Darienne

Candy canes and striped hard candy lollipops on p.200 in PG. Has anyone made them and if so, what extra tips would you extend to a novice in making striped hard candy? Thanks.

It looks so good I immediately went online and got the recipe.

What can I say? I went to the Lord of the Peeps, of course. I shall be on the lookout for this candy. Thanks, Andie.

Hi Andie, Thanks for all the ideas. Have never heard of Peeps before, but will see if we have them in the frozen North Country. My confectionery partner, Barbara, was a grade school teacher and she'll know if they are in Canada. I like the green bits for St. Patrick's Day. I look into my cache of bitsies and see if I have any green stuff...or go to Michael's next trip to town. Thanks again.

No wherewithal to spray chocolate. And my normal end product is usually a chocolately mess, both on the confection and me. My adroit hands belong to my confectionery partner, Barb. I am the brains behind the enterprise. Right.

Thank you, Spring. And thanks for the photo. It occurred to me in the middle of the night...as things do...that making marshmallow lollipops, and from homemade marshmallows too...would work much better if the pops were not square, but rather more longish. Then the stick would have more to hold onto and then they could be dipped...as suggested by Chris Hennes...in thinner chocolate and then 'rolled' in what you call hundreds and thousands, and we call non-pareils (pronounced by some as 'non-pruls'. Interesting thought. The kids would love the orange marshmallows. Very tasty. We just may have a winner. Oh, and also, we'll temper by hand and put into a deeper thinner container. Or just temper by machine and pour into said container for dipping. Thanks.

Thanks, Andie. I didn't make that exact recipe for dunkers but another similar one at Christmas. Great fun!

What...no photos???? As noted before however, cost, ease, wrapping, storage, etc ... these are all factors for this batch for the library. They'll just sit on the front desk to be sold so I have to keep all that in mind. But thanks for all the replies.

Hi Chris, Good idea to thin the chocolate. However, the marshmallows aren't 'fastened' to the lollie stick as a hard candy would be and the whole process of dipping them is a bit tricky, especially in a small Revolation. I just dipped two for fun and non too carefully either. dhardy123 sent me this amazing online source of lollipops and I am sure to find one to make there that is simpler than dipping marshmallows.

Made some orange marshmallows to dip in chocolate for a friend. Stuck two on lollipop sticks and dipped them into chocolate. They do take a LOT of chocolate to cover. And are not suitable for easy wrapping...or long storage life.

Thank you, kind sir.

Thank you dhardy123. Could you please explain a bit more what I am looking at in the photo? Thanks.

Thanks for the replies. I forgot...AGAIN...to click on the 'watch this topic' thingy. Have yet to talk to the librarian. I also thought of homemade 'tootsie pops'. And I have found a recipe for those wonderful swirly colored pops but haven't looked at it yet. And no nuts. Public institutions are very careful these days.

Some input is required, please. I have been making lollipops for our local regional library for a couple of years now. They are molded and colored according to holiday season and have been a big hit with the kids (and parents) and a small source of extra income to the cash-strapped library. The lollipops must fit into certain parameters, both for the library purposes and mine: no nuts, not too expensive to make or sell, not too big, easy storage, not a pain to wrap...brain won't come up with what might be other considerations at this point. So I've made every color and flavor of hard tack, in detailed plastic molds and flat outline-type molds. And I've made butterscotch too. I could make caramel-wrapped, chocolate-dipped pretzel rods...but they are expensive and time-consuming to make, need special sleeves for presentation. I think popcorn might well be out for allergy reasons, plus not easy for wrapping?? Seem to recall popcorn lollies... What other kinds of lollipops...or other confections that would fit into this category...can I make? St. Patrick's is coming up.

The temperature was 250 degrees. I did not shock the pan. I'll have to look that one up. The instructions said: remove from heat. Turn out onto the prepared surface and cool to room temperature. I did turn it out onto oiled marble. The candy was already butterscotch color. OK. Got 'shock the pan'. But the color was already set. Don't understand how it fits here. Thanks for the help.

I was using a thermometer and took the pot off the stove at exactly the correct temperature.

Hi Ruth, Lisa says perhaps it was too hot and you suggest that perhaps it was too slow, aka heat too low I would guess??? OK. The heat was medium-high and the pot was not at all too small. 4 cups of sugar, syrup & milk in a 3-quart pot. I did not time the cooking, but it did not seem overly quick or slow, but somehow I did get the caramelization. Wondering what to try a second time. Thanks. ps. Went to PastryGirl's website and found that I could email her and so I did. I'll report back.

My DH, Ed, helped me to pull it...I don't have the hands any more...and all went quite well...except for the color.

Anita Chu (Pastrygirl) has a recipe for Chinese Milk Candy in her new book Field Guide to Candy: How to Identify and Make Virtually Every Candy Imaginable. The tiny photo of the candy shows that the candy is definitely pale in color, if not quite white. It's not as white as the commercial White Rabbit candy, but still pale. I made some of Chu's recipe yesterday. Yummy...but definitely not white. Why isn't my candy white? It just looks like any other butterscotchy candy. ps. Sorry, should have posted the ingredients: 2 cups sugar; 1 cup light corn syrup; 1 cup milk; 2 T unsalted butter & 1/2 t vanilla. All used accordingly.

For my birthday party with friends a couple of years ago, I made MY OWN cake. Chocolate cake bombe, filled with two chocolate mousses: milk and dark, covered with 70% ganache, with white chocolate shavings on top. 'Partway through the massacre' ps. Kim, I hope someone is reimbursing you for all the expenses....

I can't personally add to this topic, since I am not much of a baker at all. However, fall and winter of 08-09, we lived in Moab UT, a very small unsophisticated town basically, about 5,000 swollen by a factor of gosh...I don't know what...for the tourist trade. 61 motels at last count. Tourists don't bake. Now I live near a small city in Canada, 75,000, and in any given grocery store you'll find only a very few flours of any kind: white AP, white pastry, WW...not much choice. Ditto for the sugar. However, in Moab I was stunned to find so many many different flours and sugars also. Who uses them in a town so small that there's no Wal-Mart even (a sign of shopping excellence ) and folks travel 2 hours to Grand Junction, CO to buy much of ANYTHING? I couldn't even buy a lollipop stick. Very curious.

You certainly have lucky co-workers with a lot of birthdays. Do you suppose some co-workers have more than one birthday a year because you keep on making them such beautiful cakes and things? Does someone make you a cake on your birthday?

Thanks for your answer, Percy. And I do think 'incredible' is well suited to the dishes you make. We always eat a sizable breakfast, although not always interesting. I am not usually concerned with that aspect of my morning food. Now, my morning coffee...there's where I am concerned. DH, Ed, brings me coffee in bed every morning for the past few years and for that he is beyond reproach.

Good Heavens! I am impressed. What sophisticated palates those young children have. I had to look up Paillards of chicken.

The Chinese Milk Candy is made. The candy is delicious, but it is not white. The commercial candy I bought is pure white. I would have added a few more instructions to the recipe, notes which I'll add in the margin. There is NO WAY the candy makes 50 pieces if pulled according to the directions, 1/2" rope. We made about 70 and thicker than 1/2". Worked with DH, Ed. My hands would not have stood the pulling and cutting by myself. DH had lots of ideas of how we should do it. (Some of you can see my broad smile ) Oh, last note: The candy cost next to nothing to make. The twisty waxed paper from LorAnn's was incredibly expensive!!