Candy review
I get the candy making bug a this time of year. It's fun, it "feels" good, and I give it away as gifts which usually puts a smile on someone else's face too.
Normally I make a kind of almond-rocha bark. It's neat and it's science in action and it tastes yum-scrummy-deliscious. And, best of all, it's dangerous. ... LOLOL ...well, that not really "the best" part, it's more of a "don't let your kids or klutz friends do this unsupervised." I have scars on my hands from dripping melted sugar/butter on them. I would be the afforementioned klutz friend. When J turned 30 I made a batch and instead of making bark I got the dippers out and hand rolled each piece in chocolate, nuts and then wrapped each in foil, etc - about 10x as work intensive as the bark method. yah - never do that again. And I got a big ol' 3rd degree burn on the web of my hand between thumb and index finger. Everytime I look at the scar, I say "yah J, I got that scar for you ... and I'm pretty sure I'll never do that again..." ..LOL.. though .. scratching head ... I do have some molds for this ... hmmm... well, we'll see what time I have. Frick and Frack get underfoot a lot and don't want them near boiling candy that can melt skin.
So I think I'll do the almond rocha (stick with a winner) but now I want to make peppermint bark, too. AND I'm going to take a page from someone else's book if I can find the tins to do it. I want to give the gift in a tin and then have it returned for next year.
To kind of do homework on Peppermint bark, one needs to know what to look for. So I've started sampling.
Here's my Peppermint Bark Review
William Sonoma - not very thick and small pieces of peppermint. Good taste and nothing wrong with "thin" .. means fewer calories per bite. (cute tin with slogan "our bark gets better with each bite")
King Leo (since 1901) - per Da Husband, this is supposed to be the best. It's made on a thick slab of dark chocolate. Big chunks of peppermint looked nice on top. I didn't think it had enough peppermint taste to it. Aesthetically more pleasing that W/S, but not as tasty.
Recipes
I culled through my cook books. I was really disappointed with the one in my candy book. It called for compound melts. Bleck. So I cruised epicurious and they had 2 recipes. I'm going to try both this weekend. And I'm going to see about using some substitutes. I got peppermint candies as well as peppermint chips - the chips are green. Those may just have to go into cookies or brownies, but I might try a small batch with the chips.
Normally I make a kind of almond-rocha bark. It's neat and it's science in action and it tastes yum-scrummy-deliscious. And, best of all, it's dangerous. ... LOLOL ...well, that not really "the best" part, it's more of a "don't let your kids or klutz friends do this unsupervised." I have scars on my hands from dripping melted sugar/butter on them. I would be the afforementioned klutz friend. When J turned 30 I made a batch and instead of making bark I got the dippers out and hand rolled each piece in chocolate, nuts and then wrapped each in foil, etc - about 10x as work intensive as the bark method. yah - never do that again. And I got a big ol' 3rd degree burn on the web of my hand between thumb and index finger. Everytime I look at the scar, I say "yah J, I got that scar for you ... and I'm pretty sure I'll never do that again..." ..LOL.. though .. scratching head ... I do have some molds for this ... hmmm... well, we'll see what time I have. Frick and Frack get underfoot a lot and don't want them near boiling candy that can melt skin.
So I think I'll do the almond rocha (stick with a winner) but now I want to make peppermint bark, too. AND I'm going to take a page from someone else's book if I can find the tins to do it. I want to give the gift in a tin and then have it returned for next year.
To kind of do homework on Peppermint bark, one needs to know what to look for. So I've started sampling.
Here's my Peppermint Bark Review
William Sonoma - not very thick and small pieces of peppermint. Good taste and nothing wrong with "thin" .. means fewer calories per bite. (cute tin with slogan "our bark gets better with each bite")
King Leo (since 1901) - per Da Husband, this is supposed to be the best. It's made on a thick slab of dark chocolate. Big chunks of peppermint looked nice on top. I didn't think it had enough peppermint taste to it. Aesthetically more pleasing that W/S, but not as tasty.
Recipes
I culled through my cook books. I was really disappointed with the one in my candy book. It called for compound melts. Bleck. So I cruised epicurious and they had 2 recipes. I'm going to try both this weekend. And I'm going to see about using some substitutes. I got peppermint candies as well as peppermint chips - the chips are green. Those may just have to go into cookies or brownies, but I might try a small batch with the chips.