I have wanted to try making rock candy FOR-EVER. I mean, why wouldn’t you want to make it? I hated science in school, but that’s probably because it didn’t involve candy like this little experiment did. Lucky for me (Us, you!) the resident candy and technicolor QUEEN, Natasha of Violet Tinder, had reached out just as our wheels started turning on this project and she was already concocting some amazing DIY rock candy. I’m so excited she was up for sharing the tutorial for making your own rock candy here on the blog today AND she even offered up some of her schnazy and BRIGHT paper goodies to give away to one lucky reader!!
This is such a fun thing to do with kids or friends or on your own and other than having patience it is SO easy thanks to Natasha’s insider tips!
2 cups water
5 cups sugar
A large, open-mouth jar
Rock candy sticks
Clothespin
Food coloring
A pot to boil the mixture
A wooden spoon or spatula to stir
* This will make approximately one large stick. If you’d rather, you can split this solution into two smaller jars to produce two smaller sticks.
1. First, take your sticks and slightly dampen them. Roll them in sugar and set them aside to dry. These are your “seed” sticks and the sugar on them will help give your rock candy something to attach to as it grows.
2. While those are drying, pour the water in the pot and set it to boil. Once it’s boiling, pour in the sugar one cup at a time. In between each cup, stir until it’s thoroughly dissolved- you’ll know it’s dissolved when the solution looks clear (not cloudy) and you can’t see any granules sitting on the bottom. {NOTE: Some tutorials I’ve found will tell you to just keep mixing in sugar until it won’t dissolve any more. That is a LOT of sugar! I found this leads to an over-saturated solution that creates lumpy sugar blobs, not gorgeous rock candy crystals!}
3. When you’ve dissolved all of your sugar, leave it to boil for another couple minutes, just to make sure everything is evenly heated and blended. Then, add in a couple drops of your food coloring. A little goes a long way with the food coloring- usually just a couple drops is plenty! Once you’ve done that, turn off the heat and leave to cool for about 10 minutes.
4. When your solution feels warm but not scalding hot, it’s time to pour it in your jar! Pour it in and set somewhere you’ll be able to leave it undisturbed for a few days. Once the solution is in the jar, take your stick and secure it with a clothespin. When you dip it in the solution, the clothespin will keep it suspended at the top of the jar. It’s important that the stick doesn’t touch the sides or the bottom! If it does, the rock candy will grow onto the jar and it will be nearly impossible to extract it.
5. Once the stick is in, it’s time to wait! And wait and wait… growing good rock candy takes patience! You’ll know you did it all correctly if you can see tiny crystals start to grow on your stick within a day or so. The longer you leave it, the larger the crystals will grow. This can take anywhere from 3-7 days, so again make peace with the waiting game! 😉 When you’re satisfied with the size, you can crack the hardened top layer of sugar off, delicately pull out your stick, and… YOU MADE ROCK CANDY!!
And a couple more tips…
No. 1 As tempting as it can be, try not to touch or move the stick once you have it set in the solution. It can disrupt the crystal-growing process and hinder those really big, gorgeous looking rocks from forming!
No. 2 If your colored sugar solution is too dark to clearly see your stick through once it’s in the jar (this was the case for me with the dark teal food coloring), use a flashlight to take a peek.
No. 3 When you pull out your finished stick, you can temporarily hang it upside down in a glass to let the remaining solution drip off until it’s dry.
And now for our giveaway!!!!!!
Rock Candy Photos by Jeff Mindell | Giveaway Photo by Violet Tinder
Natasha is giving away a whole technicolor BONANAZA of goodies from her shop, Violet Tinder! You’ll get a set of candy cards, stickers, a cute party in a box, THE WORKS! LOOK AT THE COLORS!!! To enter the giveaway, use the Rafflecopter below! Giveaway ends Wednesday, August 19th at 11:59pm and the winner will be notified and announced here shortly thereafter!
One more huge thank you to Natasha for sharing her secrets, I hope you all try making your own rock candy!! And I also hope you check out her shop because if you’re a sugar lover like me… you’re gonna be VERRRRY happy you did so!
