Edible Candy Mosaic

Edible art is awesome! You can make a candy mosaic with just basic candy-making tools. In this tutorial, you will learn how to use homemade or storebought hard candy to make an edible piece of art. You can use any basic hard candy recipe in this flexible project, you can even use leftovers from a previous project.

1. Medium Pot
2. 9x9 Pan or a different dish that can be used as a mold
3. Baking sheet
4. Parchment Paper
5. Food Dye
6. Corn Syrup
7. Sugar
8. Flavoring (optional)
9. Hard Candies (optional)

There are loads of hard candy recipes available, but the basic ingredients that are required are sugar, corn syrup, and water. You can also add food dye and flavoring, but avoid dark-colored flavors because they can obscure the color of candy you make. For this step, you can avoid the candy-making altogether by using store-bought hard candy. If you decide to use only store-bought candy, skip to step four.

Make candy according to hard-crack instructions. Remember for every color you need in your mosaic you will have to make a separate batch of candy!

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the candy out as thin as you can. Allow the candy to set according to recipe directions.

Once the candy is solid smash it with a hammer or spoon; don't forget to wear safety glasses! Start by smashing your candy into large pieces, then when you begin to build your mosaic you can break it into smaller pieces. If you're using store-bought, candy smash it, smash it now!!!

Line your 9x9 baking sheet or mold with parchment paper, it helps to have an outline of your design on a piece of paper under the parchment.

Place the pieces of candy into the mold. If the pieces are sliding around too much, mix equal parts corn syrup and water and brush the parchment. This will keep the pieces stuck in place. When placing the pieces of candy, your fingers will start to get sticky, to quickly clean your fingers, keep a small bowl of water next to you while you work.

Make another batch of hard candy without dye, and pour it over the mosaic to seal it in place.

Use a lighter and/or a toothpick to pop the bubbles while the candy sets.

After the candy has set, remove the mosaic from the mold by gently lifting the parchment and peeling it away from the mosaic.

Congratulations, you're finished with the mosaic! Now you can eat it, hang it, or use it as an edible dish.