Should this sugar have caramelized?

maxine in ri said:

Today's NYTimes food section had a recipe for lemon gumdrops. Reading
the ingredient list, I said to myself, "Self, this sounds like candy
even you can make." Hah! First, there were no lemons in the house
(how'd that happen?) Well, a lemon will yield about 1/3 cup of juice,
and I just bought 2 crates of clemantines, so that seemed like a good
alternative. Ever try to zest a clemantine? Sharpened the knife 3
times, since the grater acted like it had been used on rocks.

Ok, we have everything at the ready. Instructions say "Boil 15 minutes
after adding gelatin." Ok. Hey, what are these brown streaky things
growing in my sugar syrup that I've stirred til my arm fell off, and
continued stirring with the other one? At the end of 15 minutes, I
have a light caramel, and the recipe says to add the juice and zest and
boil for 5 more minutes!

Needless to say, after adding the color drops (plus 2 drops of red
since I was flavoring them orange), it's a rather ominus shade of
orange, with those brown undertones.

So my question, (if you've read this far) is "What temperature or heat
setting do you use when boiling sugar syrup to keep it from turning
brown? I'd like to try this again using lemon, and maybe grapefruit.

Oh. You want to know what the recipe was without logging into the
NYTimes website?

Lemon Gumdrops

Butter
4 packets plain gelatin
2 ½ cups sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 orange
3 drops yellow food coloring.

1. Butter an 8-by-8-inch baking dish. Dissolve the gelatin in 1/2 cup
water for 5 minutes. Combine 2 cups sugar and 1/2 cup water in a medium
saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir constantly and wash down the sides
of the pan several times with a pastry brush that has been dipped in
cold water to prevent crystallization.

2. Add the gelatin and continue boiling and stirring until it thickens,
15 minutes.

3. Add the lemon juice and orange zest and boil for 5 more minutes.
Stir in the food coloring. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish and
let set up for about 1 hour.

4. Put the remaining sugar in a shallow bowl. Butter a large chef's
knife and your fingers. Cut the lemon gel into 1/2-inch squares and
coat with the sugar. Makes 200 to 250 gumdrops. Adapted from "Making
Great Candy," by Laura Dover Doran.

maxine in ri

You didn't mention it but the gelatin should be mixed with cold water
first for 5 minutes before combining it with any hot liquid. Also,
temperature is a better indicator of doneness rather than time. If you
plan on making candy in the future buy a candy thermometer. Most of
them come with temperature charts that tell you the proper temperature
for each type of candy. If you don't have a candy thermometer you can
use the "cold water test". After the candy has been boiling for
several minutes take a half teaspoon of the syrup and drop it in some
cold (not iced) water. If it dissolves completely then the candy is
nowhere near being done. If it holds together then pick it up and see
which one of these descriptions best fits.

soft ball: Can be picked but flattens. Use for fudge or fondant
firm ball: Holds shape unless pressed. Use for caramels
hard ball: Holds shape though pliable. Use for divinity, taffy
soft crack: Syrup separates into hard threads. Use for English toffee
hard crack: Syrup separates into hard brittle threads. Use for peanut
brittle.

The syrup starts turning an amber color around 290 degrees F, which is
around the soft crack stage. I suspect you'd probably want to cook
gumdrops to maybe the hard ball stage which is around 260 degrees F.

DJs0302 spoke these sage words:

Quoted message said:

You didn't mention it but the gelatin should be mixed with cold water
first for 5 minutes before combining it with any hot liquid. Also,
temperature is a better indicator of doneness rather than time. If you
plan on making candy in the future buy a candy thermometer. Most of
them come with temperature charts that tell you the proper temperature
for each type of candy. If you don't have a candy thermometer you can
use the "cold water test". After the candy has been boiling for
several minutes take a half teaspoon of the syrup and drop it in some
cold (not iced) water. If it dissolves completely then the candy is
nowhere near being done. If it holds together then pick it up and see
which one of these descriptions best fits.

soft ball: Can be picked but flattens. Use for fudge or fondant
firm ball: Holds shape unless pressed. Use for caramels
hard ball: Holds shape though pliable. Use for divinity, taffy
soft crack: Syrup separates into hard threads. Use for English toffee
hard crack: Syrup separates into hard brittle threads. Use for peanut
brittle.

The syrup starts turning an amber color around 290 degrees F, which is
around the soft crack stage. I suspect you'd probably want to cook
gumdrops to maybe the hard ball stage which is around 260 degrees F.

Thanks. As the directions had no comments about temperature, and I'm
not a candy maker by trade (my fudge never "fudges"😉 I had no clue what
I was doing. I do have a candy thermometer (they have recipes for
salted butter caramels and cinnamon fireball candies that both require
one), but wanted to try something that goes by time rather than temp.

I have more gelatin, sugar and plan to pick up some lemons and oranges
and try again tomorrow. Your advice should help. Any more problems
will be my own dumb fault.

maxine in ri