This first photo has delighted my heart. I have not come up with a line of “sushi chocolates” yet. But, I would love to! You can see in this photo that the main ingredients in this fun food is marshmallows, donuts, fruit roll-ups, and swedish fish. This is not the kind of thing I have in mind. I have simultaneously been inspired by Vosges Chocolat. This lovely candy bar on the right has a hint of ginger and wasabi, and [...]
Three cheers for my 1st attempt at making truffles! Oh Joy! This was not as hard as I thought it would be. Bring cream to simmer. Drop in chopped chocolate. Let sit… stir gently… form into balls… roll in cocoa, or dip in covering chocolate. Done. I was going to make a black & white truffle, using both the white chocolate and the dark chocolate in the same balls. I changed my mind and made them each into separate types. [...]
I found a great price on good quality bulk chocolate. I ordered it. It came. You are looking at 20 pounds of chocolate! Oh, the fun that I will have with these boxes! A 72% dark chocolate & a 38% milk chocolate. It is almost like a painter having a blank canvas. Where to start? I would like to make truffles. But, they are a 2 day project, so I’ll have to leave them for next week. Hmmnnn…. . . [...]
I’ve been making these for years. I think they are such a cute candy. A mix of sweet and sour. I cut strawberry marshmallows in half. I dip them in white chocolate. I have found that enrobing chocolate makes for a prettier dipped piece. (Smaller foot, smoother shape.) Then I sprinkle lemon-aide mix onto the top of the chocolate while it is still liquid. The lemon-aide mix is sour, the marshmallow and white chocolate is sweet. Fun, cute, sweet! I’ll [...]
This is the best mistake I ever made! I had been shooting for a chewy caramel. I was making the caramel while I was cooking dinner. Next thing I knew, my temperature was too high. I was afraid I would have to throw the whole thing out. In a moment of lucid thought, I looked at my thermometer cover and learned that 275 degree goop would be good for a brittle. So I grabbed a bag of pecans and stirred [...]
When I was in Peace Corps in Niger, West Africa, there was not a lot of candy to be had. As grace would have it, I had a handy dandy Peace Corps cook book. It was made especially for people living in sparse conditions… like me! I noticed that candied orange peels might satisfy my sweet tooth. Plus it only require 2 ingredients: orange peels and sugar. Nice! I can’t find my Peace Corps cook book! No! So Sad! But I looked [...]
I am very pleased with this experiment, too. It was very easy to make, and very tastey. I melted milk chocolate, and poured it into a silicone ice cube tray, 1/3 full. Then I put a big chunk of granola in each “cube”. Then I put more granola into each cube. I pushed it into the chocolate with a spatula & let it harden. The result is a thick, deep, chunky, 3-bite nugget. I used Bar Naked brand granola. It [...]
I don’t really know what to call this experiment. I haven’t really tasted it yet, just licked the spatula at the end. I ground up jasmine pearls into a fine powder and then mixed them into a dark enrobing chocolate. I cut marshmallows in half and dipped them into the melted mixture. Then I sprinkled finely diced walnuts and organic nibs on the top. I was disappointed that the chocolate got a little hazy white after it set up. I [...]
I’ve wanted to make a dark & white chocolate slab to call Zebra chocolate. This was my first attempt. It is interesting to look at, but not what I was going for. I think I can do better. I’ll have to develop a different technique. Maybe using a pastry bag? I should probably look at some photos of zebras! I don’t know if I will (eventually) make it a flavored concoction, or not. Maybe just getting really contrasting chocolates would [...]
I have been researching affordable chocolates today. I did order some more Bada Bing Bada Boom chocolate because it is tastie and easy to work with. But, it is a compound chocolate. I’d also like to get more familiar with what I am tempted to call “real” chocolate. The difference is that what I am calling real chocolate has cocoa butter in it. It is the cocoa butter that makes tempering chocolate so tricky. That leads me back to the [...]