How to Make Heeler Holiday Candy Canes

Bring some Heeler magic to your festive season!

These natural candy canes swirl Bluey blue and Bingo orange for a festive treat the whole family will love. Perfect for snacking during a Bluey Christmas episode or leaving out for Verandah Santa.

You will need:

Note: A grown-up should handle all preparation, but budding chefs can help – under supervision, of course!

• 2 cups (400 g) white granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup (160 mL) glucose syrup
• 1/2 cup (120 mL) water
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp peppermint (or any other flavour) extract (optional)
• Natural colour powders 
• Candy thermometer (reads up to 300°F / 150°C)
• A slab of butter (for hand greasing)

Method:

Pro tip: keep your oven on low. If the candy hardens before you’re ready, the gentle heat will soften it right back up. Just pop it in for a few minutes.

Making the candy canes

1. Prepare the colours
   
   Mix a teaspoon of each colour with a teaspoon of hot water until you form a paste. Keep them right beside your workspace. Things move quickly once the syrup is ready!
2. Cook the sugar syrup
   
   Combine the sugar, glucose syrup, water and cream of tartar in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Stop stirring, increase heat, and cook until the mixture reaches 146°C (hard crack stage).
3. Add flavour (optional)
   
   Remove from heat. When the bubbling slows, quickly stir in your flavouring.
4. Divide and colour
   
   Carefully split the hot syrup between two heatproof bowls, popping a colour into each. Go slow. The syrup is SUPER hot! Stir until the colours look bright and even.

Shaping the candy canes

1. Get pulling
   
   Butter up two sheets of baking paper (and your hands!) and pour the blue mixture onto one and the orange onto the other. Pop one colour in your warm oven so it stays pliable while you work on the other. Let it cool until the edges start to set but the middle still feels warm and bendy, like candy playdough.
   
   With buttery hands, stretch, fold, stretch, fold each colour for 2–3 minutes, until they turn opaque and shiny. Pop the first colour back in the oven while you work on the second.
2. Shape ‘em
   
   Working quickly, roll each colour into a long rope, about 1cm thick. Twist the blue and orange ropes together then lightly roll to fuse the colours. Cut into 10cm lengths and bend the tops into candy canes.
3. Cool completely
   
   Let the candy canes rest at room temperature for 30–45 minutes until fully hardened.