Big zucchini? Make candy!

annie1992

12 years ago

In my family there is never too much zucchini. After we've made Zucchini Cinnamon Red Hot Pickles and Zucchini Sweet Relish and put zucchini in the dehydrator for this winter's soup and eaten parmesan zucchini chips and zucchini gratin to our heart's content, then what?

Makayla decided that we finally had "enough" zucchini, I have harvested 67 pounds of it so far this year, LOL. So, she decided to teach her cousin, Jamison, how to make zucchini candy. It tastes just like gummy worms, really, I promise.

First you peel lot of zucchini....

Nope, more than that. You need 20 cups of peeled and seeded zucchini, cut into julienne slices about 4 inches long. Keep peeling.....

Mix Koolaid, sugar, water and the zucchini and simmer for 25 minutes, then lay the strips on the dehydrator tray and dehydrate. After 14 hours, turn the strips and dehydrate some more, at least 4 hours. Then take them off the tray and roll them in sugar to keep them from sticking together. Be sure to NOT tell anyone it's zucchini, I've never had a single person guess the "secret ingredient". (grin)

It really does taste like gummy worms and has that same chewy consistency. I'm not even going to pretend that it's healthy, with all that sugar, but the kids love the stuff. So, when life gives you zucchini, make gummy worms!

Annie

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (7)

sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
12 years ago
What?! That is hilarious. Looks great. And never knew about parm chips. (?!) I've got the crops coming full swing now. I've got some young sugar-a-holics at work and the gummy thing would be a big hit. Seems a good use for the hidden 'baseball bats' i keep finding.
plllog
12 years ago
Hilarious indeed, but what fun!
Related Discussions
Big Zucchini Question
Q
Comments (19)
Yeah, let's try to keep it 'nice' here, shall we? It's a gardening forum, after all. Nothing makes you look worse than trying to insult someone's intelligence when you can't even insult them using correct grammar and spelling. Anyhoo, thanks a bunch for the advice... I am getting a little worried as the plant it is attached to does seem completely dead... It's exactly a week until the fair. Should I cut it off and put it in the fridge to avoid the 90 degree temps we've been having here? I'm afraid it will start to get soft! Also, do you think the fact that it is orange will disqualify it, or is that normal for a zucchini that has 'ripened'? Thanks again!
...See More
Fruitcake candied fruit --- do you make your own.
Q
Comments (5)
I recently made fruitcake out of dried fruit too. I used some of our dried figs and dried apricots. I forgot one should use candied. I did use our candied citrus rind though. Other ingredients included currants, yellow raisins, cranberries, prunes, crushed hazelnuts, and marzipan paste. Brandy too of course. I sent a large fruitcake to a party and none came back, so I have to assume it was good (I know, I should have gone to the party...). I have a couple more soaking in the brandy cheesecloth, will taste them closer to Christmas. It smells so wonderful I really doubt it will taste bad.... I am posting to give the approximate recipe for the syrup and candied rind, since i have been using them quite a bit. To make the syrup and candied rind here is what I did. Mix equal parts sugar and water, heat until sugar is dissolved, and put the zested rinds of a basket full of minneolas after carefully washing them. Sorry, i did not measure, but you will see when enough is enough, when the mix turns a pretty orange color and you see lots or rind on the syrup. Boil for about 30 minutes and let the whole thing sit overnight or a few hours. Strain the rind and keep them in a separate container. The strained liquid should be orange and taste like minneolas. Or, any citrus that you want to preserve. My oldest (and most productive) trees are a giant Minneola, which is probably over 100 years old, and a not so large looking but incredibly prolific Meyers lemon tree. Both of them are super loaded (again). I am thinking about a similar Myers syrup and candied rind combination. I have used the syrup as a flavoring in citrus wine, to make the zucchini candies that were posted here, as a mixer with vodka, will use to soak the non- brandy cheesecake....and that will be it (not much left so it will be gone after that). The candied rind is used every time I make zucchini muffins, every time I make fig bread, and I used some in the fruitcake.
...See More
calling all candy making guru's
Q
Comments (9)
Here's a recipe from Food Network Canada chef Christine Cushing. She says to put pot in bowl of iced water to stop it from cooking and to let mixture cool to 200 degrees before dipping apples. Caramel Apples Yield: 4 McIntosh apples seem to be the classic apple to use for caramel apples but try Pink Ladies, Granny Smith or use your favourite apple. 1 1/3 cups light brown sugar, packed (325 ml) 1/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (75 ml) 1/2 cup 35% whipping cream (125 ml) 4 tbsp golden corn syrup (60 ml) pinch of salt 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (7 ml) 4 McIntosh apples or other tart apples, wash, dried 4 cinnamon sticks, popsicle sticks, dowels or clean twigs Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Make sure to wash and completely dry the apples, give them a polish too - this will ensure the caramel sticks to the apple. Firmly insert stick into stem end of each apple. Set aside. Add sugar, butter, cream, corn syrup and salt to a tall saucepan (the pan needs to be tall enough so the apple can be immersed in the caramel but smaller in width so you get the right volume to dip.) Over medium-low heat, stir the mixture until the butter is melted. Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the temperature reads 245 degrees F, about 9 minutes. The mixture will thicken. When the caramel has reached 245 degrees F. remove immediately from the heat and place the bottom of the pot in a stainless steel bowl (or larger pot) of ice water to stop the caramel from cooking further. Be careful not to get any water in the caramel. Remove caramel from the ice bath. Stir the vanilla into the caramel. Let caramel cool slightly to 200 degree F., about 5 minutes, before dipping. Dip the apple into the caramel, holding the apple firmly by the popsicle stick. Be careful not to touch the caramel, itÂs extremely hot. Slowly lift the apple out of the caramel letting the excess drip off back into the pot of caramel. Twirling the apple gently will help to remove excess caramel. Place apple on prepared baking sheet. Note - if all the caramel runs off the apple, let caramel cool a couple of minutes more. If caramel becomes too thick to work with, gently warm it over low heat for a few seconds. Let caramel cool completely on apples before eating, approximately 30 minutes.
...See More
Baking and Candy Making - Share your pictures!
Q
Comments (12)
Juellie, yes, the waffle cookies are made in the waffle iron. I've had the recipe forever (well 30 or 40 years) and hadn't made them for at least 6-8 years so decided it was time. I love them. We used to put ice cream between and just frost the top one to have homemade ice cream sandwiches! Mush, I had the oven at 300 degrees and left the Rolos in for 1 minute plus 10 to 20 additional seconds. I think you could have the oven a little lower and leave them in a little longer and that would soften the caramel a little more instead of just melting the chocolate. Casey, the pretzel ones are just round pretzels, laided out side by side on a foil covered cookie pan, then a Hershey's kiss placed in the middle. Heat for a couple of minutes in a 300 degree oven or until the kiss gets soft, then push a pretzel filled holiday M&M in the middle. Carla, this recipe didn't use cool whip in the lemon cookies, just cake mix, 2 eggs, and 1/3 cup of veggie oil. I'd love to try the recipe with the cool whip, though, if you ever come across it. Thanks everyone, for all the nice compliments. I just loved that White Gumdrop Fudge and the other quick candies. That's what turned my platters from kinda blah to something really pretty and festive!
...See More
mitchdesj
12 years ago
wow, I'm so impressed , what a discovery !!

