Boiled Sweeties

Preheat the oven to 110°C (90° fan) / 225F / gas ¼; prepare an ice bath in a mixing bowl large enough to hold a large saucepan. Combine the sugar, water, cream of tartar and glucose in a large saucepan; cook over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved.

Increase the heat and boil the syrup until it reaches 143°C / 290F on a sugar thermometer. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the tartaric acid; place the saucepan in the ice bath briefly.

Pour half of the syrup onto a silicone baking mat or a non-stick baking tray; return the saucepan to a low heat. Using a pastry scraper, fold the vanilla extract and a few drops of yellow food colouring into the syrup, folding the edges inwards towards the centre and working the syrup into a cylinder shape.

Take the ends of the cylinder and pull them together to form a ‘U’ shape; twist together and rework into a cylinder. Repeat this step for 15 minutes; briefly return the cylinder to the oven if it becomes too tough to handle.

Once finished, place the cylinder in the oven; pour the remaining syrup from the saucepan onto a clean silicone mat or non-stick baking tray.

Work a few drops of red food colouring into the syrup using the pastry scraper; leave to cool and firm up before shaping into a cylinder.

Remove the prepared sugar from the oven and shape both yellow and pink strands to the same length. Tease them together using slightly dampened fingers; oil a pair of scissors and cut the strand into pieces.