How Do You Make A Hard Candy Shell?

by DEANIE
(MPLS MINN)

I want to make an inch square chocolate covered by a colored hard candy shell like M&M's or Jordan Almonds. Does anyone know how to do this?

Hi Deanie,

I've done my best to find the answer to this question, but I honestly can't locate a recipe to make a colored candy shell like M&M's. I'm sure there has to be one out there, unless M&M is keeping it a deep, dark, secret.

The best suggestion I could find was rather ingenious. One person recommended using that "Magic Shell" ice cream topping over your candy and popping it in the refrigerator to set.

It makes a shell coating, but it isn't exactly what you are referring to, I know. If you want to give it a try, you can probably locate it at the grocery store in the aisle with the ice cream toppings.

Sorry I couldn't find what you needed.

HELP! If anyone has a recipe for this hard candy shell coating, please share it here!

Comments for How Do You Make A Hard Candy Shell?

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Dec 24, 2019

Hard Candy Shell - How to clean up? NEW
by: Susan

I attempted the hard candy shell from the recipe mentioned (https://www.leaf.tv/articles/how-to-make-a-hard-candy-shell/). Now I can't get it out of my pan! Tried boiling water. Tried freezing it. Good and stuck (hard) to the pan.

Any help would be appreciated....

Jun 26, 2017

M&m's NEW
by: Drew

M&m's have two coatings, the first being a mixture of flour, water and glucose (soft ball stage) and then a 60:40 ratio of water to sugar (hardball).

If you haven't got a drum to do this, there is another way 👌 change the water to sugar ratio from 60:40 to 70:30, it will be thinner.

Softball stage - when the sugar forms a soft ball when dropped into ice cold water

Hardball stage - you got it, when it sets hard in ice cold water.

I always use a thermometer but do this too, as it will set this hard if you take it off of the heat now, so it gives you an idea of the crunch👌😍

May 22, 2017

panning choc centers with hard candy shell NEW
by:

wow funny readin all of this bc this is something that i do every day.... in 12 pans at 600 lbs a pan it deff is at art ..

Oct 20, 2016

Deanne NEW
by: annonymus

M&M and Jordan almonds are produced in a revolving pan, very similar to a small cement mixer. To cover a square shape with a hard candy shell, would require a lot of work.
Try the following
Boil 6.5 lbs of sugar in 3.5 lbs of water (65% sugar) allow it to cool to room temperature. You find some sugar crystals on top when it is cold. place the square on a wire mesh and pour the cold candy solution on the square piece cover the edges with a spatula. Allow the piece to dry, make take a few hours. Turn over and repeat the process. You can flavour and colour to the candy solution after it boiled.

Apr 26, 2016

Royal icing NEW
by: Helpful baker

You can actually use a thin layer of royal frosting and when that hardens it's super similar to an m&m. All you do is dip a chocolate chip in the royal frosting.

Aug 06, 2015

My suggestion.. NEW
by: Mommyof2

I would try using the "Candy Melts EZ Thin Dipping Aid" melt it down like you would melt chocolate.. Then add food coloring and use that for the candy shell..

The Candy melts dipping aid is white... But flavorless... So you want to make sure whatever you dip in it is flavorful enough to cover the taste OR try adding sugar or extracts or something to it

Oh and I will be trying this soon :)

BE CREATIVE AND EXPLORE...BETTY CROCKER WASNT BORN A BAKER... it takes trial and error sucesses and failures.. And family or friends who will HONESTLY tell us what they think about what we create

Jul 07, 2015

Well it depends... NEW
by: Angie M

I don't eat many candies with candy coatings for a very specific reason. Many use shellac,it basically comes from a lac beetle,I'm not sure if it's atchually cut off the beetle or if it's extracted from it but it has been refered to as dried beetle juice, ewww,the only exception I know of is M&Ms,thank God,they do NOT use shellac,their coating is only sugar and corn syrup. M&Ms makes this very clear if you ask, while other companies come right out and say they use shellac, so if you want to make it all you need is corn syrup and suger,cause I'm assuming you don't want a beetles rear end in your candy, follow m&ms example.

Apr 18, 2015

just try this
by: bgs18

Try to make a thin royal icing you can watch on youtube how make one... I tried to make icing to coat my cake and i tried this one the effect is it hardens up like m n m coating so i assume it will work coz im look for it also long time ago how to make m n m's hope it will works...

Oct 21, 2013

Recipe for candy coating
by: Pierre

Good day My

I think i could help u people with a recipe .
4 KG water
10 KG sugar
5 GRAM glucose

Cook to 105 degrees
Take from heat and let it cool down to room temp then use .
To make it white add titanium and for colour just add colour and flavour as require .The syrup will have not crystallized ,because of the glucose.Put whatever you want to coat in rotating pan and add syrup little by little until you rich your required thickness .

