Sour Drops

Name: Sour Drops
Yield: Makes about 600 g/1 lb 6 oz
Ingredients: grapeseed or groundnut (peanut) oil, for greasing; grapeseed or groundnut (peanut) oil, for greasing; grapeseed or groundnut (peanut) oil, for greasing; 450 g/1 lb/2¼ cups caster (superfine) sugar; 150 ml/¼ pint/⅔ cup water; 2.5 ml/½ tsp cream of tartar; 2.5 ml/½ tsp lemon juice; 5 ml/1 tsp tartaric acid; icing (confectioners’) sugar, for dusting

Preparation info

Makes about
600
g

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Home-made Sweets & Candies

By Claire Ptak

Published 2022

About

People either love or hate sour sweets. For me, there is nothing more satisfying than a hard, sugary sweet with a mouth-puckering tang. Sour drops were originally called ‘acidulated drops’ in 19-century Britain. They are also known as acid drops and sourballs. The sour taste comes from the addition of tartaric acid.

Ingredients

grapeseed or groundnut (peanut) oil, for greasing
450 g/1 lb/

Method

Grease a marble slab. Prepare an ice-water bath or fill the sink with a little cold water.
Put the sugar, water and cream of tartar in a heavy pan over a moderate heat, and leave for about 5 minutes until the sugar has dissolved.
Once the sugar has dissolved completely, turn the heat up to high and boil the mixture until it begins to turn yellow in co

Energy 1862kcal/7984kJ; Protein 1g; Carbohydrate 476g, of which sugars 475g; Fat 0g, of which saturates 0g; Cholesterol 0mg; Calcium 59mg; Fibre 0g; Sodium 25mg