Lemon drops are citrusy hard candies with fizzy centers, that are surprisingly easy to make at home!
Honestly, I don’t have the best track record when it comes to sugar work. BUT, I managed to create a recipe for lemon drops that works for me, so I am confident that you can manage too. The thing with sugar work is that you need to be patient, well-prepared and pay very close attention to your pan of melting sugar. Everything can change in seconds and your thermometer is your next best friend.
Jump to:
💭 Tips
I would advise reading the recipe a couple of times to make sure that you understand all the steps and are ready to act quickly. Once you’ve gotten the hang of the process you’ll realize it’s actually pretty simple.
You should prepare all your ingredients beforehand to avoid panicking or burning the sugar. You will definitely need a candy thermometer or an instant-read thermometer to know precisely when to take off the pan from the heat. If you let the sugar on too long and it becomes brown instead of white, there is no way you can salvage it. It means the sugar has burnt and your candies will be bitter. You will have to start over with a clean pan.
This is a recipe for lemon drops but technically you could flavor these hard candies however you want. You can use any flavor extract/food coloring and the pairings are endless.
📋 Step-by-step
Step 1: Lightly grease the mold and combine the ingredients for the fizzy powder.
Step 2: Make the first batch of sugar syrup by heating half of the ingredients over low heat until it reaches 135°C (275°F). Stir in the lemon extract, citric acid and coloring.
Step 3: Fill the mold halfway with the syrup. Sprinkle fizzy powder in each cavity. Make another batch of sugar syrup and fill the cavities completely, thus sealing the fizzy powder.
Step 4: Once hard, remove the lemon drops from the mold. Coat them with a mixture of powdered sugar and cornstarch. Individually wrap them using wax paper.
Fizzy powder
The idea for the fizzy powder comes from this blog. It doesn’t create an explosion of bubbles in your mouth but you can still feel a slight fizziness of your tongue. If you want to achieve maximum fizziness do not bite into the lemon drops, let them slowly melt in your mouth until you reach the center. I have tried adding more fizzy powder to see if it would increase the fizziness level, but by adding more powder you also add more bitterness so to me it wasn’t worth it. But if you like your lemon drops on the bitter side, be my guest, add as much powder as you can handle.
Silicone mold
I encourage you to use oiled silicone molds because it is so easy to get the candies out of the molds. You can use any shape but remember that the deeper the molds are the bigger your candies will turn out to be if you fill them completely. And it is not that enjoyable to suck on candies the size of unshelled walnuts.
Prevent melting
Unfortunately, lemon drops can melt over time, which means they can get stuck together. When it comes to hard candies, humidity is your worst enemy. So, to preserve your candies for a longer time don’t skip the last step. Coating the lemon drops with powdered sugar and cornstarch helps for a time but nothing beats individually wrapping them with cellophane paper/wax paper. This way the candies can’t get stuck together in the jar.
Sherbet lemon
In my French edition of the book, Dumbledore is offering lemon ice cream to Professor McGonagall. When I read the passage in English for the first time I didn’t notice anything unusual. After all, it was written a sherbet lemon and sherbet is a type of ice cream. But then I realized that if it was a lemon sherbet then it would be written lemon sherbet, not sherbet lemon.
So I turned to Google and imagine my surprise when I discovered that sherbet lemons are in fact hard candies, commonly called lemon drops. When I told my sister about the lemon drops she wasn’t surprised at all, actually. She asked me how I thought that Dumbledore could keep ice cream intact in his pocket. I mean, he was having a discussion with someone who can turn into a cat so that never seemed too far-fetched to me.
Lemon drops
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 30 candies 1x
- Category: Confections
- Method: Stove
- Cuisine: British
Description
Lemon drops are citrusy hard candies with fizzy centers. They are surprisingly easy to make at home, as long as you have a thermometer!
Ingredients
For the fizzy powder:
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp citric acid
- 1 tsp powdered sugar
For the sugar syrup:
- 200g granulated sugar (1 cup), divided
- 40g golden syrup (2 tbsp), divided
- ½ tsp cream of tartar, divided
- 120ml water (1/2 cup), divided
- 2 tsp citric acid, divided
- 2 tsp lemon extract, divided
- 2 tsp yellow food coloring, divided
To coat the candies:
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Prepare the mold and the fizzy powder. Lightly grease your candy mold or silicone ice cube tray with vegetable oil. Combine all the ingredients for the fizzy powder in a small bowl and set aside.
- Make the first batch of sugar syrup. Put half of the granulated sugar, half of the golden syrup and half of the cream of tartar in a small saucepan. Pour half of the water along the edges of the pan. Place the pan over low heat and stir until all the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat to medium-high and put a candy thermometer in the pan. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, but only a digital one check the temperature from time to time but don’t leave it in the pan. Let the syrup boil, without stirring, until the temperature reaches 135°C (275°F). Immediately take the pan off the heat. Add half of the lemon extract, half of the citric acid and half of the food coloring to the pan. Mix with an oiled spatula. Carefully pour the hot syrup into the mold, filling each cavity halfway.
- Fill the candies. Add half a teaspoon of fizzy powder in each cavity. You can add more if you like your candies on the bitter side. Clean and dry your pan, candy thermometer and spatula thoroughly.
- Make the second batch of sugar syrup. Prepare another batch of sugar syrup with the other half of the ingredients following the same method. Pour the hot syrup into the cavities, sealing the fizzy powder in the middle.
- Coat and wrap the candies. Allow your lemon drops to cool and harden completely before removing them from the mold. Roll the lemon drops in a mix of powdered sugar and cornstarch to coat them and prevent them from sticking to each other. Individually wrap each candy in pieces of cellophane/wax paper. Place the lemon drops in an air-tight container.
Notes
The candies keep a long time but place in a cool spot, away from direct sunlight.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 35
Keywords: sherbet lemon, fizzy candies, homemade candy
Do you want to try your hand at another kind of confection? Here are some of my favorite recipes:
Leave a Reply