I hope this can be off help us

Regards Pierre

Jul 17, 2013

Hard Candy + Fudge Preperation
by: Anonymous

Thank-you Angie, I had been looking for the cold water test forever and my family thought I was making it up.

Mar 08, 2013

hard candy coating
by: Anonymous

it tells you how to make the candy coating, but doesn't explain how to coat something that you cant put on a skewer... not much good if you cant coat something like peanuts ..you poke a hole in them? and after coating you cant just lay them down and expect them to coat evenly

Jan 05, 2013

recipe for shell coating link
by: macinda

http://www.ehow.com/how_4870300_make-hard-candy-shell.html

Nov 02, 2012

hard candy shell recipe for chocolates like m&m's
by: Anonymous

I typed into my search engine how to make hard candy shell recipe... ehow.com tells you how it is made, gives the recipe and how to use it :) hope this helps :)

Jan 29, 2012

candy coating
by: Anonymous

go to ehow.com. i jsut foudn the recipe for making the candy coation on that website.

Nov 21, 2011

panning
by: Anonymous

Its achieved by panning
http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/panning/candy.html
its a trade process using a rotating drum

Jul 31, 2011

try using recipe for making Jordan almonds
by: jr

Food.com has a recipe for making Jordan almonds. I would think that the candy coating on the almonds would the same or close to an M&M-like coating.

Jul 13, 2011

Hard Candy Shell
by: Emilee

As an alternative, perhaps you could use a sugar cookie icing to dip your chocolates in. It hardens like a candy coated shell and you can color it to your heart's desire. May take a couple of dips depending on your recipe's translucency.

May 29, 2011

Candy Egg Shell
by: Closet Chef

Thanks everyone for the info. I'm working on a new recipe for a dessert "Soft Boiled Egg" and have been working on trying to find a recipe for the "shell". This gives me something to work with, although I need to figure out how to make it white.

Feb 08, 2011

It's crazy no-one knows
by: Chris H

Forget it, I'm just going to buy m&m's from now on

Jan 21, 2011

Dragee pan
by: Anonymous

Get the book "Sugar Confectionery Manufacture" (or find some of it on books.google.com to get an idea). From page 247 on the process of "sugar panning" is described. Yes, sugar coating involves a tumbling dragee pan, not unlike a cement mixer. Soft coatings just involve moisture and solids and are done at low/room temperature; hard coatings are done by evaporating water from a syrup (by applying moderate heat) until the sugar crystallizes.

Once you've got a dragee pan (they're quite expensive!) you'll still have to learn how to use it. As you can read from the book mentioned above, the process is considered an art and will take lots of practice to get right.

With enough McGuyver-instinct it's possible to make your own dragee pan. You'll need two sheet-metal salad bowls (30 cm diameter), a sheet of silicone, an electric drill (as engine), a hand drill (to slow down the electric drill), wood, screws, nails for the stand and a rotary tool to cut the hole. I'm still learning how to use mine though.

Jan 04, 2011

Hard shell candy
by: Dreamzilla

Well actually it is a tumbling process which takes a lot of effort to recreate. At first you have to add a very thin layer of natural gum, then you’ll add a layer of a sugar and corn syrup mixture after this you can add a layer of colouring and at last you’ll add a layer of beeswax to make it shiny.

Though, when you have a chocolate core you won’t be able use solutions which are hot for the simple reason that the chocolate will melt. So the sugar mixture has to be a very wet one and you have to dry and atomize this layer over the candy simultaneously. I don’t know the exact environmental circumstances to get the best results. I guess this is M&M’s dark secret. Though, it may be help, when you’re searching for more information to also look at the pharmaceutical industries and search for terms as ‘tablet coating’, ‘pan coating’, ‘(non) aqueous film coating’ and ‘dragee’.

For me, I am also trying to make a candy with the same sort of coating, so please, if anyone could tell us more about this topic, don’t hesitate!

Dec 14, 2010

found a recipe for hard candy shells
by: Anonymous

# Bowl large enough to hold the saucepan
# Ice
# Cold water
# Flat baking sheet
# Nonstick cooking spray
# 1/2 cup light corn syrup
# 2 cups granulated sugar
# 1 cup water
# Medium-sized saucepan
# Stovetop
# Wooden spoon
# Candy thermometer
# Metal skewers

1.Fill the bowl with ice and cold water, leaving a few inches at the top so the saucepan will fit without causing the water to spill over the sides of the bowl

2.Grease the flat baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.

