Confections! (2006-2012)

[pastrygirl]

I made caramels yesterday with the thought that I would give some to friends and family for thanksgiving. O.M.G. I can't stop eating them, and will have to make another (bigger) batch if I want to give more than 12 pieces away

1/2 c lyle's golden syrup

1 c sugar

1 c cream

seeds from 1/2 a vanilla bean

2 TB butter

2 TB navan vanilla liqueur

1 tsp salt

Those sound heavenly, and I just recently picked up some golden syrup! I'll have to give these a shot!

Based on Alice Medrich's Golden Vanilla Bean Caramels in Pure Dessert. Her honey caramels are also really good. This was only a half batch, with a little extra butter plus the liqueur. Cook to 260-265F depending on how firm you desire. I must say I think the Navan is wonderful stuff. It's a little pricey, but basically the vanilla version of Grand Marnier - a cognac based, drinkable vanilla extract. Nice in ganache too.

Edited November 23, 2011 by pastrygirl (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Heading to Montreal on Thursday - needed to make a few goodies to take to the folks at Chocolat-chocolat and DR.

Dulce de leche mice.

Humbug crunchy frogs.

[Viktoria]

those look fantastic!

What's in the crunchy frogs?

[Kerry Beal]

those look fantastic!

What's in the crunchy frogs?

Crunched up humbug candies (think the candy that lived in the bottom of grannies purse - caramelly and minty).

[YetiChocolates]

I love the look of those frogs Kerry!

[Darienne]

Beautiful work, Kerry. And beautiful packaging too.

I love the idea of crunchy frogs. Seems to bring a Monty Python memory which won't come to the surface.

[Sue Casey]

Love the little mice - I'm sure they taste as good as they look

[Lior]

gorgeous work!!!! How on earth are those mice so shiny! The frogs are art!!!

[demiglace]

I want to make some chocolate truffles this year for Christmas..I was wondering about storage and how to package them. Would a small tin or box be good or cellophane. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

[Kerry Beal]

I want to make some chocolate truffles this year for Christmas..I was wondering about storage and how to package them. Would a small tin or box be good or cellophane. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

After I make truffles I store them in airtight plastic containers at room temperature.

I like to put each one in a truffle cup before putting them in a box. A small tin would be very nice too. If I put a bunch in a little cello bag then I don't bother with the truffle cups, just tie the top with a nice ribbon or gold twist tie.

Edited November 27, 2011 by Kerry Beal (log)

[Darienne]

Took a local cooking class just for fun with a couple of other women yesterday. We made: Tex Mex Chili Chocolate Truffles, Istanbul Spice Market Exotic Chocolate Bark, New Delhi Fragrant Indian Brittle, Florence Renaissance Chocolate Dipped Almond & Orange Zest Biscotti, and Hot Spiced Cider.

It was fun. The chocolate couldn't be real in that particular situation, but I knew that ahead of time. The teacher asked me to explain a bit about tempering to the others.

Not enough spice for me in anything. One friend agreed with me...the other thought it was all too spiced. I thought the overall effect of all the pieces was too sweet...the other two thought it was fine. Interesting.

I did pick up a couple of useful tips I had never heard of. Putting a second sheet of greased parchment paper over the brittle and rolling it quickly. Made a lovely flat candy. Also I had forgotten about rolling truffles in other than chocolate. The finely chopped cookie crumbs worked much better than the icing sugar or cocoa I thought. You could make a quite non-sweet cookie to use. The icing sugar tends to darken and come off and the effect is too sweet for me. The cocoa, while delicious, gets on your mouth and hands if you are not very careful. Nuts are good too.

I'm going to make the brittle again, adding finely shredded fresh ginger to it. The ginger is taken from PanaCan's Ecuadorian recipe for Dulce de Mani and it's fantastic!

[Fernwood]

The chocolate couldn't be real in that particular situation, but I knew that ahead of time.

Just curious: What does this mean? What was the "chocolate" then?

[Tri2Cook]

A small tin would be very nice too.

