I've successfully home-made gummy sweets — my preferred flavour currently is scotch bonnet chilli. They are made of sugar — heated until just below hard-ball temperature, gelatin, chillies.
The problem I'm having at the moment is that I want to give them a super sour coating. I've done this by covering them with citric acid, which gives exactly the desired taste effect, however…
Within a few days, they go more and more sticky and gloopy until they congeal to form a gloopy, sticky mass.
This is not desirable. How do I avoid this? And how do things like Tangfastics and other super sour gummmy sweets work?
Best Answer
Like most candy with a coating there is some degree of processing, drying time and technics. Anhydrous would be more preferable because its moisture free. The less moisture on a coating of any sweet the better. Citric acid just like sugar attracts moisture.
I've had success with the Sour Patch Kids recipe from Classic Snacks Made from Scratch: 70 Homemade Versions of Your Favorite Brand-Name Treats. The quantities are merely an indication for the coating recipe. Just see how much you used and then subtract or multiply the recipe accordingly.