3.Combine the corn syrup, sugar and water in the saucepan. Place on the stovetop.

4.Set the heat to medium-high.

5.Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.

6.Leave the pot on medium-high heat, testing the temperature after 10 minutes. The temperature needs to be 300 degrees Fahrenheit. (It may take longer than 10 minutes.)

7.Once the temperature reaches 300 degrees, remove the pan from the heat, turn off the stovetop and immerse the saucepan in the bowl of cold water. Be sure that no cold water spills into the candy mixture.

8.The candy will take a moment to stop boiling, so put the items to be dipped on the skewers in the meantime.

9.Being careful to touch only the top of the skewer, dip the items into the candy. Let any excess coating drip off into the saucepan.

10.Place the dipped items on the baking sheet and let them sit at room temperature for at least one hour.

Jan 05, 2010

Jordan Almonds shell
by: Janelle

2 1/2 pounds whole blanched almonds
1 pound confectioners sugar
3 egg whites
food coloring if desired

if you just want the hard candy coating then just dont use the almonds and use whatever u want!!

in stand mixer use paddle attachment and beat sugar and egg whites together untill thick. add food coloring if desired!!

if using almonds toast them first in the oven at 350 for 5-10 min.

place almonds(or candy) on silicone baking sheets cover with the candy coating and let them sit to dry

makes about 4 cups of almonds

Jan 05, 2010

Jan 01, 2010

Idea
by: Slim

maby after you get the candy shell to the hard crack stage you could coat your candy by makeing indentions in something like aluminum foil. fill it half full of the coating put the candy in and cover it up with more coating. its just an idea but it might work.

Jan 01, 2010

Nov 14, 2009

How to make a sugar hard shell coating
by: Anonymous

The secret is sugar. Just plain old white melted sugar. When you make it, it must be an extremely thin coating. You must make the shell in halves, fill it with chocolate and place both halves together with a thin layer of melted chocolate, then coat in sugar a second time, but make sure the sugar is partially cooled before coating it a second time or you will melt the chocolate :D

Jun 26, 2009

How can you make M&Ms?
by: Anonymous

I have been looking for a website on how to make M&Ms. Can you melt Jawbreakers? If you could melt Jawbreakers, and then add food coloring, they would be good to use for candy shells for chocolate. I wanted to make different kinds of M&Ms. But Jawbreakers might be too hard to melt, anyway.

Apr 19, 2009

recipe for hard candy shell
by: Anonymous

I found one for Jordans almonds - I don't see why it wouldn't work for chocolate. I was wondering if the chocolate shoult perhaps be frozen before dipping it in the hot melted candy to coat it?

Here is the url:
http://www.recipezaar.com/Jordan-Almonds-Sugar-Coated-Almonds-269269

Dec 19, 2008

Hard candy coating
by: Dawn

I was watching the food network 'Unwraped' and theh way they do that hard candy coating is by layers in a tumbler. I am not sure that us amature candy makers would be able to really duplicate the results even if we were sure of a formulation. Maybe in a rock tumbler. I believe the formula is sugar and cornsyrup, flavor and color.

Sorry for our bad news if anyone figures it out though i would live to try it.

Dec 05, 2008

Covering Chocolate with Hard Tack?
by: Angie

Thanks, Maggie, for your tip. It's always great to hear from the voice of experience!

I'm wondering if you ever tried dipping chocolate in the hard tack to make it a shell coating?

There has got to be some type of recipe for this, I'm sure. There's been others asking for a recipe for an M&M like coating on chocolate and I've just not been able to locate one.

Who's going to come to the rescue?

Nov 28, 2008

hard candy shell
by: maggie

On the hard candy shell after you cook it transfer it to a double boiler on low heat the hot water keeps it from setting up and you can work with it easier I make lots of hard tack for xmas learned this by trial & error using molds

Sep 07, 2008

Hard Candy Shell Hopefuls
by: Angie

Thanks for the input Mr. Wonka! :-)

I'm wondering if you heated the correct proportions of corn syrup and sugar at a high enough temperature to reach the 'hard crack' stage then dipped your prepared chocolates in it if it would do the trick.

I have made hard tack back in my younger days. It does set very quickly, so it just might work. You can add food coloring to the candy syrup after you remove it from the heat (flavoring, too) if you like.

Anybody want to try it and let us know the results? :)

Sep 07, 2008

M & M candy shell
by: mrwonka

i read on answers.com that that candy shell is corn syrup and sugar. doesnt really help us amatuer candy makers but its a step in the right direction

Mar 31, 2008

Chocolate Candy
by: Chocolate Candy

Hey! I love chocolates very much and I am eagerly waiting to taste the chocolate covered by a colored hard candy shell.

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