Sew Can Do: Halloween Flashback: Jelly Pop Pumpkins!

Today's tutorial is a little flashback from last year that is fun & easy to make: Jelly Pop Pumpkins. It's a homemade version of the fun shaped jellies on stick the stores sell, except these will be much fresher and tastier than the stuff that's probably been sitting on a shelf for months (or possibly last Halloween).

The recipe is the DIY Gum Drops I shared during CraftShare a while back. The silicone pumpkin mold is from Wilton & pretty cheap at most stores - especially now that Halloween items are already marked down significantly.

Ingredients
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Corn Syrup
3/4 cup Water
1 Box Powdered Fruit Pectin (find it in the baking/canning section)
1/2tsp. Baking Soda
A few drops of Flavor Oil (Lor-Ann makes loads of flavors)
A few drops of Food Coloring

Gear:
Vegetable Oil
Silicone Mold
2 small saucepans
Heat resistant spoons (wooden or silicone are best)
Waxed Paper
Extra sugar for rolling (about 1 cup)
Lollipop Sticks (find in candy-making aisle of most craft stores)

As mentioned before the key to success with jelled candies like these is oiling up the mold like crazy. You want them to come out nice & easy, so a silicone mold+a good slathering of vegetable oil are critical:

Mix the sugar & corn syrup in one saucepan and the baking soda, water & pectin in the other over medium heat for about 5-10 minutes (when the baking soda stops foaming):

Then pour the baking soda mixture into the sugar syrup and stir for one minute. Then add a few drops of flavor oil & coloring and pour into the molds. I used orange coloring and marshmallow flavoring:

Let the candy sit for 24 hrs - it needs to firm up into shape. After 24 hrs, flip molds and gently push the jellies out onto waxed paper and let them fully set for another 24 hrs.

Now comes the fun part, roll each pumpkin in sugar on all sides.

I did some with black sugar for a spookier look. I used pre-colored sugar, but you can make your own with a drop or two of coloring gel and plain white sugar (you'll want to do that in advance so the sugar is dry before using).

Then carefully insert the lollipop sticks about 2/3 into the candy. I recommend doing this right before displaying them standing up or leaving them on their sides until serving so gravity doesn't cause things to slid down. Or just skip the sticks entirely and arrange on a plate.

My pumpkins are about 2"x2" so they're a bit on the heavy side, but tasty items like these don't stick around long in my house, since everyone wants to eat them right away. This recipe makes about 1.25lbs of jellies, so it makes plenty for taking to parties, sharing with friends or as a festive treat for the kids.