Tangulu fruits, a Chinese street food viral, has been all the rage for the last year. From tanghulu strawberries to tanghulu grapes, biting into a hardened candy that reveals a soft sweet fruit is an ASMR dream.
These sweet cotton candy grapes come from that process – flavored dram oil combined with sugar and enveloping sweet strawberries for a unique party dessert right in your own kitchen.
Why you will love making Tanghulu Fruits.
Use your favorite flavors – This tiktok video tester was inspired by pink cotton candy, which is why we used this version. However, there are drams of oils in 100s of flavors. Get creative with your tanghulu!
Satisfying crunch – These Chinese candied fruits are fun to make because of that satisfying bite from hardened sugar into a soft grape.
Where did cotton candy grapes originate from?
This sweet treat trend has been seen all over social media, from Facebook to Snap, TikTok to Instagram. Candy coated fruit is fun to look at and make bright, bold dessert videos, so its no surprise this became an aesthetic.
One of our favorite accounts that shares and sells candy grapes is @itsamarissss. She has killer videos and was even kind enough to share her pink cotton candy grapes recipe, which we are testing below.
Ingredients
- granulated sugar
- light corn syrup
- pink food color gels
- 1 dram of cotton candy flavoring
- crushed hard candies (we suggest jolly ranchers)
- green grapes
How to make Candied Grapes.
- In a large saucepan, combine sugar, water, corn syrup, color gels and flavoring and mix well.
- Heat over medium low heat and constantly stir until sugar is dissolved.
- Once the sugar is dissolved, add your candy thermometer to the pan and increase the heat to medium high.
- Continue to cook the sugar water mixture and boil until the sugar syrup reaches 300 degrees (15-20 minutes).
- Remove from heat, immediately dredge grapes into sugar mixture, and then coat with crumbled candy.
- Repeat, working quickly, so the sugar coating doesn’t harden in the saucepan.
IMPORTANT NOTE – Sugar is notoriously difficult to work with. One wrong move, and it will burn your hand. This is not a recipe that should be attempted by anyone but an adult.
How to prevent grapes from sticking to the counter
Drying sugar DOES harden and DOES stick.
In the past, we have generally prevented sticky fruits from hardening on the sheets by storing them on fruit skewers and sitting in a cup, but that wouldn’t work so well for individual grapes.
The original tiktok recipe didn’t explain how to keep the hot syrup tanghulu recipe from sticking on wax or parchment paper (both we had issues with), but there does seem to be a hint at the end of the video.
Looks like a silicone tray would allow you to peel grapes right off.
Hard candy doesn’t stick to silicone baking mats, and they are a great kitchen tool for this type of viral recipe (as well as other critical nonstick items like cheese).
GET AN INEXPENSIVE SILICONE BAKING MAT HERE.
Candy coating can’t stick to wet fresh fruit!
It’s important to note that anytime you work with ANY candied fruit ideas, the moisture from the fruit is a killer to a hot sugar mixture of candy coating.
You must remove ALL water, moisture, or humidity from the fruit, or the candy coating will slide off. A paper towel typically does the trick.
Can you pre-make and store candied grapes?
These need to be eaten quickly.
I let them sit for over an hour and freaked a bit when I looked at them. I think the juice in the grapes gets between the sugar and the grape, and it separates.
To prevent that from happening, we suggest you dip more than one coat of hardened sugar over juicy fruits.
Would we make these again?
We always try to answer the question of if this recipe was worth making. We didn’t love this asmr candy. Different types of fruits can be used, and there are certainly better choices than cotton candy grapes.
If you want a viral dessert recipe worth your time, try a cosmic brownie recipe instead.
Related TikTok Dessert Recipes
There are tons of amazing viral recipe ideas on our site!
Make sure to test out super easy, colorful unicorn bark, gender reveal strawberries, and oreo bundt cake!
TikTok Cotton Candy Grapes with Jolly Ranchers
Equipment
- 1 candy thermometer
- 1 pink food coloring gels
- 1 dram of cotton candy flavoring
- Bamboo Skewers
- Silicone baking mat
Ingredients
- 2 cups white granulated sugar
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup light corn syrup
- crushed hard candies like jolly ranchers
- Green Grapes
Instructions
- Dry individual grapes and puncuture with a bamboo skewer.
- In a large saucepan, combine white sugar, water, light corn syrup, color gels of any color, and cotton candy flavoring and mix well.
- Heat the sugar mixture over medium low heat and constantly stir until the sugar is dissolved.
- Once the sugar is dissolved, add your candy thermometer to the pan and increase the heat to medium high.
- Continue to cook and boil until the sugar coating reaches 300 degrees (15-20 minutes).
- Remove pan from heat and immediately dredge grapes into saucepan sugar coating and then add to crushed candy. Place finished grape on a silicone mat to harden.
- Repeat, working quickly so the sugar doesn't harden.
- Let grapes harden and enjoy.
Notes
Nutritional information is an automated estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator or app.
Nutrition
Sharing of this recipe is encouraged and appreciated. Copying of full recipe to any social media is prohibited.
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