The ideal goal is to replicate something similar to Welch's Fruit Snacks. We want something that is firm, flavorful, and not sticky. Has anyone come up with a delicious fruit snack recipe?
Here is what has been attempted:
Mix ingredients on medium heat in saucepan until fully dissolved. Pour into mold (ice cube tray is what we we're using), let sit for 20 minutes (we put it in the fridge for 20+). We used the same process for the following:
Experiment 1
- 2 packets (0.25 ounce each) unflavored gelatin
- 1/3 can Fruit Punch 100% fruit juice concentrate
Experiment 2
- 2 packets (0.25 ounce each) unflavored gelatin
- 1/3 can Fruit Punch 100% fruit juice concentrate
- 1/2 ounce sugar in the raw
- 1/2 ounce corn starch
Experiment 3
- 1/3 cup water
- 2 packets (0.25 ounce each) unflavored gelatin
- 1 packet (3 oz) Strawberry-Banana Jell-o
So all of the experiments ended up sticky, difficult to pry from the ice cube tray. Experiment 2 was delicious, but didn't feel like a fruit snack.
What can be done to improve consistency (make it more solid) and decrease stickiness?
Update
Experiment 4
- 2 packets (0.25 ounce each) unflavored gelatin
- 1/3 can Fruit Punch 100% fruit juice concentrate
- 1/2 ounce sugar in the raw
- 1/2 ounce corn starch
- 1 tsp coconut oil
Experiment 4 was definitely less sticky, and didn't take much work to get it out of the ice cube tray! I also took the advice from an answer below and poured some of the contents into a corn starch mold, unfortunately the exterior of the fruit snack became hard from the corn starch, and was not a pleasure to consume. Going into this I had no knowledge of how much coconut oil to put in, and the fruit snacks had little bits of coconut oil in them, so I think I'll try to decrease the amount for the next experiment.
Update 2
Experiment 5
- 2 packets (0.25 ounce each) unflavored gelatin
- 1/3 can Fruit Punch 100% fruit juice concentrate
- 1/2 ounce sugar in the raw
- 1/4 ounce corn starch
- 1 tsp pectin
Experiment 6
- 2 packets (0.25 ounce each) unflavored gelatin
- 1/3 can Fruit Punch 100% fruit juice concentrate
- 1 ounce sugar in the raw
- 1/2 tsp corn starch
- 1 tsp pectin
Experiment 5 & 6 are still not quite there yet. They still are somewhat sticky in the trays. I've also recently learned that it's best to add each ingredient and mix it in individually, instead of adding them all and trying to mix all together. I've had issues trying to get the corn starch/pectin to dissolve.
I encourage everyone to try to make some of these using the experiments so you can see what we're producing, and that may also help come up with further ideas to generate an excellent fruit snack!