remove the pan from the heat.
Allow the sugar syrup to cool for approximately 10 minutes, then pour it into the prepared jar. Lower the sugared string or skewer until it hangs about one inch from the bottom. Carefully place your jar in a cool place where it can sit undisturbed, away from harsh lights. Cover the top loosely with plastic wrap or paper towel.
In about two or three hours, you should start to see sugar crystals forming on the string. If after 24 hours you see no crystals, try boiling the sugar syrup again and dissolve another cup of sugar into it, then pour it back into the jar and insert the string again.
Allow the rock candy to grow until it is the size you want. Be careful, however, not to let it grow onto the sides of the jar. Once it has reached the size you want, remove it and allow it to dry for a few minutes.
What you end up with is rock candy on a string. The technique used to make various types of rock candy is to increase or decrease the amount of sugar dissolved in the syrup dissolving even more sugar into the same amount of water will result in larger crystals. A variety of taste and color may be achieved by adding a little food coloring and/or flavoring of choice.

Rocky Sanders, also known as Rocky Sweet, has been making candy at home ever since they gave him the nickname, "Hard Rock Candyman" in his 9th grade science class. Since then, he has gained a huge amount of knowledge about candy making, and has been sharing the delights of that knowledge with the world. So he'd like to share his expertise and knowledge with you, free of charge. For more great information on making candy, visit http://www.makingcandyathome.org/

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