Post sponsored by Volkswagen.
One of the key components of going on a road trip is that little tin of travel sweets hidden in the glove compartment or storage compartment in between the two front seats.
When we went on our epic road trip from Shetland to the Lake District and back up to Shetland via the Cairngorms a few summers ago we went through an awful lot of travel sweets. First, it gives you energy (driving can be really tiring), secondly, sucking on the sweets stops the kids from fighting with each other for at least ten minutes, am I right?
It’s really simple to make your own travel sweets. My sweets take about fifteen minutes to make, start to finish, and they taste fantastic if I do say so myself!
Working with boiling sugar can seem rather daunting at first, but trust me, it’s really quite easy. Make sure you have everything prepared in advance because once that sugar is boiling things happen really quickly, and secondly, invest in a good digital thermometer or candy thermometer. The key to success when making your own sweets is to get the temperature right, and a decent thermometer will take the guesswork out of this for you.
It also helps if you’ve got someone there with you to help roll the sweets in icing sugar. This step isn’t required, to be honest, but it helps the sweets from sticking to each other in the tin. Set up your workstation so that you’ve got a cold, oiled marble slab to pour your sugar syrup over, and get your friend to stand next to you ready and waiting with a bowl of icing sugar in front of them.
Traditional boiled sweets contain only a few ingredients – sugar, liquid glucose (available in the baking section of your supermarket), water and a tiny bit of cream of tartar as a stabiliser to help stop the sugar from crystallising.
I’ve added a few drops of flavourings and matching colourings to my fruit drops – a mixture of lemon, orange, and strawberry.
Each batch of these fruit drop travel sweets makes around 300 grams of sweet, so there’s plenty to share with friends and family if you want. Mix them up and gift them in a nice bottle or travel sweet tin (my husband made me the lovely distressed looking one pictured in the first photo, above).
What’s your favourite treat to eat in the car while you’re traveling? Let me know in the comments! For more travel-inspired recipes please visit the Volkswagen Pinterest community board – Food Bloggers for Volkswagen.
Print Recipe
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Print Recipe
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| Servings | Prep Time | Cook Time | Passive Time |
| 300grams | 5minutes | 10minutes | 15minutes |
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 300grams | 5minutes |
| Cook Time | Passive Time |
| 10minutes | 15minutes |
- for the sweets
- 225 grams granulated sugar
- 80 ml cold water
- 1.5 tsp liquid glucose
- 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
- 5 drops flavourings (strawberry, lemon, orange, etc).
- gel food colourings as desired
- icing sugar to dust
- you will also need
- 1 candy thermometer or digital thermometer
- 1 marble slab
- vegetable oil
- 1 dough scraper
- 1 scissors
- 1 wooden spoon
- 1 timer set for 3 minutes
- 1 friend to help roll the sweets in icing sugar optional
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Ingredients
Servings: grams
Units:
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- Get all the equipment you need ready first. Lightly oil your marble slab (or a large baking tray), your scissors and a dough scraper. Place the lid for your pot nearby. Set a timer for 3 minutes. Place a bowl of icing sugar on your work surface beside the marble slab and a plate or silicone mat to place the finished sweets onto.
- Heat the granulated sugar, water and liquid glucose in a small saucepan over a medium-high heat (I use #4 on my hob), stirring with a wooden spoon until the sugar has dissolved.
- As soon as it begins to boil (it will happen quickly), add the cream of tartar, stir until it dissolves, pop the lid on the pot and switch the 3-minute timer on. Don't touch the pot!
- After the 3 minutes is up, remove the lid and check the temperature every 30 seconds or so. DO NOT STIR THE SUGAR or your sweets will crystalize.
- When the temperature has reached 150 C, switch the heat off, add your colouring and flavouring, if using, stir (and wait a moment while the bubbles subside).
- Carefully pour the hot sugar mixture over the marble slab, using the oiled dough scraper if it looks like it's getting too close to the edge.
- Leave to cool for a minute or so until it's cool enough to handle (don't leave it too long as it hardens quickly). Using your oiled scissors and oiled hands, work quickly and cut off small pieces of the sugar mixture, roll into a ball and place in the icing sugar.
- Leave the sweets to cool completely and store in an airtight container.
- Repeat two more times with the remaining colours and flavours.
This is a sponsored recipe post commissioned by Volkswagen, although all thoughts and opinions expressed are our own. Thank you for supporting the brands who make it possible for me to do what I love: mess up my kitchen and share recipe stories.
Mum of three, daydream adventurer, OU Life Sciences graduate, occasional crafter, ex-pat Canadian & quite possibly Britain's most northerly food blogger.
Oh yum!! I love buying these from the store! I didn’t know that they were this easy to make!
This is great and looks tasty. Love that they are so easy to make and both kids and adults would love them.
Im really excited to try these in the near future. They remind me of travelling with my Nan. Never without a tin of fruit drops! I don’t think I could skip the icing sugar. Licking the sugar from the bottom of the tin was always my favourite bit!
If I can find liquid glucose, I am definitely going to give these a try! They look soooo yummy! 🙂
I just love this so much! I don’t have all the ingredients but when I do, I’m making these fruit drops!
Marielle Altenor recently posted…Grateful Sunday: Cool School Unboxing With the Little Man
This looks inviting. I love sweets. Maybe I’ll make some in the future. I can use them when I travel. Yum!
Omg can we say yum?!?! I must give your recip. Try
Omg, This is so interesting! This is the first time that I heard this and looks so much fun. I ould love to give it a try
I think these candies look absolutely DELICIOUS! This is such a well put-together post. I love the ‘VW’ tin cover.
Yona Williams recently posted…My New Favorite Gluten Free Sweet Treat: YummySnack Candy Bars
Wow! This is pretty awesome! It’s nice to be able to make handmade candies. Thanks for the detailed instructions, they’re really lovely.
I love having something to much on while travelling! I prefer crunchy and salty as opposed to sweets though.
Natalie recently posted…Falling (Even More) In Love with 100% Pure | No Dirty Beauty
Thank you for this, I will be trying this out when my grandson comes over I can have him help me with the icing sugar! They look simple, and delicious thank you for sharing!
I’ve never made anything like this before. I’ve got to try them because they sure do look good.
Terri Beavers recently posted…Giveaway 2 Winners @MelodySusie Home Manicure Gift Box
They look scrumptious! I love having a little stash of sweets in my car, just in case I ever need a sugar dose while driving long distances 🙂 I had no idea it’s so easy to make them though…!
Sylvia @ Happiness is homemade recently posted…Teriyaki Salmon with Courgette Noodles (Lean in 15 book review!)
Travel sweets are a necessity in our car! Never thought of making my own as I’m always worried about the booing sugar aspect but your directions make it sound fairly easy to attempt!
Emma recently posted…Lemon Cauliflower Rice with Coriander (Cilantro)
There is so much goodness in that recipe. Wish I had this recipe last week for fruit drop.