I've had several people ask me for our recipe, and since it's time to make another batch, I'll share it now.
It's best to make these when the weather is dry. Candy making can be finicky and essentially that's what we're doing here, because we need to get the syrup to a hard crack stage.
Let's start by pulling together a crew of happy ingredients:
Raw sugar, purified water, honey, fresh ginger, butter, Young Living Thieves essential oil blend, Young Living Lemon essential oil. You're also going to require a candy thermometer, medium to large heavy bottomed saucepan, and wooden, as well as a metal spoon for stirring. A silicone candy mold is great, or you can just use powdered sugar on a parchment lined sheet to about a half inch depth.
There are numerous options for flavouring these drops. You can just go with Ginger and Lemon if you prefer a milder tasting throat drop. I would add a few drops of ginger essential oil in addition to the fresh ginger you're boiling in your syrup. Cinnamon is a fantastic flavour too, and it pairs well with both Ginger and Lemon, and I'm sure many others.
Note: If you're not using candy molds, prepare the powdered sugar sheets now. I'd do two to be safe. Cover them with a pretty deep layer of sugar (don't worry, it's not going to be wasted, you can sift it after and save it for another use). Taking the end of a wooden spoon make indents as close as possible without them running together throughout the sheet. Keep this handy near the stove so you don't have to move it, and risk losing your indents.
Ingredients:
1. 1 cup raw cane sugar
2. 1-2 pieces of fresh ginger the size of a quarter peeled.
3. 1/4 cup purified water
4. 1/4 cup honey (doesn't need to be raw because we are boiling the heck out of it.)
5. 1/8 cup butter
6. 5-10 drops of Young Living Thieves blend essential oil
7. 5-10 drops of Young Living Lemon essential oil
Add ingredients 1-5 to the heavy bottomed saucepan and cook on medium heat until it reaches hard crack stage.
Do NOT raise the heat past medium as this will almost certainly burn your syrup!
(You can test the 'hard crack) by having a glass of ice water on hand, and drip just a bit of the boiling syrup into it. It is hard crack when it forms a brittle thread) Using the candy thermometer you can start testing for hard crack between 280 degrees Fahrenheit and 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
Once you achieve hard crack it's time to quickly remove from heat and drop in the oils. There is a range here, because some people prefer a stronger tasting drop than others. It's a matter of taste and you'll have to try to know what your preference is. Start with less, drop into ice water, and taste quickly. Add more if you need to.
Now it's time to work FAST! If you have candy molds, fill them up! If you're using the powdered sugar 'mold' you've made, just drip from a spoon directly into the little wells, and allow to harden.
Even when I make them in my little heart shaped silicone candy molds, I like to dust them in icing sugar before storing them, as it helps them to not stick together.
Keep your gems in an airtight container, and use as needed!
