Hard Candy...

The last time we met, I mentioned that my sweet tooth had taken over my kitchen lately.  After my cake pops, I attempted to make some hard sugar candy.  The recipe is very simple: sugar, corn syrup, and water.  The recipe may be simple, but there is some danger involved when melting sugar.  The danger comes in when you cook the sugar to 300 degrees!  The moment this molten lava starts to cool, it also starts to harden.  Imagine that hardening and sticking to your skin!  OUCH!  I've been careful so far (knock on wood).

Like I said last time, Hobby Lobby has an awesome selection of sugar candy supplies.  There are also a bunch of websites out that have recipes and tips on making candy.  I haven't tried to make those chocolate "suckers" yet.  I've just stuck with the pure sugar candy!

I love the little drams of super strength flavors that you can buy.  They provide a lot of punch for a batch of candy pieces.  I've also tried experimenting with extracts that you can pick up in any spice aisle of a grocery store.  Extracts require a little more experimentation to get the ratio right so the candy actually tastes the way you want.  The super oils as I call them come in a dram which is equal to 1 teaspoon.  That amount works for 2 cups of sugar to 2/3 cups of water and 1/2 cup of corn syrup.  I've had to use upwards of 3 tablespoons of extract to get a good flavor in the candy.

My first go 'round was making Watermelon Sea Glass.  I love anything with watermelon flavor in it.  Sea glass refers to old bottles that were dumped in the ocean, and washed up on the beach over the years.  The bottles break up in ocean, and the waves smooth the edges out.  Growing up on the beach, it's really neat to find all sorts of different colors that wash ashore.

You have to watch the sugar mixture carefully as it boils.  Once it reaches 250 degrees, you drop in whatever coloring you want the finished product to look like.  The temperature can rise extremely fast from 250 to 300, so you have to pay close attention.  Some people say to pull the pot off the stove and let the bubbles die down before adding the flavoring to it.  I've tried that the last couple of times, but the last couple of molds I pour seem to have little, if any, actual flavor in them.  The first couple of molds I pour are really good though.  I like to pour my flavor oils in a few seconds after I remove it from the burner.  I think that allows the bubbles to distribute the flavor move evenly.

Now you have to work FAST!  As soon as the mixture starts to cool, it starts to harden up.  You don't want a big blob in your pot do you?  Make sure your molds are greased up with PAM so the hard candy pops right out.  For the sea glass, I greased up a cookie sheet and just poured the entire pot into the cookie sheet to cool.

Depending on how thick the candy is will determine how long it takes to fully cool and harden.  Once its ready, take a meat mallet (or wrap the end of a hammer in foil) and smack the candy in a few different places to break it apart.

That's it!  Pop a piece in your mouth and enjoy!  Super simple right?  Now try experimenting with different flavors and extracts.  They even make a "tart & sour" liquid to put in with the flavor oil to make sour candy.  I haven't quite perfected that yet, but I'm working on it!  I've also got some "gummy" candy ideas in the works too.

I store this particular type in Tupperware or glass containers since the edges seem to cut the ziplock bags.  You'll end up having little bits of candy everywhere!  Keep them in a cool, dry place and enjoy!  Feel free to share some with friends (if you want)!


Until next time...Ya’ll come back now, ya hear?


Zach

Sweet Tooth Takeover...

So, I’ve been on a on a “sweet” kick lately.  I’ve been trying my hand at all sorts of different confections.  I’ve made some cake pops that were super simple and delicious!  The last few days I’ve been making hard sugar candy.  Again, these are super easy.  I’ve found Hobby Lobby to have the best selection of candy making supplies.  Michael’s has a lot of chocolate candy making supplies, but nothing for hard candies.  Well, they do have a candy thermometer, but that’s about it!

Let’s talk about the cake pops first.  I’ve seen those in grocery stores, bakeries, and restaurants.  They always look amazing with their decorations.  The first thing you think is that has to be a lot of work.  Guess what?  It’s not!  You make a cake, mix in icing, mold each cake ball, and dip it in melted chocolate.  You can get fancier with how you decorate the outsides, but that’s up to you.

My first attempt at it was Funfettit Cake Pops.  The secret to these is that you mix in the can of icing while the cake is still warm so it’ll melt and help hold the ball together.  It helps to freeze the cake pops too before you dip them in chocolate so they don’t break apart in the chocolate.

All you do is pick out a cake mix that you like, and an icing that goes well with that flavor cake.  You bake the cake as instructed on the back of the box.  That means you’ll probably need some eggs, oil, and water.  After the cake comes out of the oven, don’t let it cool down.  Dump the cake into a mixing bowl and pour the entire can of icing into the bowl.  Mix it all together, and use a medium scooper to make as many balls as you can.  Put them on some wax paper to rest while you finish all the balls.  Stick a “sucker” stick into the top of each ball and then stick the sheet pan in the freezer to harden the balls up.  The icing that melted in the cake will help hold everything together.

I ended up melting some white and milk chocolate baking squares that I had left in the pantry from another culinary adventure to dip each cake pop in.  These squares cost a little more, but I used what I had on hand.  The white chocolate was a whole lot easier to work with.  I was able to cover more pops because it didn’t go on as heavy as the milk chocolate squares did.  As soon as I covered the pop in chocolate, I sprinkled some edible sugar on the outside as decorations.

Store these in the fridge so the chocolate hardens back up.  The outside will be crisp and provide a nice “crunch” when you bite into the pop.  The inside remains moist and delicious thanks to the icing that you melted into the cake.

Until next time...Ya’ll come back now, ya hear?

Zach