Search This Blog

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Gingerbread Hard Candy Glass Windows

This is just hard tack candy, but you can be creative and make all sorts of colors to do in your windows, but I love doing the golden yellow, and then some green so I can make the effect of a Christmas tree or a wreath in the windows, you just have to lay out the candy in the window the way you want it to look, noting that it won't be a perfect silhouette as the candy will melt the way it wants to, but you will get the general effect. This is one of the things I love about these houses, is that there are lights and windows. This year we made it so the doors were cut out and we put glass in the doors, I think that added a lot as well.


2 C. Sugar
½ C. Light Corn Syrup
½ C. Water

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Cook without stirring (to avoid bubbles) to a hard tack stage. Add desired food coloring and stir with a wooden spoon. Pour the hot liquid onto a cookie sheet and quickly rotate pan to spread hot candy thinly over surface of cookie sheet. Allow to cool thoroughly. Once cooled, use a hammer and crack the candy in 4-5 places to create shards of candy.

Line a cookie sheet with foil, place gingerbread house pieces with right sides up on foil. Wearing gloves so you don't leave your mark, take shards of candy and place in window openings, layering pieces to fill up the window opening. Be careful not to use the powder granules from the broken candy it will make your windows cloudy. Place the cookie sheet in an oven heated to 400-425˚. Watch this carefully!!! Do not let it boil/bubble, do not do more than one cookie sheet at a time, and place it on the top rack only to avoid burning. Your windows will be cloudy if it’s overcooked, or boils. Once it is completely cooled, you will be able to pull the foil off of the back of the gingerbread pieces.

2 comments:

Sims Family said...

Great ideas. I was wondering - do you think using life savers would work instead of making the candy?

Cheryl said...

I have heard of a lot of people who do use life savers, I don't think the windows are quite as clear since life savers aren't completely clear, but you can use them!