I made some candy gems and now they are sticky. How do I store them so they stay dry?

anyone??

You need to store them with packets of silica gel, like they pack in shoe boxes etc. I also read if you put vegetable oil on them it will keep them shiny and protect from humidity...But, I have not tried the vegetable oil yet.

I know the first one works.. But, if you try the vegetable oil. Let me know how it works. Maybe try it on a few!!!

However, I dont know if you can bring them back wonce they are sticky and humid

You need to store them with packets of silica gel, like they pack in shoe boxes etc. I also read if you put vegetable oil on them it will keep them shiny and protect from humidity...But, I have not tried the vegetable oil yet.

I know the first one works.. But, if you try the vegetable oil. Let me know how it works. Maybe try it on a few!!!

However, I dont know if you can bring them back wonce they are sticky and humid

You need to store them with packets of silica gel, like they pack in shoe boxes etc. I also read if you put vegetable oil on them it will keep them shiny and protect from humidity...But, I have not tried the vegetable oil yet.

I know the first one works.. But, if you try the vegetable oil. Let me know how it works. Maybe try it on a few!!!

However, I dont know if you can bring them back wonce they are sticky and humid

Confectioner's glaze will also keep them shiny and prevent their getting sticky.

My gems went sticky too, and I used the silica packs. Are they ruined or can they be saved somehow? Most are stuck together.

Thanks!

I tried to make my own gems last week for a cake and after several attempts, I realized it really is best for me to just buy them already made I know they sell them on Country Kitchen website.

Not sure how you can "save" them, but I think the only thing you can do is try to pull them apart with the least amount of damage! GL

I agree. I tried pulling them apart and the goo was just too much. And here I though I was so ahead of the game with getting them out of the way and now I have to start all over!
Do the ready made ones stay nice? They're just so expensive for so little.

I've never bought them before, but I imagine they are made with additives that we wouldn't have to make them stay dry.

I wonder if boiling your sugar/isomalt to a higher temp would make them drier or less gooey? Or if it's just the moisture in the atmosphere only. . . you'll have to search more. I found quite a bit here on isomalt gems/diamonds. Sorry I can't help more!

Well I definitely did something wrong. This morning when I got up, the few I saved and tried out on the cake, where melted all down the side of it! It isn't very warm in my house at all and it's actually quite dry. I did color them black, but didn't use much gel color at all. Wonder if the color is the problem....

I'll see what I can find about isomalt. Thanks for your help.

I think you're not supposed to put them on until last minute, because they will melt from any moisture contained in whatever they are touching.

I also read somewhere about coating with chocolate the part that will be touching the cake, so it acts as a barrier to the moisture in the cake/icing/surface. But you should find something about that in your research. I'll see if I can find some of the links to the info I found when searching.

kello: did you make yours with regular sugar, versus isomalt?

I'm going to post my thread I started when I was trying this out--maybe you can just email the posters who were helping me and ask them.

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopic-735165-0-days0-orderasc-isomalt.html

Also, SugarCraft has great info on making isomalt gems and using them. Also, I've read others who have simply melted Jolly Ranchers and used that in molds. I'm not sure what your time line is, but I'm just throwing everything out there that I remember coming across in my search.

And by the way, after two attempts, I didn't even use them! I just moistened the gum paste number and coated it in colored sugar crystals I needed to make the tiniest jewels in the molds I had, so maybe that made it that much harder to accomplish. Maybe I'll try again next time, but only if I need the larger jewels.

Sorry, the link is working for me, but it's not letting me post it here properly. If you do a search with my screen name and "isomalt" in the search term area, it should come up with my "Help: edible jewels on gum paste" thread.

It's also for some reason blocking a name!!! WTH!? Isomalt is sold on sugar craft's website, and they have information there on the topic.

Yes, I used isomalt. I'm going to attempt it one more time. I will put them on at the last minute. Maybe next time I will try the jolly ranchers. Great idea.
I can't thank you enough for being so hellpful!!

Okay, kello, please PM me your real email address. . . I think I can now see why so many people are leaving CC. It keeps blocking names of things that I don't even see as 'competition' for CC. I don't get it. :/

Okay, kello, I did the Jolly Rancher experiment tonight, just out of curiosity! It worked SO much better than trying from scratch.

I just put two candies in a small ramekin and microwaved until melted. I used one of those colored plastic fruit skewers (with the ball on the end) to stir and to get the mixture into the jewel cavities (using the ball end sort of like a honey wand).

This was easier to work with! I'm actually going to try something else with these

That is terrific!!! They would taste so much better too. Some of my gems are pretty small, so thanks for the tip on the little skewers.
You are awesome!!