I used to use tins (metal or plastic... whichever I could find the best deal on) for giving out christmas cookies but I've had a really difficult time finding them the past few years and have resorted to much less attractive alternatives. The recipients don't seem to mind but it bugs me. You wouldn't happen to know an online source (preferably within Canada to save on shipping/duties) for them would you?

[Kerry Beal]

A small tin would be very nice too.

I used to use tins (metal or plastic... whichever I could find the best deal on) for giving out christmas cookies but I've had a really difficult time finding them the past few years and have resorted to much less attractive alternatives. The recipients don't seem to mind but it bugs me. You wouldn't happen to know an online source (preferably within Canada to save on shipping/duties) for them would you?

Pritchard Packaging

Grauman Packaging

Dunwoody Booth

Creations Mercedes

[Tri2Cook]

Thanks! Apparently I'm search-challenged. I've never stumbled across any of those using google. I bookmarked them all but, in an unexpected twist, I was mentioning this very thing to a friend from work on facebook a few minutes ago and she said the local Bargain Shop has a ton of them in stock. I was sure there weren't any there when I checked... but I'm disappointingly often sure something isn't where it should be until someone points at it for me. Must be a man thing.

[Kerry Beal]

Thanks! Apparently I'm search-challenged. I've never stumbled across any of those using google. I bookmarked them all but, in an unexpected twist, I was mentioning this very thing to a friend from work on facebook a few minutes ago and she said the local Bargain Shop has a ton of them in stock. I was sure there weren't any there when I checked... but I'm disappointingly often sure something isn't where it should be until someone points at it for me. Must be a man thing.

Even better if you can get them at the dollar store!

[Darienne]

The chocolate couldn't be real in that particular situation, but I knew that ahead of time.

Just curious: What does this mean? What was the "chocolate" then?

Seriously I don't really know. It was in exactly the same format as Baker's Unsweetened chocolate but I've never noticed it in a grocery store so I can't say what it was. Sort of a compound chocolate I suppose but not as bad as the dreaded Merken's Chocolate Melting Wafers.

[Darienne]

Thanks! Apparently I'm search-challenged. I've never stumbled across any of those using google. I bookmarked them all but, in an unexpected twist, I was mentioning this very thing to a friend from work on facebook a few minutes ago and she said the local Bargain Shop has a ton of them in stock. I was sure there weren't any there when I checked... but I'm disappointingly often sure something isn't where it should be until someone points at it for me. Must be a man thing.

Even better if you can get them at the dollar store!

A funny thing which often happens when you give out goodies in a fancy tin, is that you get them back again. A sort of 'if I give it back to you then maybe you will fill it again.' A friend of mine makes delectable Christmas cakes, baking right in the little Dollarama round tins. I always give the tin back after Christmas. Hint. Hint.

[demiglace]

Thanks Kerry Beal!

[Mette]

A funny thing which often happens when you give out goodies in a fancy tin, is that you get them back again. A sort of 'if I give it back to you then maybe you will fill it again.' A friend of mine makes delectable Christmas cakes, baking right in the little Dollarama round tins. I always give the tin back after Christmas. Hint. Hint.

This is brilliant - does that mean that all those cute bowls I brought back from Japan to give away filled with goodies for christmas will eventually find their way back to my cupboards

[Quesmoy]

I know that is how I think about things.

Edited November 29, 2011 by Quesmoy (log)

[minas6907]

I made a nougat today, it's almond, pistachio, and cherry, I also put a touch of grapefruit oil. This is the recipe from 'The Advanced Professional Pastry Chef.'

[YetiChocolates]

Nice work minas6907, those look delicious!

[minas6907]

Hey thanks! I love this nougat, I just hate the last step of additional cooking on a range, that seems to take forever, but it yields a good product. I have yet to try making a nougat that doesn't require the additional cooking to remove moisture, it seems that if you dont do that it wont come out very firm, but anyways, I have yet to try it.

[RobertM]

Here are my efforts from this weekend - with a special shout out to The Chocolate Dr - you're simply freaking amazing!!!!!