How to Make an Edible Hard Candy Tray as a Gift

Instead of buying a tin or seasonal patterned tray that everyone will just put somewhere and maybe use, or possibly regift, try this simple candy tray for your home baked goodies. This tray is simple to make and can include all of the children in the family. Better yet, your recipient can break it apart, place the bits in a candy dish, and eat it.Get more news about Bronze Biscuit Roller,you can vist our website!

Getting the whole family involved in making these candy trays can be an excellent way to spend an evening together. Each person can get a lined pan and begin to make all kinds of designs from various candies. The end result is that each tray will be unique. The children will get to spend time with the family doing a holiday craft and will learn some very basic baking techniques.
How to Make A Hardy Candy Tray
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Remember to bring the paper up above the height of the hard candy that you will be using.
Unwrap the hard candies. Place them in seperate dishes if using various patterned candies.
Make any pattern using the hard candies. Once you have the look you want, start to line the bottom of the baking pan. The candies will melt together, so do not worry about small spaces in between each piece of candy.
Bake for 7 minutes and check to see if the candies have been melted together. If they have not melted together, bake for an additional 2 minutes and check again. Repeat as necessary.
Remove the pan from the oven and place it onto a wire cooling rack. In about 10 minutes, you should be able to lift the candy tray out of the pan. Peel off the paper.
Place the hard candy tray down on a smooth surface to finish cooling. Depending on the size you have made, you can use a trivet, dinner plate, cookie sheet or even a serving platter.
I experimented with a few different types of candies before I found what really works. Some candies will have a great color pattern, but will not stand up to being heated in the oven. I loved a nougat pattern that had Christmas trees in it, but all the nougat candy did was bubble up and distort the image I was looking for. The nougat never quite hardened, and in turn, this left a soft spot in the tray I was making.

The other thing I found out while experimenting is that flavor matters. Peppermint does not taste very good with melted butterscotch. Cherry is also not a good complimenting flavor. It may look spectacular, but the taste is awful.I also learned just because you have waxed paper on hand, does not mean it will suit the purpose. The wax paper actually stuck to the candies and made it near impossible to get all of the paper off. Use parchment paper. It works and saves you a lot of time from trying to peel off the waxed paper.

The aluminum cooking pan that you use can be any size that you want. I use an 8x8, (1 1/2-inch in height) pan. I find it to be the perfect size for the baked goods I give as gifts each year. If you are baking for a family, you may want to use a bigger pan or even a pizza pie pan. Just make sure the pan you use has sides high enough to contain the melting candies.