From Mainiacs to Vermonsters: Home made GUMMIES!

Truth be told, I'm no Betty Crocker. But I've been known to pound out a home cooked meal with grand style.

Home made gummies TAKE ONE!

So, I figured gummies can't be too hard, right?! Wellll, in theory, yes.

The recipe is laughably simple:
2/3 cup orange or lemon juice
2/3 cup frozen or fresh fruit
2 tblsp honey (or to taste)

Reduce over heat - blend - cool and then add gelatin. Yea, this is the part that tripped me up. It called for FIVE tablespoons of gelatin. Granted, the recipe's owner referenced gelatin from grass fed cows (all hippie style) but I figured the stuff I had was the same. Right? Welllll I should have paid more attention to the actual mixture and less to the recipe. Each packet is actually less than one tablespoon. So I added 6 to this mixture. Yea. WRONG. They tasted okay but had some glaring errors.

1. I had used frozen berries with seeds and even though I used the immersion blender you still go the occasional seed.
2. These suckers were so frickin' tough you could literally bounce them off the floor super bouncy ball style. Yes, I tested this.
3. I used a silicone fish mold and it made BIG gummies. I need to find a smaller mold.

Gorgeous red FIRM (as all heck) gummies.

Perfectly shaped little fish.

Pretty big size though!

Ethan approved!

Maybe a *little* too much approval . . . .

We are now undergoing round 2!

This time I doubled the recipe but only used 5 packets of gelatin and I used frozen peaches. I also added a pinch of salt and some vanilla extract to give the peach flavor some punch. They seemed pretty firm when I put them in the mold but I really should have added one more packet of gelatin. I just checked on them with 10 minutes to go and they *might* not be firm enough.

Yup . . . not firm enough. But they taste awesome! Also - should have waited for the bubbles to dissipate a bit from the mixture.

Frozen peaches, orange juice, honey, a smidge of salt and a dash of vanilla extract!

Oh noes! Broken gummy!

Such a sad yet very tasty fish.

This fish came out a tiny bit easier.

Final verdict?? B + I liked the amount of gummies I received when I doubled the recipe. I did add a tad bit more honey along with my other aforementioned additions. I would up the gelatin to SIX packets this time and see how firm I could get them. I think I also might use the berries again next time and just strain the seeds out before I add the gelatin!

UPDATE!!!

Looks like the gummy mixture I used in the glass casserole dish held up VERY well! I think that I actually like not using as much gelatin for the flat ones . . . or maybe I'll try a round 3 and let you guys know!