Homemade Conversation Hearts

This year make Valentine's Day more special with Homemade Conversation Hearts!

In the new edition of Food Network Magazine there is a recipe for conversation hearts! As soon as I saw them I knew I had to make them, personalize them, and send them to my kiddies! I've never worked with fondant before but found out it wasn't hard to do at all. I think its a great recipe, but if I made them again I would definitely be out there looking for stronger flavors. I only had vanilla, almond, and rum flavoring in my cupboard so that was what I went with.

So to Justin (JJ) & Kristina and my grandpuppies Isabelle and Maggie....
To Christopher (Furr), my rock star who I want to keep dreaming big.....
To Grumpy, who my friend Karry said "wasn't so Grumpy after all".....
To my parents who started this whole thing going 😉
and my Kitties....Miss Kitty, Rudy, and Chubby....
You all have my heart and I love you so much...that I had to put it on candy to tell you. (BIG SMILE)

Conversation Hearts

January-18-2013

Why buy the candy might make your heart melt but then break your teeth? 🙂 These are softer than the ones you can buy in the store, but are just as good and fun to boot!

Ingredients

1-¼ ounce packet unflavored gelatin powder
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
8 cups confectioner's sugar
assorted food coloring, for tinting
assorted extracts, for flavoring
cooking spray
food decorating pens, for writing

Instructions

Whisk the gelatin, corn syrup, vanilla, salt and ½ cup boiling water in a stand mixer bowl until the gelatin dissolves. Using the paddle attachment, beat in the confectioner's sugar on medium low speed, 1 cup at a time, to make a stiff, sticky dough.Transfer the dough to a clean surface and knead, adding more confectioner's sugar as needed (up to 1 cup), until the dough is smooth, pliable and slightly tacky, about 5 minutes.Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Flatten 1 piece into a disk. Cover the rest with plastic wrap. Add a few drops food coloring and extracts to the flattened disc. Fold in the sides and pinch closed, then knead until the color is distributed.Lightly coat a large piece of parchment paper with cooking spray. Roll out the colored dough on the parchment until ⅛ to ¼ inch thick. Cut into hearts using 1-inch cookie cutters. Transfer to parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough using different colors and extracts. Let the hearts sit at room temperature, uncovered, until dry and hard, about 24 hours, flipping them about halfway through. Write messages on the hearts using food decorating pens. Store in an air-tight container up to 1 week.

Details

Prep time: 1-2 hours Drying time: 24 hours

Note: this was more time consuming for me than the recipe stated. Cutting several tiny hearts is very tedious work. I think that is where the loves must come in 😉 I had a hard time finding cookie cutters that were 1 inch hearts - but Wilton does make a linzer cookie cutter that worked perfectly for me!

Comments

honeyb

January 18, 2013 at 4:29 pm

How fun. I'm glad it is a cat named Chubby, when I saw that one I thought you were calling someone else Chubby. 😉
I would love to make these. Though my husband HATES the candy. He calls them chalk candy. Same with Necco wafers, butter mints, all the same family. Silly guy.
My boys would like them though.

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