Edible crystals, or kohakutou, is a Japanese candy made from agar agar. Besides looking like real jewels, what makes these crystal candies so special is the texture — they have a crisp exterior shell while the interior of the candies are soft and jelly-like. The candies are a great blank canvas for any flavouring or colours of your choice. Because the base of these gummies is agar agar, these edible crystals are vegan!
Makes 50pieces
Ingredients
350ml(1 1/2 cups) cold water
10gagar agar powder
550g(2 3/4 cups) granulated sugar
1/4tspcandy flavouring
Several drops of food colouring
Instructions
Lightly grease a 8 x 8 square baking pan. Set aside.
Fill a medium-sized pot with cold water and add agar agar powder to the water. Allow the agar agar powder to absorb the water for 5 minutes.
While whisking, bring the mixture to a simmer and cook over medium-low heat until all the agar agar powder has dissolved, about 3 minutes.
Add granulated sugar and mix until all the sugar has dissolved. The mixture will be thick at this point. Add flavouring of choice.
Pour the sugar mixture into prepared baking pan.
Before the mixture sets, add a few drops of food colouring throughout the mixture, spacing out the food colouring. Using a butter knife or a spoon, run it through the mixture to gently swirl the colours into the sugar mixture.
Transfer the pan to the refrigerator. Allow candy mixture to chill until it has fully set, at least one hour.
Once mixture has set, run a sharp knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the candy. The candy should come out as one sheet.
Using the same knife, cut the sheet of candy into strips (I did 10) then cut each strip into 5 - 6 rectangular pieces. Shape each piece of candy by cutting off the straight edges at an angle.
Place the crystal candies onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet or large plate. Loosely cover the cookie sheet (without touching the top of each candy) and let dry at room temperature for 5 days (flipping the candies halfway through) until a hard crust forms on the outside. I like using a second cookie sheet to cover the first one while leaving a crack for air to get inside.
Optional: Using a small paint brush, brush edible gold paint along the edges of the candies and add edible gold leaf on the last day of the candy drying process.