festive cranberry jelly candies

 festive cranberry jelly candies

INGREDIENTS

• 250 milliliters cold cranberry juice** (about 1 1/8 cups)
• 35 grams powdered gelatine (about 3 1/2 tablespoons)
• 650 grams granulated sugar (about 3 cups, plus more for coating candies)
• 190 milliliters boiling cranberry juice (about 3/4 cup)
• Canola or vegetable oil (for greasing tin and knife)

METHOD

Line an 8×8-inch square tin with parchment and grease generously with canola oil. Set aside until ready to use.

Add 190 ml cold cranberry juice to a large saucepan; sprinkle gelatine over top to dissolve.

Add 240 ml boiling cranberry juice and sugar to the saucepan and whisk gently to combine.

Bring mixture to a boil and simmer on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it reaches 107° C / 225° F on a digital thermometer. This will take 20-25 minutes or longer, so be patient!

Remove mixture from heat and stir gently to remove bubbles.

Pour mixture into prepared pans and chill until firm (at least 4 hours, or overnight).

When mixture has set, peel away parchment and turn slab out onto a well-sugared sugared surface. I like to use a chopping board covered in parchment, with several generous scoops of sugar on top.

Coat slab in sugar until completely covered on both sides.

Cut slab into squares with a sharp, well-oiled knife. (I prefer to lightly mark the squares with the back of my knife prior to cutting, to make sure all of my candies are roughly the same size.) You can cut 7 x 7 rows (for 49 square candies) or 8 x 8 rows (for 64 square candies). If preferred, you can also use a metal cutter to cut the candies into fun shapes instead of squares.

Roll each candy in sugar so all sides are covered. Transfer coated candies to a parchment-lined tray. Allow to sit at room temperature, uncovered, for 1-2 days to allow candy to crystallise and develop a crunchy coating.

Transfer candies to an airtight container, layered between sheets of parchment. These will keep well at room temperature for several weeks.