Introduction: Yuzu Candy Drops

About: I am a pastry chef and chicken/duck enthusiast. I love to chow down on mochi, mochi is my specialty!

Yuzu Candy Drops are made with the aromatic citrus, yuzu. They are a refreshingly, sweet, citrusy, and slightly sour hard candy. Delicious!

Supplies

Ingredients~

  • 3/4 cup of water
  • 1/4 cup yuzu juice
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons citric acid (optional)
  • A few drops of natural yellow food coloring (optional)
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

Step 1: Wash Your Yuzus

Take 3 yuzus and wash under running water thorughly. Then dry the fruits with a towel.

Step 2: Juice Your Yuzus

Slice yuzus in half. Using your hands squeeze the yuzus over a strainer into a measuring cup. Yuzus are mostly seeds, and less juice. You will have around 1/4 cup of juice from juicing. Save your peels to make Candied And Coated In Sugar Yuzu Peels ~

Step 3: Prepare Your Yuzu Candy Station

Oil or butter kitchen scissors and a silicone spatula. Have a bowl of powdered sugar ready for coating. And have a cutting board covered in buttered or oiled parchment paper or a silicone mat for making the candies. Now measure out all your ingredients separately.

Step 4: Make the Yuzu Candy Mixture

Combine 1 cup of sugar, 3/4 cup of water, 1/4 cup of yuzu juice, and 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar in a medium saucepan. Stir with a silicone spatula. Heat to medium to medium~high heat. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon to keep the mixture from overflowing. When the mixture is at 300F, also known an hard~crack stage remove the pan from heat.

If you have a candy thermometer you can know the mixture is done at 300F. A candy thermometer is not necessary for knowing when the mixture is done. No need to go buy one! You can use the cold water method, which is when you take a spoonful of the scorching mixture and dip it in water with lots of ice. Does the mixture quickly turn brittle and crack when you try to mold it? If so it is done, and at hard crack stage. Hard crack is the stage for brittle, lollis, and hand candies.

The cold water method: https://www.thespruceeats.com/making-candy-without...

Step 5: Flavor the Yuzu Candy Mixture

Combine 2 1/2 teaspoons citric acid (optional), A few drops of natural yellow food coloring (optional), and 1/2 teaspoon lemon (or yuzu) extract into the mixture. Stir with a silicone spatula. Pour onto a buttered parchment paper or silicone mat covered baking sheet.

Step 6: Pull the Yuzu Candy

Scrape up the yuzu candy mixture into the center to cool it down and contain it. When the yuzu mixture is just hot enough for picking up, oil or butter your hands and pull the yuzu mixture into a rope and cut off small pieces with the oiled scissors. Put the pieces on an oiled parchment covered baking sheet. They will become oval shaped if you pull the corners underneath the yuzu candy.

Step 7: Coat Yuzu Candies in Sugar

When the yuzu candies are hard put them in a bowl of powdered sugar and stir with a spoon until all candies are coated. This will prevent the yuzu candies sticking to one another.

Step 8: Sifting the Yuzu Candies

Pour the contents of the bowl into a sieve and sift out all the powdered sugar.

Step 9: Finish Your Yuzu Candies

Take your yuzu candies out of the sieve and put them in an airtight container. Chow down!