Homemade Sweethearts for Valentine's Day

1. Begin by blooming your gelatin, using the ratio one part gelatin and five parts cold water. Place the corn syrup, bloomed gelatin, and water in a small saucepan and stir frequently over medium-low heat until the gelatin dissolves.

2. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and add 1 cup (250 mL) of icing sugar, mixing it with a wooden spoon or a spatula until the sugar dissolves. Keep adding sugar and mixing until the full two pounds of sugar have been added. The dough will become very stiff and sticky. If it seems a bit crumbly, don't worry, the dough will all come together during the kneading stage.

3. Dust the counter with icing sugar, then dump the dough onto the counter. Dust the dough generously with more icing sugar and begin kneading it. Continue to add sugar as needed while kneading the mixture. Knead until the dough becomes satiny and smooth.

 

 

4. Choose your colours, then divide your dough into portions. For each portion, add several drops of food colouring and your chosen flavouring, then knead until the colour is evenly distributed. Note: Any flavour or extract will work with this recipe. Repeat this step with each dough portion until they have all been colored and flavoured. Keep them covered with a damp cloth or towel to keep them from drying out.

 

 

5. Dust the counter with more icing sugar, then roll out one of the coloured sections of dough to about 1/4Գ thick.6. Using a heart shaped cutter, cut out little hearts and place them on a sheet of parchment paper.

 

7. Leave the hearts out to dry for at least 24 hours. Be sure that they are totally dry before moving on to the next step, or the ink will run due to the moisture in the candies.

8. Once the candies have dried completely, use an edible marker to write phrases and words on your candy hearts - feel free to get creative! To make this step even more fun, invite some friends over to help fill in your blank hearts with cute and funny phrases.