Q&A for How to Make Old Fashioned Hard Candy

You can buy silicone candy molds to create the shape you desire. Molds are available online or in specialty stores.

Most grocery stores sell barley in a box. Check near the rice.

Freezing or refrigerating it for a short while might help. You may just have to redo the recipe.

If the candies aren't going to touch, then it is not necessary to roll them in powdered sugar, although it is recommended you do so anyway.

Make white, mint flavored hard candy and then take a clean rubber band, fully dip the rubber band into edible red food dye, then put the rubber band in the desired spot on the candy to make stripes.

You can replace 1 cup of light corn syrup with 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water.

I suppose you could rinse the candy in the sink, but I wouldn't recommend it. Just toss the batch, ants and all, and make another that you store in an airtight (and therefore ant-tight) container.

You can use a pump to blow them up before they cool and you can also just add thin layers to make them less hard on the teeth.

Potassium bitartrate, also known as potassium hydrogen tartrate, with formula KC₄H₅O₆, is a byproduct of winemaking. In cooking, it is known as cream of tartar. It is the potassium acid salt of tartaric acid. It can be used in baking or as a cleaning solution.

Using a silicon candy mold works, but you might want to use cooking oil to coat them before pouring in the candy.

If your lollipops are disintegrating, you may not be able to save your candy. However, you can try leaving them for a bit to see what happens. If your lollipops are crackling with heat, then leave them to cool. No guarantee your lollipops will last though. You may need to ditch this batch and start again.

No. It won't be colored. but if you want to make red coloring, use Kool-Aid to give it a nice flavor and color.

No, adding fruit extract is optional. You can add it if you want it to have a fruity flavor, but you can also just skip that step if you don't have fruit extract. It will just taste like sugar, and not fruit.