Have you ever made candy? I have made caramel and sugar decorations (remember my Frozen cake?) and even lollipops, but I had never made flavoured hard candy before. I got the idea when I had my last cold with a terrible sore throat. I used to buy honey candy in Italy and I suddenly felt to urge to have some… so I made my own.
This is a very easy recipe, but you do need a candy thermometer to make sure you get the mixture to the hard crack stage. This is a must to ensure that the final result is indeed hard and not sticky.
If you want to get a golden coloured candy, I suggest you use a light coloured honey as you need to caramelize it. Honey here in Australia is mostly dark, thus the dark colour of the final candy.
The taste is amazing and it’s really good for your throat! Try it and let me know what you think!
To store it, wrap the candy individually using wax/baking paper and store in an air-tight container or Ziploc bag. If you live in a very hot and humid area, you may want to keep them in the fridge o they don’t become sticky.
Also, if you like home-made candy, make sure to check out my Soft Vanilla and Pink Salt Caramels,
Honey Hard Candy
Honey Hard Candy - delicious and healthy home-made candy!
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp sugar
- 4 tbsp water
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp honey
Instructions
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In a pot, mix together the sugar, water and lemon juice and put it on the fire on a medium flame.
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When the mixture boils, decrease the flame to low and stir in the honey.
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Caramelize the mixture and cook it until it reaches the hard crack stage (146°C-155°C/295°F-310°F) on a candy thermometer.
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Then pour into silicone moulds and let the candy harden completely before unmoulding.
Don’t they look yummy and glossy??
Don’t forget to pin this recipe!
Hello Manu, I tried this recipe today and they came out great! I didn’t add the lemon because I just wanted the honey flavor and they came out great. Thanks so much for this recipe!
Sue
The lemon juice is a preservative and thus not used for flavor.
The lemon juice also add a little tangyness to the candy. 🙂
I’m using a silicone mold and the candy that touches the mold is not clear when removed. Do you know what the problem could be?
Maybe you haven’t cooked it to the right temperature.
I know this is an old thread, but the discoloration is from hard water stains on the silicone mold. The molds need dried as soon as they are washed. It can be hard to get off the molds once it’s already there. I speak from experience I wish someone would of told me that a long time ago!!!
Can this be made without sugar and only honey
Hi Melissa & Manu, I have the same question; is it possible only using HONEY? Thanks!
I dunno what I did wrong, I’ve never had problems making came before, but right around the softball stage it started getting really dark and began to taste burnt. I eventually called it quits and dumped it out. I tasted it again this morning and it’s definitely burnt. I used honey leftover from rendering my beeswax, so it had already been heated once, but it tastes fine and I used fresh squeezed lemon juice. It tasted great before it started darkening. The only thing I can think is the lemon juice started to burn. Maybe it would be better to reduce the lemon juice by itself and then add it right at the end? Lemme know your thoughts. I’d like to try this again, but I need to figure out what went wrong.
You can use 1 teaspoon of citric acid in place of lemon juice. Citric acid can be found in the canning and pickling section of a grocery store.
My question is can you make the candy with out adding the sugar.
Well honey is about 12% water. So if instead of 6 Tbsp sugar you added 6.72 Tbsp extra honey it should work out. Most of the balance of honey is sugar.
😉
Hello. How long does it last? whats the shelf life??
I keep mine in closed jars and they last for at least two weeks. The more honey, the longer they’ll last. Honey doesn’t go bad. Also…. Keeping them in closed containers keeps them from getting too sticky.
very good when made them a 2nd time! 1st i burnt them. because i did not mix
Will heating honey this much make it completely void of health benefits? I’ve read articles with mixed information on whether honey becomes toxic and hard to digest after heating it up? Any thoughts? Also any one find recipes where you can fill the candy with honey instead of making the whole ball hard or am I making things up?
Yo, I think that you can just boil the sugar lemon and water, and then once it reaches to hard crack stage remove from heat, and once it cools down to 40C, immediately stir in the honey and pour into mold. This will keep all the benefits yayyyyy
I will love to try it over here in Nigeria, but the challenge is how to get the candy thermometer here , can u please help me get it and how much will it cost me to buy one
You don’t technically need a candy thermometer; if you drip the sugar mix into some cold water, it’ll cool down quickly and act a lot like the final product will if you take it off the heat then. For hard crack like this recipe says, you should get hard strings of sugar that break easily and don’t really stick to your fingers or teeth. If it’s still soft or sticky, keep cooking. If it starts burning without getting to hard crack, it’s not your fault, sugar just doesn’t cook well sometimes because of humidity or air pressure. Best of luck
I tried this recipe today, used brown sugar instead of white sugar, but I just noticed in the comments the suggestion for making them with just honey. Will try that next time. I love the bit of zing from the lemon! Grest recipe Manu, Thanks so much for sharing it!
I saw a recipe that only used honey and it worked for me
Do these turn out completely hard? I’ve had issues In the past with using just honey and they never fully harden. Even when I go all the way to the hard crack temperature
Yes it is like hard candy but my batch is sticky to the touch… 🙁
Turned out wonderful, did have a darker flavor but it was the honey that made it dark.
Didnt last long everyone loved them.
What can i do if i don’t have molds?
Hi Sarah. You can simply drop some of the melted candy on a piece of parchment paper. You will get thin lollypop-like candies. Be careful not to get burnt!
I have no clue I here I went wrong! I tried this recipe twice and burned it both times. The honey seems to burn right before the soft crack stage.
Hi Neil. I am not sure what could be going wrong. I have made this recipe many times and it never happened to me. Could it be the type of honey? Is it pure honey or does it have anything else added to it?
Thank you so much.
I have made this recipe
I know this is old, but can I use food coloring for this recipe? Or do I need something lighter, like white honey or honey extract if I want the color to show up correctly? I want colorful hard candies that taste like honey 🙂
Thank you
What silicone tray do you recommend? I can’t find a small enough one.
Also, what candy thermometer do you recommend? Thanks!
Is there a way to add liquor to this? Jack Daniels. My husband works outside and in the cold winters I would add some jack Daniels Tennessee honey to his honey lemon tea, not a lot but some for his scratchy dry throat.
Hi manu, don’t know what i’m doing wrong. Tried this several times already candies come out nice at first but turns sticky and back to liquid 2-3 days after. Done everything from wrapping them in wax paper, sealed them in baggies, put them in the fridge. Our honey is around 21mc so i let the excess liquid evaporate first before letting it reach hard crack.