Line a tray with a silicone baking mat.

Place a second large silicone mat on the countertop.

Sieve the confectioner’s sugar to remove any lumps.*

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the confectioner’s sugar, milk powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large saucepan or stock pot, combine the granulated sugar, liquid glucose, and butter. Stir until sugar dissolves and the butter melts, then stop stirring.

Cook over medium heat, without stirring, until mixture reaches 245° F / 118° C on a candy thermometer, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Stir in the vanilla extract.

With a heat-proof spoon or spatula, stir in the dry ingredients until fully incorporated.

Pour mixture out onto prepared silicone mat. Allow to cool for 3-5 minutes, or until just cool enough to handle.

While waiting for it to cool, put on your cotton gloves, with rubber gloves over top.

With gloved hands, divide the candy corn batter into 6 portions.

Tint each with gel food coloring (I left one ball of dough white) and knead until the color is evenly distributed throughout the dough.

Working in small batches, roll each color into a rope, about 1/2-inch wide and 16-18 inches long.

With your fingers, join three of the ropes together. Repeat with remaining three ropes.

Use your fingertips to smooth the tops of the ropes, then flip them over.

Use a bench scraper to cut the ropes into triangles, each about 1/2 inch at the widest part.

Transfer candy corn pieces to prepared tray and allow to dry, uncovered, for 1 hour.

Store homemade candy corn in an airtight container, layered between sheets of parchment or wax paper, for up to two weeks.