So cool! These would be perfect for favors!! definitely saving this post for future events 🙂
Yes! I have been wanting to make rock candy for months now! Thank you for taking the guess work! These colors are just fantast. No room for the ic. That’s how great they are.
wow i love rock candy but my all-time favorite candy is candy corn. everything at violet tinder looks lovely, hope i win something!
Raspberries hands down
I’ve always wanted to know how to do this! Yessss!
Rock candy always reminds me of my childhood! Choosing my favorite candy is a little like choosing a favorite child for me, haha. But I’d have to say non pareils are my favorite. Colorful and cute and crazy delicious.
I LOVE rock candy. and banana flavored Laffy Taffy.
So fun! I remember making these when I was little! I forgot adults could do it too 🙂
candy corn has got to be my ultimate candy go to!
That rock candy is gorgeous!! My fave candy all time is Reeses cups.
My favorite candy is…. anything chocolate!!
I went to Violet’s Etsy shop ~ LOVE her things!
LOVE your blog!
Thanks for a chance at the giveaway.
Love the colors in these photos!!! & I LOVE nerds rope
good quality dark chocolate
Pear jellybeans are my all time favorite!
I love M&Ms, maltesers (similar to whoppers but better!) and starburst jelly babies and can eat a whole bag of either one of those in one sitting 🙂
The colors are so pretty! I used to love rock candy as a kid. My favorite candy is a dark chocolate bar!
I love Sees’ Toffeeettes. I never share, I eat them all by myself,
Since I put chocolate on a whole different level, BEYOND candy…GUMMY BEARS are my favorite candy! I could eat fistfuls. YUM.
Saltwater taffy, chocolate covered gummy bears and hmm… Oh yes! The haribo cola and raspberry gummies
Black licorice I have loved it since I was a little girl, still do!
This is so cool! My favorite candy is sour gummy worms. I wonder if you could make sour rock candy!
Chocolate, and anything sour!
Chocolate and licorice. When I lived in Australia I so enjoyed Chocolate Bullets. Wish they had them in the USA.
probably reeses cups
My favorite candy is butterfingers
It’s so funny you mention science–I made rock candy one year for a science fair project! And my all time favorite candy is Reese’s, specifically the holiday shapes like the pumpkin and Christmas tree. So tasty and festive!
Adorable!! Can’t wait to try these. The most difficult part will be having patience!
My favorite candy is anything sour! (Or anything cute like these, or cotton candy. Any whimsical type of confection really!)
My FAVORITE? Does such a thing exist? oxx.
I’ve always wanted to make my own rock candy! I used to get a stick as a treat every year when we vacationed at the beach as a kid. Fun Dip was my favorite candy when I was growing up, though.
Oh! I can’t wait to try this for my nephew’s birthday! I loved rock candy as a kid ☺️
I loveeeeee these so much!! Pretty colors taste delicious!
My all-time favorite candy is definitely chocolate!
Thanks for providing this awesome giveaway! I LOVE all of these cheery and fun things! Fingers crossed good luck everyone!
I love gummy bears, I would say it’s my all time favorite!
Love rock candy & this looks so fun! My all time favorite candy is sour patch watermelons! ?
So incredible, and obsessed with the colors… This is a must for my next DIY!! Thanks 🙂
Obsessed with her colors!!
Starburst always win for me! Cute tutorial!
This is so cool. . My all time favorite candy is probably kitkats
Hard to choose a favorite candy, but, probably a thing sour and gummy is my fave!!!!
fav candy is gummy bears! The red ones!
My favorite candy is Sour Jack Kids! yummmm!
This looks so yummy! I love rock candy ?
My favorite is sour gummy worms!
I love Twix & Nibs! Going to add rock candy making to my must do list!!
I love these! Can you re-use the solution to make more sticks?
Can you use the jar to repeat the process and make more? That’s a lot of sugar for one stick. I love rock candy. I like it when Cracker Barrel sells the boxes of rock candy without a stick or string. How do you make it that way? My all time favorite candy bar is Hershey’s with almonds. My favorite quality chocolate is the red Lundt truffles and a good quality seafoam.
Hi i wanna ask permission to use ur photo for my instagram account. I hope you dont mind