Valentines Day Homemade Pop Rocks Attempt

This time of year, cute Valentines ideas abound and, when you are eight years old, pop rocks are the coolest thing in the world. Therefore, when we saw a homemade version on aol.com it was clear that a Valentines-themed attempt must be made. Find the original recipe we used here. The theory behind this recipe is that causing the candy mixture to fizz up with baking soda and citric acid before it cools will cause bubbles in the final product that will pop when you put it in your mouth. We may have made a mistake or two in this process because ours a) never fully hardened and it got gummy in your mouth-- much like the texture of now&laters, and b) was super duper sour because of all the citric acid. I also thought I would be smart and line the pan with tinfoil and therefore wouldn't need to dust the pan with cornstarch, but it was super sticky and did not come off the tinfoil easily. Also, you are not supposed to remove it from heat until the mixture reached 300 degrees, but my thermometer only went to 270. Anyway, here are the glamour shots and the ingredients I used:

2c sugar
1tsp. baking soda
1/4c plus 1tsp. citric acid, divided
1/2c light corn syrup
1/4c water
1tsp flavoring extract LorAnns's Watermelon flavor oil
Pinch of Cornstarch
Candy Thermometer (One that goes to at least 300degrees)

Dust a baking pan with a pinch of corn starch. Seriously, Do that. Use tinfoil anyway for easy cleanup but dont skip the cornstarch. Combine water, sugar and corn syrup in med saucepan and cook until its 300degrees. Remove from heat and add baking soda, 1/4c citric acid, and flavor extract. At this point, it fizzes up in the pan and you can pour it out onto your baking sheet and sprinkle remaining citric acid on top. Viola!

I used a filter to try to show the bubbles in the candy better =)