For me, rock candy sticks were always a special treat at a county or state fair, or something I might be lucky enough to find in a candy store as a kid. Fortunately, you can actually make your own rock candy crystal sticks at home. They might have a lot of sugar, but they make the perfect lollipop or swizzle stick replacement. With a little bit of time and patience, you can make gorgeous white rock candy out of pure cane sugar, or get wild with colors for gorgeous party centerpieces. With a homemade touch, these sure beat buying bulk candy for a candy buffet.
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Homemade rock candy can taste just as good as something you'd get at a store, if not better. If you're looking for a fun DIY treat for a candy buffet or party favors at a baby shower, bridal shower, birthday party, or other event, these hard candy goodies are a great option.
How to Make Rock Candy Sticks at Home
In this video, the narrator starts out with a casserole dish of water and wooden skewers. You place the sticks in the water, let them soak for a bit, then roll them in sugar on a plate. Next, he pours in one cup of water into a pot on the stove over medium heat, then dumps in more sugar before letting it all dissolve.
Next, the video shows the water boiling, at which point the narrator takes it off the heat. Food coloring is added next, and this is where you can customize your sugar sticks. You can add light blue, light green, red, or whatever coloring you'd like to make your yummy sugar candy sticks more vibrant.
You're also going to add flavoring at this point, like in the video. The narrator adds rose water, but Spruce Eats reports you can add flavoring extract or oil to the sugar solution. If you want to make a specific flavor like watermelon, blue raspberry, cotton candy, green apple, black cherry, root beer, and more, you'll have to pick a recipe to get those specific flavors into the sugar crystals.
Crystalizing Process
After the mixture is completely cooled down, you can pour it into a mason jar, then slowly dip a stick with some sugar on it into the jar. To keep it centered, clip a clothespin on and set it on the edge of the jar.
You're going to need to leave the jar for a week, so put it somewhere where it won't be in the way. Consider it a science experiment! Finally, after all that time has gone by, crack open the layer that's formed on top of the mixture and pull out the stick.
Voila! You've got rock candy sticks! Let them hang somewhere to dry off, and then the treats should be good to eat. Picture perfect, too.
