Broken Glass Candy Is a Stunning Confection to Make and Share (2024)

Broken glass candy is a gorgeous hard candy that looks like shards of colorful broken glass. In taste and texture, it's not too different from lollipops or other hard candies, but its distinctive appearance and jagged edges make it special.

The basic broken glass candy recipe includes sugar, corn syrup, and water, but a variety of flavorings and colors can be added to your liking. Make a rainbow assortment and color coordinate each flavor, with green for apple, red for cherry, yellow for banana, orange for tangerine, blue for blueberry, etc. Or simply make every batch the same color and flavor.

Remember, when making candy, no kids or pets should be in the kitchen. Use proper protective gear like silicone gloves and a thick apron, and always wear shoes. For this candy-making process, a candy thermometer is advisable, but if you don't have one, you can test your candy without one by using a bowl of cool water. This candy will get to 300 F, which is known as the hard crack stage.

Broken Glass Candy Is a Stunning Confection to Make and Share (1)

What You'll Need to Make This Broken Glass Candy Recipe

A Rimmed Baking Sheet

A Handy Dandy Silicone Mat

An Accurate Candy Thermometer

"This is a really fun way to make candy! I have never made broken glass candy before - but this recipe was very user-friendly and could make so many beautiful colors. I think this would make beautiful stained glass decor for your gingerbread houses!" —Tracy Wilk

Broken Glass Candy Is a Stunning Confection to Make and Share (5)

A Note From Our Recipe Tester

Ingredients

1/2 cup water
3/4 cup light corn syrup
2 cups granulated sugar
2 to 4 teaspoons flavoring extract
1/2 teaspoon gel food coloring
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Steps to Make It

Gather the ingredients.
Line a baking sheet with a nonstick silicone mat or a layer of aluminum foil sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. If you are making more than one color and flavor of candy, grease one pan for each.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the water, corn syrup, and granulated sugar. Stir until the sugar dissolves.

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Wash down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush to prevent sugar crystals from forming. This prevents the finished product from being grainy and will make for a nice, clear candy.
When the sugar syrup comes to a boil, insert a candy thermometer. Continue to cook the sugar syrup, stirring occasionally, until the thermometer reads 300 F(150 C).
When it has reached 300 F, remove the pan from the heat and let the candy cool off a little until it stops bubbling completely.
If you want to make 2 or more different colors and flavors of broken glass candy from a single batch, pour parts of the syrup into separate pans before adding the extracts and food colorings. Working quickly to avoid the candy setting in the pans, add different colors and flavors to the syrups.
Pour the candy out onto the prepared baking sheets and let it spread into a thin layer.
Cool the candy completely at room temperature; this can take up to 2 hours. Once it is set, pull the candy up from the sheet and crack it into small pieces by banging it against a cutting board or shattering it with a knife handle.
Place the powdered sugar in a plastic bag and, one at a time, add the shards of each flavored candy. Shake the bag until the candy is coated with the powdered sugar. Remove from the bag and repeat with the other colors.
Serve and enjoy!

Tip

The strength of extracts varies greatly from brand to brand and flavor to flavor. It may take a little trial and error to determine how much flavoring to add to suit your taste.
If you are using flavoring oils, they are much stronger than extracts, so start by adding just 1/2 teaspoon of flavoring oil at a time.

Variations

There are several flavors you can buy at online retailers or specialized candy-making shops. Mix two or more for fun, personalized creations:

Banana cream and orange
Apple and strawberry
Watermelon and lime
Coffee and chocolate
Cinnamon and anise
Apricot and vanilla
Blackberry and cherry
Amaretto and coffee
Almond and orange
Coconut and key lime

How to Store Glass Candy

If kept well wrapped in a low-humidity environment, glass candy can last for several months, as high levels of sugar act as a deterrent for bacterial growth. Always keep candy at room temperature. Due to condensation, storing candy in the fridge will make it sweat, and the pieces will stick to one another.

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Broken Glass Candy Is a Stunning Confection to Make and Share (2024)

FAQs

What are the ingredients in candy? ›

Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Modified Corn Starch, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Mineral Oil, Carnauba Wax, Natural and Artificial Flavours, Colour.

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How do they make hard candy? ›

Recipes for hard candy use a sugar syrup, such as sucrose, glucose or fructose. This is heated to a particular temperature, at which point the candy maker removes it from the heat source and may add citric acid, food dye, and some flavouring, such as a plant extract, essential oil, or flavourant.

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How do they make sugar candy? ›

Candy is made by dissolving sugar in water or milk to form a syrup, which is boiled until it reaches the desired concentration or starts to caramelize. The type of candy depends on the ingredients and how long the mixture is boiled. Candy comes in a wide variety of textures, from soft and chewy to hard and brittle.

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What was candy made of? ›

Sugar, mainly sucrose from sugar beets or sugarcane, is the major constituent of most candies. Other sweeteners employed in candy manufacture include corn syrup, corn sugar, honey, molasses, maple sugar, and noncaloric sweeteners.

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Is candy healthy or unhealthy? ›

Candy's Effect on Our Overall Health

Along with damaging our teeth and causing various oral health problems, candy can also impair our overall health. High in sugar, artificial chemicals, preservatives, and calories, eating too much candy can elevate your risk of: Weight gain.

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What is candy made out of? ›

Candy is a rich sweet confection made with sugar and often flavored or combined with fruits or nuts. The technology of candy making is based on the science and art of altering sugar, the principal ingredient in candy, particularly to achieve special textural effects.

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Is candy just sugar? ›

Candy and sugar are related, but they're not exactly the same thing. Candy is a sweet food that is typically made with sugar as one of the main ingredients.

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Does candy have real sugar? ›

A chocolate candy bar contains, on average, about 35 grams of sugar, while one soft drink can have as many as 39 grams of sugar. In addition, whereas fruits contain many other nutrients, like vitamin C, and fiber, sweets lack these healthy components.

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What animal parts are in candy? ›

The five most common animal-based ingredients in candy include carmine, milkfat, confectioner's glaze, gelatin, and honey. Luckily, there are vegan alternatives to these cruelly begotten animal ingredients commonly found in Halloween candy.

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What is the bug ingredient in candy? ›

Shellac comes from lac bug

Another common ingredient in confectionery such as hard candies is shellac, also known as "confectioner's glaze." It's the same shellac that gives furniture and nail polish that nice, shiny finish.

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What are the ingredients in the natural candy? ›

Cane Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Vegetable Oil Food Acid (Citric), Fruit Juice Concentrates, Gelatine, Natural Flavours, Natural Food Colours (Anthocyanins, Grape Skin Extract, Paprika Oleoresin, Turmeric).