I couldn’t stop smiling after I made these Homemade Lemon Drops! In fact, I am smiling right now while I am eating one!
Homemade Lemon Drops
I couldn’t stop smiling after I made these Homemade Lemon Drops! In fact, I am smiling right now while I am eating one!
- 1/2 c. sugar
- 1/4 t. cream of tartar
- 1/4 c. water
- 1 t. citric acid
- 1/4 t. lemon extract
- yellow food coloring
- powdered sugar for rolling – 1-2 T.
- Coat a plastic scraper and kitchen scissors with butter and have a silpat ready. If you don’t have a silpat a marble slab was recommended in the original recipe.
- Preheat oven to warm.
- In a small saucepan over medium-high heat combine sugar, cream of tartar and water. Stir just until sugar is dissolved. Stop stirring and attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pan. Continue boiling mixture until it reaches 300 degrees F (or hard ball stage).
- Pour hot mixture immediately onto silpat. Sprinkle citric acid, lemon extract and coloring onto the sugar mixture.
- Using a buttered scraper (of some kind) mix ingredients until combined.
- The mixture will initially stick all over the scraper but will eventually come together into one cohesive glob of sugar!
- While the mixture is still hot pull or cut pieces off (with buttered kitchen scissors) and roll them in your hands to form a sphere or egg shape. Be careful not to burn your hands. The mixture should feel hot but not hot enough to burn your skin. If it is, wait for it to cool some.
- Since the mixture is hot the lemon drops will ultimately be flattened on one side. Or at least mine were!
- Roll the formed lemon drops in powdered sugar to coat. This way they will not all stick to each other!
Tip – If you find that the sugar is hardening too quickly to shape the pieces put them in the preheated oven (on warm) to reheat the sugar. You will be able to shape them again once they soften a bit.
