Darienne

Good one, Shel_B

Welcome Richard Mold to eGullet. It's a terrific forum...like no other. Because I don't know how to link stuff properly yet, I am copying my earlier post from this topic on the 'Greweling at Home' book. "This is NOT just one more candy making book. It is an incredible book. The explanations are pure Greweling and as I read them and recall the agonies which I went through trying to cope with his professional chocolate book...how I would have loved this book. It's true...it does lack a certain charm perhaps, but if I had only one candy book, I think this might be the one." So that's one person's opinion. As for scaling up...it's something which I would not do unless I could find a Greweling or other expert recipe which called for a scaled up version. Some recipes will even tell you not to double the batch, but to make two separate batches. I don't have enough experience to know when I can and when I can't change a confectionery recipe. The first Greweling book is of course much larger, covers many more recipes in each category, and has much more complicated and professionally oriented text. The text in the 'at Home' book is much simpler for the novice, easier to follow. Good luck.

Reporting back on the Maple Candy which is not. All went well except for the fact that the recipe didn't warn me that the window of opportunity in which to pour the thick, creamy beaten cooked mixture into the mold was a mere split second. As I was pouring the liquid mass, it set almost in mid-air and now I have a big lump of maple sugar. I'll crush it to crystal state and make some maple sugar biscuits and take them to the family. Oh well, I had a good time and another learning lesson. learn, learn, learn...

This bottle I will do as the maple candy in Chu's book. We have some other maple syrup in the freezer from before...perhaps I will use it that way. Thanks for the advice.

Thanks. It is all grist to the mill and good.

I have glucose in a jar from a bulk food store. The ice cream guru has his own guru.

Way beyond my ken. But thanks so much for the information. And I am going to try using invert sugar in my next batch of ice cream. I'll report back on the ice cream topic I guess.

Thanks paulraphael. I would use the invert sugar to mirror exactly what the corn syrup does...sweetness is in no way my issue. Avoiding high fructose corn syrup is my concern. Seeing as you have not tried it and I have not tried it, the thing is next to try it and see what happens. I am hoping to hear back from Eddy van Damme as to his opinion on the subject. In the answers I found yesterday on his invert sugar recipe comments, there might be a slight change in amount. I'll go back and reread Chef Eddy's answers. Here is Chef Eddy's invert sugar link ps. My question to Chef Eddy yesterday is still awaiting processing as is the one from today in which I ask him directly about substituting invert sugar for corn syrup.

Where would this reading list be, if it still exists. And I think it would be a great idea. I would be willing to work towards one.

Right. Haven't tried either yet, but they are almost the same as the Chu recipe. All 'maple' candies appear to be variations of fudge or sugar, or don't use maple syrup at all, but simply maple flavoring. I am no scientific expert, like many of this forum, but the make-up of maple syrup seems to mitigate against using it in as many ways as say corn syrup or glucose. It all explains no doubt why in looking through my collection of 'candy' books, I could find only the fudge or sugar type recipes...there simply really aren't any????

I found one recipe in which you pack snow into pans and then pour the resulting cooked syrup into the pans. However, seeing as I am giving the candy to the children of the syrup donors, this is not a very useful end product. If we were 'making' the candy together, which we cannot for a variety of reasons, it would be a great idea .

Hi SLS, Yep, there are a lot of maple fudge recipes, but if I don't come across any other recipes to think about, I will use the one from Chu. It's more like maple sugar than fudge. I looked through all my confectionery books and haven't found much that isn't fudge or maple sugar. And other maple candies call for maple flavoring.

Cauliflower??? Well, OK, I will try it. The lasagna turned out beautifully we both agreed.

Speaking of Eddy van Damme, I just found his website this morning thanks to a post in another thread on Fresh Butter Cream in Chocolates which then led me to his recipe for Invert Sugar which then led me to ask him a question (still in moderation) about substituting invert sugar for corn syrup in making hard tac lollipops. But then, I would also like to know about using invert sugar in other foods: If I now use a couple of tablespoons of corn syrup in place of a couple of tablespoons of sugar when making ice cream (thanks to Paulraphael, my ice cream mentor), could I substitute invert sugar instead? What about invert sugar in marshmallows? toffee? other confections?

DH and I have just come back from our neighbor's sugar bush...my feet are cold and wet...but the bottle of fresh maple syrup they gave us is still warm from the pouring process. I would like to make some candy with it, especially since my neighbor doesn't make candy and her kids love it when I make something for them. I did find a 'Maple Candy' in Anita Chu aka Pastry Girl. Field Guide to Candy. It's just maple syrup and a bit of butter. Maple sugar basically. Any other good ideas, please?

Wonderful story. Perhaps you should write a lunching blog.

Hi Gap, My thanks also for that blog. I shall root around in it for certain. What appeals to me is keeping butter on hand, rather than whipping cream. The butter lasts much longer without freezing, and freezes well, and defrosts in the original condition as far as I can see. Whipping cream, on the other hand, keeps less long, and although it seems to freeze fine...I freeze it in 1 cup measures...definitely has a different consistency when it defrosts. Plus it won't whip properly. Furthermore, having a supply of whipping cream around the house is 'dangerous' to the occupants , whereas butter is not.

Thank you Karen. I wasn't thinking clearly...just assuming that there was not one. Found several around Toronto.

Great fun!!

Anything to do with the leftover coconut meat pulp after making coconut milk? I just threw it out.

Thanks jgm for the clarification. And the Williams-Sonoma pull toy looks like a good one. When we get back to the States, I'll find one. Don't know where to get one in Canada.

When we were in Moab, furnishing our rental a la secondhand and yard sale, I was given more curtaining than we could use on the windows. Moab is very ant infested and everything had to be covered big time. I found the extra curtains perfect for covering candied this and that. Brought the pieces home with me and have been finding uses for them ever since...including wrapping and twisting pulverized coconut meat.

You put in 2/3 of the batter. Then 1/2 the curd. Then the rest of the batter, topped by the rest of the curd. Then take a knife and insert it half way down the batter and draw it around a couple of times. It is so good. I make the curd extra tart and the contrast between the poppy cake and the tart curd was wonderful. Oh, it's all gone...

Cardamom Almond and Black Pepper Chocolate Pinwheel Cookies. What else could you put into a cookie that I would love. I adore cardamom. Chocolate of course. Almonds. These I must make. Cornmeal, Black Pepper & Rosemary Butter Cookies. Good Lord. Sounds incredible! And I must try pepper on melons. And then other fruit too. Any special pepper used here?

Oops. Prep? I was supposed to prep it? Ed opened the coconut for me and took all the shell off. I cut all the brown stuff off the meat, cut it into small bits, put it in the blender, added very hot water (from the kettle) and buzzed it on high for a while. Poured the stuff into a small piece of fine curtaining which I use for all sorts of things and tightened the piece and watched all the lovely 'milk' come out. What else was I supposed to do???