making vegan gummy bears
Posted by VegHeadZealia on Jul 06, 2008 · Member since Mar 2007 · 1665 posts
I make be clinically stupid, but I don't understand what the heck this person is attempting to say. Can anyone translate this recipe into Zealish?
I want to start experimenting with making vegan gummybears, but I don't get what they are saying about using the mold. I also wondered if one could put it in a food dehydrator to dry more quickly. Any ideas?
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070722170115AA1v5qe&show=7
I think what they're saying is that they take a mold and press it into the packed cornstarch to make a cornstarch mold. That's what they pour the liquid into and not into the rubbery or plastic mold. Is that where your confusion lay?
Assuming you can find the proper molds all you need to make your own is fruit juice concentrate processed without enzymes and agar. Use any recipe to make vegan jell (aka jello) but double the amount of agar.
Make some vegan jello with juice and agar, but double the amount of agar. You need a recipe for vegan jello made with agar.
don't pour the unset agar/juice mixture directly into the molds. You have to make impressions of the molds into a bed of packed cornstarch and carefully pour the liquid into the molds and then set them aside in a cool place to dry (that can take several days depending on humidity).
Get a gummy-bear mold. Press the mold into a flat, wide container of cornstarch so it leaves dents in the cornstarch when you lift the mold away. The way you would press a starfish into sand and then take it away, leaving a starfish-shaped pit.
Pour a bit of the jello liquid into each little bear-shaped pit.
When the bears are dry you sift them out of the cornstarch, carefully dust/rinse excess cornstarch off, then mist and toss them with a tiny amount of oil to prevent the bears from sticking to everything they touch<g>. If you want to make them sour you follow the oil coat with a dusting of ascorbic, citric or tartaric acid (that's what makes them sour).
Remove the bears from the cornstarch when they are hard. Toss them/spray them with a light coal of oil so they aren't too sticky. Dust with a sour powder to make them sour if you want.
Hmmmm, wonder if it works.
ETA: simul-post with Bookmama :)
hummm...thats what I thought she was saying but my thought is that cornstarch is so soft, i don't see how it can possibly hold whatever shape I press into it. :o Well, maybe I should just try...I must now find a vegan jello recipe. I bet we even have some here, but my time is limited on the compy these days so i shall have to check another day. I have this vision of making delicious all natural fruit gummys! ::) I wonder why it doesn't work to pour it directly into a mold? maybe it sticks?
Very nice translating ladies! Thank you muchly! ;)b
Yeah, I kind of don't get it either, VHZ. I wonder why you couldn't just dust the mold with cornstarch. Hmmmph.
Maybe pack the cornstarch down really well--like take a plate or something and press it down really hard?
I didnt even realize that she used this site anymore...I just searched for it but it didnt come up...can you help me find it?
never mind...
http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=15935.0
And check this out:
Creating molds is neat! You do need to press down your molding medium pretty well but it still needs to be soft enough that when you press the design into the cornstarch it can take it.
Try to find a cake pan that your bear plastic mold fits into, note how tall your mold is (1/2" maybe?), put cornstarch in the pan half way up the side, press it down with a tupperware lid or something flat. Press in the bear mold to create reliefs in the cornstarch. Use a syringe type tool to squirt the fruit liquid into the bear reliefs.
I think for gel you should just let it air dry, not dehydrate.
Hey there, the origin of the corn starch mold goes back to when there were no cheap plastic molds. Metal molds were not always flexible enough for the task at hand. Sculptors, like me, would make a model in clay, cast it in plaster, or metal, and these would be used to press the cornstarch molds. Still a great idea if you want custom shapes. Don't be afraid to make them yourself! Plaster is super easy to work with, and non toxic. You can make the mold of your original with one of the easy mold kits sold at craft stores, and cast your plaster in that.
Doing a small run with a simple shape? sculpt it in marzipan, and skip the intermediate steps, the marzipan will deform as you go, so be ready to touch up now and then. it won't work for detailed stuff, but what the hey!
Mold making is tons of fun!!!!