Mad Scientist Party Theme

MAD SCIENTIST TREATS

by blog.etsy.com

Mad scientists of all ages will love concocting their own creepy treats in petri dishes — especially around Halloween season. You’ll need just a few ingredients for this project: fruit juice, unflavored powdered gelatin, and a variety of hard candies (protective goggles and lab coats optional!).

You can find unflavored powdered gelatin in the baking aisle near the flavored gelatins and boxes of instant pudding; disposable petri dishes are available for purchase online. Some of my favorite sweets to use in this recipe include nonpareils, gummy laces, and candy buttons, which conveniently resemble clusters of growing bacteria.

Fruit juices served in test tubes and beakers make cute accompaniments to these colorful jellies, and all together are perfect for a mad scientist–themed Halloween party.

You will need:

• 2 cups fruit juice or other sweetened beverage
• Food color (optional)
• 2 packages (.25 ounces each) powdered gelatin
• Assorted candies (try candy buttons, nonpareils, gummy laces, gummy worms, and candy eyeballs)
• 12 disposable petri dishes (I used the 100 mm x 15 mm size)

Step 1: Pour fruit juice into a large, microwave-safe measuring cup. If the fruit juice is pale in color (such as white grape juice), stir in food color until a vibrant hue is achieved. Quickly whisk in the gelatin. Heat in the microwave for 1 minute at 100% power; stir well. Heat for an additional 30 seconds, or until the mixture is steaming. (Stir well after each heating interval.) You may also heat this mixture in a saucepan on the stovetop if you don’t own a microwave oven.

Step 2: Let the mixture stand until it stops steaming, about 5 minutes. Place the petri dishes on a large baking sheet, then fill each one 3/4 full with the gelatin mixture. If using gummy candies, add them to the dishes now, partially or completely submerging them in the liquid gelatin.

Tip: As long as you have enough petri dishes, you can make several colors of gelatin mixture at once; 2 cups will fill about 12 petri dishes.

Step 3: Refrigerate until the mixture has set, about 2 hours. The consistency of the set gelatin will be denser than regular gelatin (think Jell-O Jiggler consistency). This density helps ensure that candy add-ons won’t melt away over time.

Step 4: Decorate the petri dishes with the leftover candies — or allow your young scientists to add their own ‘bacteria’ candy to the dishes.

Step 5: Place lids on the petri dishes and stack them high for a colorful display, or arrange them on a large serving tray with mini spoons.

ROCK CANDY EXPERIMENT FOR KIDS

Materials (per rock candy color)

• 2-3 cups of sugar
• 1 cup of water
• Skewers
• A jar or glass
• A large saucepan
• Clothespins

Optional additions:

• Food coloring
• Candy flavoring

Note:  You can easily double and triple the above recipe.  We wanted to make a rainbow of rock candy colors, so we ended up using 10 cups of water and close to 30 cups of sugar.  As long as the sugar to water ratio is close to 3:1 the rock candy will grow.

Method

• Combine equal parts of sugar and water in a saucepan and heat until all of the sugar is dissolved.

• Then, slowly add more sugar and mix, slowly adding more sugar and mixing until the sugar will no longer dissolve in the water.

• The water should start to look a little cloudy.  That is when you know that no more sugar is dissolving and the perfect sugar-saturation has been reached.

• The short version is that you are creating a saturated sugar solution, or a solution in which no more sugar can dissolve at a particular temperature.

• The amount of sugar verses water used should be roughly 3:1.  You can easily double & triple the recipe as long as you mantain a 3:1 ratio.

• Add candy flavoring if desired, and then continue to heat the water until it comes to a simmer.

• Remove the sugar-water from the heat and allow it to cool.

Preparing the Candy Sticks

• Cut the skewers to a desirable size for the jar(s) that you are using.  Then, dip the sticks in water and roll them in sugar.

• Set the sugar-coated sticks aside and allow them to dry.

Prepping the Jars

• Once your sugar-water is cool enough pour it into jars, using one jar for each color of rock candy that you wish to make.
• Once the sticks are dry carefully  place them into the jar(s).

• You want to make sure that the sugar-coated sticks are completely dry before placing them in the jars.
• The rock candy needs the sugar on the sticks to grow, and if the sugar isn’t dry it will dissolve in the water.
• It is also important to make sure that the sticks are not touching the bottom or sides of the jar.

The Experiment

It is now time to sit back and observe the jars!  Rosie and Jewel loved checking on their jars each day.  This is what our rock candy looked like after just one day.

• After day three we could really see growth!

• By day 5 my girls were dying to actually eat rock candy, haha.  But, this was a great lesson in patience.

• After a week our rock candy was almost ready!  Just look at those beautiful jars!

Enjoying Your Rock candy

• After a week your rock candy can be removed from the jars and enjoyed.
• You can extend the fun and grow your rock candy longer if desired.
• Once you and the kids are ready remove the candy sticks from the jar(s), and then place them on a clean surface to dry.
• Once dry you will have a yummy treat to enjoy!