Corn Starch Candy Molds

Intro: Corn Starch Candy Molds

 Intro: Candy Molds from corn starch

On my first attempt to make hard candy I discovered that the selection of molds available locally was pretty limited. Either the molds were not for high temperature or they were teddy bears or lollypops. So I decided to make my own. 

I have seen corn starch mold used for industrial candy production so I figured it was worth a try.

STEP 1:

What you need:

1/2 sheet tray - to hold the mold
1/2 sheet size cooling rack
Full Sheet tray - help to contain mess
Tape measure
Hot Glue gun
Corn starch - 4 lbs for 1/2 sheet tray
Powdered Sugar
Square dowel to hold the positive shape
Some kind of positive shape that can be attached to dowel. I used 1" jewels from hobby lobby. I'll call them a die as you can use any shape that you can find to make the mold.
Calipers - if you are really a geek

Molten Hard candy - you can find multiple instructables on this topic


I measured the 1/2 sheet tray. It's inside dimensions are 17.25"x12.25".
The dowel is 36" long. I need it to be at least 13" long so it can be used as the 'stamp'. To make it easy I cut the dowel in half to 18"

STEP 2:

 After cutting the dowel I now have 2 dowels. One will become the stamp and the other will be used for flattening the mold.

Measure out 12.25" in the approximate center of the down and mark with a pencil.

I arbitrarily picked 13 dies for the stamp. This was the quantity in the pack.

Since the width of the tray is 12.25" and there will be 13 jewels that means there will be a spacing of 0.942" between each. This is where the caliper comes into play. Open the calipers to 0.942" and place one tip on the pencil mark. Since the dowel is made from soft wood it's easy to make a dent in it with the caliper. Make a dent each 0.942" distance along the dowel. Then draw a line at each dent mark and you'll have a perfectly spaced guide for the dies.

STEP 3:

 Using the glue gun add a small drop and attach the die between the marks you just made. 

STEP 4:

 Make sure your dies on the stamp will clear the edge of the tray.

STEP 5:

Add your corn starch to the tray. For this size tray 4 lbs seems to be perfect. Keep adding until the tray is full.

Using the dowel gently smooth out the starch so that it completely fills the tray. You don't want any gaps or holes in the surface. As the starch falls off the edge into the full size sheet tray you can pick it up and use it to fill in the gaps. Repeat this process until you get a smooth even surface.

STEP 6:

 Now press the stamp into the starch to make a row of molds. The edge of the tray will stop the dowel from pushing into the starch. So you will only get what is sticking out from the dowel, your dies.

STEP 7:

 Gently pour your liquid sugar into the molds. 

Place tray in the fridge for at least an hour. This will harden the candy.

STEP 8:

 After allowing the candy to cool place a cooling rack upside down on top of the tray. 

Quickly flip the tray over. If you do it right the starch will stay in the tray until it's face down in the full size sheet tray.

Take the tray off and set it aside.  Shake the cooling rack to allow the starch to fall through the grate. 

After shaking off a bulk of the starch knock each candy with the back of a spoon to get even more off.

Note: You should be able to recover about 98% of the corn starch so that you can used it next time.

STEP 9:

 I have found from previous experience that if the candy is not coated with something it will tend to stick together if there is any increase in the temperature or humidity.

To help prevent this from happening I coat the candy in powdered sugar. To make sure they are coated evening I used my marinating tumbler.

Add about 2 cups of powdered sugar and add the candy. Set it to tumble for about 20 min.

After tumbling, place the candy on a cooling rack on a fresh tray. This will let you recover the powdered sugar for later use.

As you did before, shake the rack to knock off the sugar.

STEP 10:

 After knocking off most of the sugar place the candy in a colander and shake vigorously to remove the last amount of lose sugar. Don't shake too hard though as you may start shattering the candy.

STEP 11:

 Weigh and bag your fresh homemade candy and give to friends and family.

See the follow up for this ...

www.instructables.com/id/Corn-Starch-Candy-Mold-Lessons-learned/

Comments

[RenatoP45]

My corn starch mold whont keep the shape after i push in the mold to make the impression ,

[RenatoP45]

I made thhe corn and potato starch mold ,but when i pull up the impression mold it crumblle the hole its stick and i do not have a clean impression in the starch ,solution please

[Msjcali]

Can you please help me? I've never done anything like this before! I'm making tiny tiaras for the top of cake pops and would like to make tiny edible diamonds to use for accents. I was wondering if I can use this method Bc obviously the diamonds need to sparkle so the powdered sugar won't work. Any tips?! I cant find edible ones that are small enough! Thanks for the help! :)

[ThisIsMyNameOK]

Hi Msjcali,

It's probably too late to help you out with your tiny tiaras, but the answer is don't use the powdered sugar. You don't need it unless you are going to be storing the candies in a container where they might stick together. Just mold them in the corn starch, shake it off, then give them a quick wipe/brush to get rid of any starch still sticking to them. You may need to coat them with some kind of glaze to make them really shiny. Also, some silver colouring on the backs might help to make them sparkle more.

[SeanF21]

2 years later... I know, I know... but for those still looking and who also come across this, you can apply a light coat of mineral oil to help prevent sticking and to give the candy a shiny coat. The best way is to spray it on with a fine mist. The nice thing about it is that you will know when enough has been applied when the normally-dull appearance of the candy - caused by the corn starch - is gone.

[jrdwhitney]

I tried a food safe casting mold but little bit of the corn starch sticks to the cast and ruins my impressions.

What material does the POSITIVE need to be made out of so that the corn starch does not stick to the positive.

[WendyB10]

Ok so in theory couldn't you take a chocolate mold and push it into the cornstarch for the same effect? If you found a chocolate mold you really liked? Or use it with melted paraffin wax to create wax versions then press then into the cornstarch?

[ThisIsMyNameOK]

Great idea. I have some chocolate molds that would work perfectly. But I don't know about pouring hot wax into the molds. I would test it very carefully first, maybe just in one corner, to make sure it can take the heat, or else use a hard candy mold.

[SinAmos]

Great stuff!

[matstermind]

use legos!

[domestic_engineer]

i was thinking the exact same thing. I pictured a bunch of little leggo guys.

[matstermind]

that'd be cool too, I was thinking lego bricks. (maybe with the holes on the underside for stackable ones)

[freakyqwerty]

These are jellies but close enough.

[matstermind]

if i remember correctly, i was thinking of that when i posted the comment

[freakyqwerty]

You'd probly be able to use the mold for hard sweets.

[perezm31068]

Why does the corn starch not stick/mix with the liquid candy and stay mixed when it hardens?

[beehard44]

what if you turn the cornstarch into a non Newtonian fluid, put it in the tray, dio your die in, wait 'till it hardens and use that?
maybe it'll be sturdier but the problem is when you remove the candies from the mould...
vibration?

[sandds]

The only way I'm aware of to allow a water/cornstarch to 'harden' would be to allow it to dry out completely while the mold is still in place. This would take a long period of time, unless, just a guess, you put it in an oven at 200F for a long time to drive off the water.

My experience with water/cornstarch mixtures is that they will go bad after a couple of days out in the open...and that's not Good Eats.

[Black Panther Knex]

Well done instructable.

[ammazur]

Fantastic! I was having the same problem finding a decent mold, and this will work great. Thanks for posting it. :)