Pulled Sugar Lollipops Recipes

Steps:

• For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two 12-cup mini muffin pans with paper liners.
• Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl. Set aside.
• Beat the butter and granulated sugar together in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, about 4 minutes.
• Beat in the egg, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the speed to medium low; beat in half the flour mixture, then all of the milk, then the remaining flour mixture until just combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
• Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each about three-quarters full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the baking time. Transfer the pans to a cooling rack and cool for 5 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the pans and let them cool completely on the rack.
• For the buttercream: Combine the butter, confectioners' sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and increase the speed to medium-high. Mix until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, about 2 minutes more. Add 1 tablespoon of milk and mix to combine. Add more milk a 1/2 tablespoon at a time until the buttercream is firm but spreadable.
• Divide the buttercream evenly among 5 bowls, about a heaping 1/3 cup in each. Add the yellow gel food coloring to one bowl and mix until no streaks remain. Repeat with the remaining bowls of buttercream and the green, blue, violet and pink food colors. Scoop each color into a separate disposable piping bag with no tip; then snip off the tip of each bag so there is a hole about the size of a penny.
• Prepare a sixth piping bag fitted with a medium-sized round piping tip; this will be your decorating bag.
• Holding the decorating bag in one hand and the yellow buttercream bag in the other, pipe the yellow buttercream into the decorating bag making in a vertical stripe about 1 inch thick. Repeat with the remaining colors, working around the edge of the decorating bag to create stripes of each color and leaving at least 5 inches at the top so you can seal the bag. Be sure not to overfill the bag; you can repeat piping in the colored stripes if necessary.
• Once the cupcakes are completely cool, attach them to the lollipop sticks by poking small holes just big enough to fit a lollipop sticks in the bottom of each cupcake with the tip of a paring knife, poking through the paper liners.
• Slice 1/8 inch off the bottom (flat side) of each spice drop with a paring knife. Insert a lollipop stick through the domed top of a spice drops and slide it down so there is about 3/4 inch of the stick above the spice drop. This is where the cupcake will sit.
• Next, poke the lollipop stick into the hole in the bottom of a cupcake and slide the bottom of the cupcake down so it rests on the flat, sticky side of the spice drop. The lollipop stick should not poke through the top of the cupcake; if the cupcake seems wobbly, slide the gumdrop down a bit further and press the cupcake onto the stick a bit more. Anchor the assembled lollipop cupcakes in a Styrofoam board or stick them in tall containers filled with sugar or sprinkles. Repeat with the remaining lollipop sticks, spice drops and cupcakes.
• Holding a cupcake in one hand and the decorating bag in the other, starting in the center of the cupcake, pipe the frosting in a swirl over the top of the cupcake. Stick the frosted cupcake back into the Styrofoam to hold it upright. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes.
• Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 2 days; remove from the refrigerator 1 hour before serving.

Steps:

• Arrange the lollipop sticks in the lollipop molds and place on a baking sheet. Set aside.
• Combine the sugar, water, and cream of tartar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Increase the heat to high and, without stirring, cook until the sugar is amber or until a candy thermometer reads between 300 to 310 degrees F (hard-ball stage), about 10 minutes (see Cook's Note*). Promptly remove the saucepan from the heat. Carefully stir in the flavored extract.
• Work quickly, drop 1 teaspoon of the hot mixture into each lollipop mold. Reheat the mixture briefly over low heat if it starts to thicken. Let the lollipops cool for at least 15 minutes. Remove from molds and store in airtight containers or wrap individually.

