Homemade Tootsie (like) Pops

We experimented with another Tootsie Roll recipe today, or rather, I should say I experimented, because this recipe was not kid friendly at all - with a good amount of boiling hot, and sticky liquid.

The recipe was from Cooking Cache, and will only be up until Halloween, at which point they will remove it. If your reading this too late for that, don't worry, we think the first recipe we tried was actually better. This recipe ended up with a nice firm texture, very much like a Tootsie Roll, but the chocolate flavor was too strong - really good, but not exactly a Tootsie Roll.

We were pretty Tootsie Rolled out anyway. This was actually our third batch this week. We also tried this recipe from Busy Cooks at About.com. It was the least satisfying recipe of the bunch, turning out more like fudge than Tootsie Rolls, and being a good deal too crumbly to roll well.

The Cooking Cache recipe, on the other hand, did have a nice consistency for forming. And, after I had rolled out a few ropes to cut into candies, I also rolled some into balls, and stuck them onto sucker sticks, for a bit of variety.

Then, I made up a batch of a lollipop recipe I found here, at the Exploratorium. It is not a kid friendly recipe either, with another pot of even hotter boiling liquid. But, it's written with children in mind, and explains the science behind candy making very nicely. The candy came out beautifully too, but needed about three times more flavoring, than was called for.

Instead of pouring the candy into molds, I dipped the tootsie roll covered sticks right into the pan, and then laid them out to dry on a greased piece of tinfoil. This resulted in slightly odd looking suckers, with flat blobs on the back, except for the last one, which I was able to hold upright for a few seconds to harden, before laying down.

But, even the odd ones were very Tootsie Pop like, and received a good review from the kids.

It's great to be a homeschooler.