Jujubes – Candied Fruit Jelly
Everyone loves these soft jelly-like fruit candies called jujubes but did you know it is very easy to make your own? The best part is you don’t need many ingredients either.
While this has nothing to do with traditional East-Indian Christmas sweets almost every Christmas platter has jujubes or these gelatine-based candied fruit jelly. Kids will be the first to pick them out and they never last long because they are best homemade and fresh.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Sugar – use fine-grain white sugar that dissolves easily in the juice.
- Gelatin- I am using powdered gelatin. If you need to substitute with gelatin sheets you will need to soak 9 sheets in cold water.
- Coating sugar – you can use sanding sugar or good quality caster sugar.
- Water – use cold water to soak the gelatin until it blooms otherwise it will become very clumpy in water.
Variations
The recipe is very simple, easy, and very versatile. Below I have given you the basic recipe as I learned when I first started but these can be made with any fruit juices and purees. You can even use water with vanilla extract for clear gelatin candy or try these fruit-flavored ones.
- strawberry puree or juice to make strawberry jujube (strawberry extract – pink color)
- Mango juice for mango candy – yellow color
- Grape juice for grape candy – violet color
- Pineapple juice for pineapple candy – yellow color
- Orange juice for orange candy – orange color
- Add some lemon juice to water for lemon jujubes – yellow color
Tips for Success
- If the jujubes are soft after 8 hours means that you did not cook them long enough. You can place it back in the saucepan and cook again
- If you have cooked it long and it still does not set means your gelatin is not of good quality
- Use different juices and flavor combinations to create more variety
- You can even layer colors by simply making a new batch (new color) and pouring it over the previous layer. Once you have made the layers – cool then cut them into squares.
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Equipment /Tools
- Saucepan
- Spatula
Ingredients
- 500 ml (2 cups) Fruit Juice orange, strawberry, mango
- 200 grams (1 cups) Sugar
- 60 grams (¼ cups) Gelatin
- 90 ml (⅜ cups) Water
- 1 tsp Flavorings
- 2 drops Color optional
For Coating
- 50 grams Castor sugar for coating
Instructions
- Pan – Lightly oil a 7-inch square pan – set aside
- Gelatin – Soak the gelatin in water for 5 minutes60 grams Gelatin, 90 ml Water
- Dissolve – In a saucepan combine the juice, sugar, and soaked gelatin mixture. Stir on medium heat until the sugar and gelatin are dissolved. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.500 ml Fruit Juice, 200 grams Sugar
- String consistency – Simmer until you reach a two-thread consistency. Add the flavorings and color. Pro tip – To know when it's done lift some on a spoon it will pour into threads and makes small triangles on the edge of the spoon1 tsp Flavorings, 2 drops Color
- Scum – Remove from the heat and let rest for 15 minutes. This will cool the scum on the top. Remove the scum from the top so you have a clear jelly mixture at the bottom.
- Set – Pour the mixture into your prepared oiled baking pan. Leave the jelly to set overnight or at least 8 hours at room temperaturePro tip – If the mixture has cooled too much warm it gently until it is pouring consistency again.
- Unmold – Then carefully pick the slab of jello from the pan onto a sugar-dusted surface. Coat generously with sugar to prevent sticking.
- Cut – Grease the blade of a knife with oil and cut it into squares. I cut the slab from one side into strips then each strip into squares. Coat each jujube with sugar. Pro tip – the sugar will prevent the candy from sticking to each other.50 grams Castor sugar
- Storage – These will keep at room temperature for a few days
Recipe Notes
- If the jujubes are soft after 8 hours means that you did not cook them long enough. You can place it back in the saucepan and cook again
- If you have cooked it long and it still does not set means your gelatin is not of good quality
- Use different juices and flavor combinations to create more variety
- You can even layer colors by simply making a new batch (new color) and pouring it over the previous layer. Once you have made the layers – cool then cut them into squares.
Variations
- strawberry puree or juice to make strawberry jujube (strawberry extract – pink color)
- Mango juice for mango candy – yellow color
- Grape juice for grape candy – violet color
- Pineapple juice for pineapple candy – yellow color
- Orange juice for orange candy – orange color
- Add some lemon juice to water for lemon jujubes – yellow color
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Nutrition Information
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