Steps:

• If desired, add nuts to any or all of the chocolates. Pour the chocolate into the molds, filling them to the top. Set the sticks in place by inserting them just far enough to be secure within the mold you are using. Set the molds aside to allow the chocolate to set. When set, simply pop out the lollipops. If you are using molding compound, roll it into a 1/2-inch-thick rectangle on top of a sheet of parchment paper. Using a sharp paring knife, cut out whatever shapes you would like and remove the cutout, leaving the homemade mold. Spray the inside edge of the molding compound with vegetable cooking spray and pour the chocolate into the cut out space. Insert the lollipop sticks and let cool completely before removing the molding compound. When finished, the molding compound can be saved and reused for another day.
• How to Temper Chocolate (From Dessert Circus, Extraordinary Desserts You Can Make At Home by Jacques Torres): Chocolate is tempered so that after it has been melted, it retains its gloss and hardens again without becoming chalky and white (that happens when the molecules of fat separate and form on top of the chocolate). There are a variety of ways to temper. One of the easiest ways to temper chocolate is to chop it into small pieces and then place it in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time on high power until most of the chocolate is melted. Be very careful not to overheat it. (The temperature of dark chocolate should be between 88 and 90 degrees F, slightly warmer than your bottom lip. It will retain its shape even when mostly melted. White and milk chocolates melt at a temperature approximately 2 degrees F less because of the amount of lactose they contain.) Any remaining lumps will melt in the chocolate's residual heat. Use an immersion blender or whisk to break up the lumps. Usually, chocolate begins to set, or crystallize, along the side of the bowl. As it sets, mix those crystals into the melted chocolate to temper it. A glass bowl retains heat well and keeps the chocolate tempered longer. Another way to temper chocolate is called seeding. In this method, add small pieces of unmelted chocolate to melted chocolate. The amount of unmelted chocolate to be added depends on the temperature of the melted chocolate, but is usually 1/4 of the total amount. It is easiest to use an immersion blender for this, or a whisk. The classic way to temper chocolate is called tabliering. Two thirds of the melted chocolate is poured onto a marble or another cold work surface. The chocolate is spread out and worked with a spatula until its temperature is approximately 81 degrees F. At this stage, it is thick and begins to set. This tempered chocolate is then added to the remaining non-tempered chocolate and mixed thoroughly until the mass has a completely uniform temperature. If the temperature is still too high, part of the chocolate is worked further on the cold surface until the correct temperature is reached. This is a lot of work, requires a lot of room, and makes a big mess. A simple method of checking tempering, is to apply a small quantity of chocolate to a piece of paper or to the point of a knife. If the chocolate has been correctly tempered, it will harden evenly and show a good gloss within a few minutes.

Steps:

• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 250 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Beat the egg whites, cream of tartar and salt in a large clean dry bowl with a mixer on medium speed until foamy. Increase the speed to medium high and beat until thick and opaque, about 1 more minute. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar, about 1/4 cup at a time, and beat until stiff shiny peaks form, about 5 more minutes.
• Transfer the meringue to a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe twenty-four 2 1/2-inch disks on the baking sheets, leaving space between each. Sprinkle with coarse sugar and/or silver nonpareils; bake at 250 degrees F until dry and crisp, 3 to 4 hours. Let cool completely on the baking sheets. Store in an airtight container in a dry place for up to 1 week.
• For the filling, combine the white chocolate chips and coconut oil in a microwave-safe bowl; microwave, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted. Sandwich some white chocolate mixture and a lollipop stick between 2 cookies; repeat to make 12 lollipops. Let set.

Steps:

• Place a sheet of non-stick silicone or parchment paper on a sheet pan.
• Place 12 ounces of the white chocolate in a heat-proof glass bowl and put it in the microwave on high for 30 seconds. (Time it with your watch for accuracy.) Stir the chocolate with a rubber spatula, return it to the microwave for another 30 seconds, then stir again. Continue to heat and stir in 30-second intervals until the chocolate is just melted. Immediately stir in the remaining 4 ounces of chocolate and allow it to sit at room temperature, stirring often, until it's completely smooth. (If you need to heat it a little more, place it in the microwave for another 15 seconds.)
• Using a tablespoon, pour the melted chocolate in rounds onto the silicone and place lollipop sticks in the middle of each chocolate round, giving the stick a little twist. Sprinkle the tops of the lollipops evenly with the cherries and cashews. Set aside to harden.