Sweets for the sweet

A candy making spree? Why yes, I did say that, didn’t I…

So the holidays have been coming, and I was feeling a bit sad because Brian and I have very limited means this year with which to celebrate or buy gifts for the various people in our lives. I was picking up a few items at the dollar store the other day when I saw these cute metal tins in holiday colors, and I thought, hey, I could make candy, and wrapped up in the tins it could make for nice (and affordable) little gifts. Also, I have a particular fondness for confectionery work–not that I’ve made much candy, and not that I have much of a sweet tooth either–it’s more the technical kitchen chemistry element of it all that appeals. And so it began, with…

Batch number one--the recipe was for a "pulled" brittle, hence the reason it's all stretched out on the counter.

Peanut brittle!

I figured I ought to start with a candy that’s cheap to make, in case I screwed it up.  Which I did.  Like I said, I haven’t made much candy, so I didn’t think too much about the weather. The Joy of Cooking says don’t make hard candies on humid days, and to me it seemed like a perfectly dry, sunny day here in Eugene Oregon. I mean, if it’s not raining, it’s dry, right? Wrong. Peanut brittle doesn’t find 80% humidity dry, even if that’s about the best we get here in the winter. So, despite following the recipe, it turned out undercooked, which makes it technically peanut toffee–and very, very sticky. Eating this stuff just makes me fear for my fillings. I haven’t thrown it out yet, but I think I will. It’s not what I wanted at all.

Umm, truffles...?

Next, I fell back on something familiar–truffles. I ground up some of my peanut toffee in the food processor, and made ganache truffles.  Then I decided to get fancy and dip them in more chocolate. Again, harder that it seemed from the recipe. Tempering the coating chocolate is fussy, and then when I dipped them… well, see the results for yourself. This was not easy. However, they did clean up decently, but I have a newfound respect for chocolatiers–hand dipping chocolates, and making them look all fancy and nice requires considerable technical skill. Which I don’t have.

Putting anything in these little paper cups makes it look better.

So, while there have been further sugar and corn syrup based adventures since, Brian took off to Portland with my camera, so I’ll stop here but there’s more to come–and practice is definitely helping.