Basic Gummy Recipe and Tutorial - No Photos
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Recipe type: Dessert, snack
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: Just under 1 cup (see note)
 
Making your own gummy treats at home is inexpensive and so easy a child can do it (with a bit of assistance). Plus, it tastes great and the medium is so versatile that it can be altered or adapted to highly advanced techniques suited to elite cake decorating. You will need the following tools in addition to the ingredients: a small nonstick pot, a silicone spatula, a baster (see note at bottom), a glass tall and heavy enough to support the baster, and molds (see note at bottom).
Ingredients
  • 3 oz box of Jello or store brand (any flavour including sugar-free, blue tastes the most like classic gummies)
  • 4 envelopes unflavoured powdered gelatin (28 grams)
  • ½ cup cold water
  • about a half glass of hot water
Method
  1. Combine the unflavoured gelatin and the Jello powder in the pot.
  2. Stir them together thoroughly.
  3. Add ½ cup COLD water and stir until thoroughly combined. Then let the mixture sit for at least two minutes. This will hydrate the gelatin and make for a smoother result later. You will know it's well-hydrated when it starts to thicken and you can see little to no remaining liquid when you stir.
  4. Heat the pot on a very low setting to slowly melt the mixture. You do not want to risk boiling it, so go low and slow. You know you're warming it at the right rate when the five-year-old gets slightly impatient but remains in the room.
  5. Mix occasionally as it heats up, working gently to scrape the goo from the bottom and sides of the pot but without beating in any air. You're going to want the air out later so don't stir roughly and add extra right now.
  6. When you can no longer see any gelatin lumps on your spatula (only tiny bubbles as shown here), it's melted.
  7. Optional step: if you want really clear gummy, the trick is to let it cool until it solidifies, then reheat it slowly with minimal mixing (possibly repeating this several times) until all of the bubbles/foam are on the top. You can then scrape this foam off with the spatula or use one of the instructions in some of the advanced techniques to remove it. The foam is completely edible but is very chewy and doesn't have a great mouth-feel. Little kids don't seem to care if gummy is clear or not, though, so how much you bother with any of this will depend on your desired result. For some advanced techniques, you can later use this solid foamy stuff in a decorative fashion, such as the wild foam created in a water tank with a really angry superhero (the third picture on that link shows a chunk of foamy blue gummy incorporated onto the surface of the "water").
  8. Fill the heavy-bottomed glass about half full of water and microwave until very hot. It's okay to boil it, but not necessary if you're working with little kids. Place the baster in the hot water to warm up. This helps prevent gummy from solidifying in the baster and clogging it.
  9. Add about 10-20ml (roughly 2-4 tsp, depending on how thick you want your gummy) of the hot water from the glass to the pot using the baster. My baster has ml markings on the side so I just pull up 10ml from the glass and squirt it into the pot. This will help improve the clarity of the gummy faster. Mix minimally to avoid re-introducing bubbles or foam into the gummy.
  10. Even if you do remove some foam, you won't be able to get it all off. The trick to getting the nice clear gummy underneath is to hold your baster above the pot, squeeze the bulb firmly and hold it, tip the pot so the gummy goes to one side (the smaller your pot, the deeper your pool), put the tip of the baster all the way down to the bottom, then gently release pressure on the bulb to draw up the clear goo. Then increase a little pressure on as you lift it out so you don't suck up any foam as you go.
  11. Working swiftly but carefully, gently squeeze the bulb again to deposit the gummy into your mold. You can opt to fill molds entirely or partially, depending on your intended result. To get a clean back/top, avoid emptying the baster entirely as the last squirt will make bubbles. If you do get a bubble, you can suck it back up into the baster while the gummy is still warm.
  12. Return your baster to the hot water glass for a moment and pull up hot water if necessary to clean out the tip, then repeat until all of the clear gummy is used up.
  13. If you use up all of what's in the pot, you will get some foam floating on the top of the gummies. It can be cut off later when it's cold, but that's tricky, so it's best to try to leave it in the pot. That being said, I haven't met a small child yet who cared if there was a bit of foam, so adjust your efforts based on the expectations of the recipients! You can see in the photo here that the Pis in the upper right were done first and have almost no foam, whereas the ones in the lower left got more foam in the baster and bubbles on the back.
  14. Let the mold sit at room temperature for a few minutes until it has set up enough to move (placing very flexible molds on cutting boards beforehand will help you move them more easily). The exact time will depend on the ambient temperature and the depth of the mold, but a few minutes is generally fine. Meanwhile, go to your fridge or freezer and prepare a level space for your mold. Once it's stable, transfer it to the fridge or freezer for several minutes, however long is required for it to set up entirely. Thick items in the fridge might take as much as ten or fifteen minutes, whereas thin items in the freezer may take as little as one minute.
  15. Once they're firm, remove them from the mold. Flexible molds are best because you can bend them and the gummy will pop out. Firm molds might require you to gently and carefully use a tool to pry the gummies out.
  16. Voila! Gummies! Note that the side against the mold always looks nicer because it won't have foam or bubbles. With this particular mold, that means showing the nicest side will make the letter backwards. I have some alphabet molds that will yield the same result. Keep this in mind if directionality is important to your project. Then again, remember that the five-year-olds don't care and will happily eat them regardless of which side is prettier to you.
  17. Here are some we made later using the Fred Chillbots mold. Note how the medium captures every tiny detail of the mold. This is excellent for when you want fine detail, but does make getting glass-smooth gummy fairly tricky, which is why that's an advanced lesson for later.
  18. Final step: EAT THE GUMMY! Or as we say in our house: NOM NOM NOM!
Notes
Notes on the baster: to be able to lift the gummy out of the pot and get it into molds without making a huge mess, you want a good baster that won't drip all over the place. Test a baster by squeezing the bulb, pressing your palm firmly against the tip, then let go of the bulb. If the bulb stays collapsed, you have good suction without leaks. If the bulb re-inflates, you will have gummy mess everywhere. Notes on molds: flexible silicone molds (frequently found as novelty ice trays) work best. Hard candy molds are also usable, but it's a bit trickier getting the gummy out. Chocolate molds can also be used, but cool the gummy as much as possible first without solidifying to avoid damaging low-heat-tolerance molds. Always use food-safe molds. Notes on yield: this recipe yields just under one cup of gummy, but the actual yield will depend on what size molds you use. The recipe can be doubled, tripled, etc.
Recipe by Eat The Evidence at https://www.eat-the-evidence.com/gummy/basic-gummy-recipe-and-tutorial/