do they keep a long time?
annie1992
Original Author
12 years ago
mitch, they do keep a long time, they don't usually last that long, but I've kept it a couple of months, unrefrigerated. The dehydration and the sugar apparently preserve it sufficiently for some storage.

pllog, the girls had as much fun with the peelers as they did making the candy, I think.

sleevendog, it's easy, but takes 18 to 24 hours in the dehydrator. Here, I'll post the recipe, it's from Linda Lou, a certified master canner over on Harvest.

Zucchini Candy
10 cups peeled diced zucchini 1/2 inch cubes ( I use "worms" about 3 inches long and 1/12 inch thick and wide. The little dice would be good in muffins, though.
3 cups water
2 pkgs. unsweetened Koolaid
2 1/2 cups sugar
Peel zucchini,
diced, removing seeds. Mix the liquid syrup together. Add zucchini. Bring to a boil and them simmer for 25 min. Drain. Put on dehydrator trays. Dry 14 hours at 125 degrees. Turn pieces over and dry another 4 hours. This will feel dry and not sticky when done. Store in jars or other tightly sealed containers.If you dip in sugar when you turn them, they will be more like "gum drops" on the outside.
You can do the same thing with the zucchini but use 48 oz. pineapple juice

2 T. pineapple extract
2 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice

Now make candy! Here are some mixed flavors I made a couple of years ago...

Annie
mustangs81
12 years ago
Terrific! My daughter would love this for BeauLily and they would enjoy making it.

Thanks ladies, you are a great source for fun recipes.
annie1992
Original Author
12 years ago
Cathy, you should definitely try this with Beaulily. All the kids in the family love giving a piece to people and making them guess what it is. No one has ever guessed that it is zucchini. I've convinced myself (almost) that since I drain the syrup off the zucchini and discard it, there isn't that much sugar. Yeah. THat's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Annie
Monkey_Princess_101
12 years ago
yup grandma it does taste like gummy worms so now when I go to your house and you say eat your veggies I will because I will the gummy worms because there made of ZUCCHINI!

Big zucchini? Make candy!

Comments (7)

sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)

plllog

Related Discussions

mitchdesj

annie1992
Original Author

mustangs81

annie1992
Original Author

Monkey_Princess_101

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Big zucchini? Make candy!

Comments (7)

sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)

plllog

Related Discussions

mitchdesj

annie1992Original Author

mustangs81

annie1992Original Author

Monkey_Princess_101

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

annie1992
Original Author

annie1992
Original Author