Curl - Candy is magic: real ingredients, modern recipes

JAMI CURL is the owner of Quin, the Portland-based candy company she founded in 2013. Jami has been named one of the 100 most creative people in food, and the 71st most creative person in all of business by Fast Company. O, The Oprah Magazine called Quins Smoked Cola gumdrops one of the must-try foods of 2014, and Bon Apptit dubbed her the new Willy Wonka. She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her son.

RESOURCES GUIDE

Ill be the first to admit that I take a kind of scrappy/shoestring-budget/how-can-we-do-it-for-less approach when starting new projects. I begin by looking at what I already have and (fingers crossed) put it to use. And for the things I dont already have? I go shopping. Most of the ingredients and supplies we use at QUIN come in extreme bulk amounts (a typical minimum order of custom-printed cellophane for wrapping candy is one million feet!) but because every QUIN recipe started very small, I have many tips on where to buy exactly what you need for even the smallest of candy-making operations. Many supplies can be purchased from a well-stocked grocery store, kitchen-supply shop, or craft store. For the rest of it? The Internet has it (and Ive included the search terms here in italic).

INGREDIENTS

Berries You should be able to find high-quality frozen berries at almost any well-stocked grocery store. Plus, because youll be roasting the berries and adding sugar and other ingredients, they will pop back to life with a nice vibrancy.

Chai Tea Concentrate A great ingredient for making lollipops (see ), chai tea concentrate should be in the tea aisle of your grocery store. Cant find it there? An Internet search for chai tea concentrate will provide a nice group of choices.

Chocolate My two favorite chocolate brands are Felchlin and Valrhona (see ); search for felchlin chocolate or valrhona chocolate.

Cinnamon As I noted on , I favor Ceylon cinnamon for candy making. Penzeys Spices and King Arthur Flour are good online sources for this particular type.

Citric Acid Great for adding either a little or a lot of pucker to candy, food-grade citric acid is widely available online and in the bulk-food section of some grocery stores. A quick online search for citric acid will bring up many options, but you can also find it at your local brewing supply shop.

Cocoa Powder For the correct results, I insist you treat yourself to a supply of high-quality cocoa powder. My preferred brand is Felchlin, made in Switzerland, with the French-made Valrhona coming in a close second. Felchlin can be found online; search for felchlin cacaopulver or felchlin cocoa powder. Valrhona cocoa powder is sold in higher-end grocery stores and through many online sources; search for valrhona cocoa powder.

Colorings Its relatively easy to find natural colorings these days, but the key for candy making is that, as with flavorings (see ), the colorings must be stable enough to withstand high heat. If the colorings lack heat stability, your candies will not turn out looking the way you imagined they would. Dont think that what you use doesnt matter, because Ive learned the hard way that it does. Pick a natural coloring made for high-heat applications and youll happy with the candy; search for heat stable natural coloring.

Crystal Sugar Buying this large-crystal sugar in small repackaged containers from cake-decorating supply shops can be expensive. So if you are committing to many projects involving crystal sugar, go ahead and spring for a larger amount, which will definitely save you money in the long run. At QUIN, we purchase C&H crystal sugar from our local food-service supply company. Hot tip: If you will-call products and go pick them up yourself (and are ready to pay when you get there), your local specialty foods supply company will let you buy what they sell, from crystal sugar to olive oil.

Flavorings Finding the right natural flavorings for your candy can be tricky. Lucky for you, Ive been through most of the natural flavorings on the market, and I have two brands that I like a lot. LorAnn manufactures a line of natural flavorings made for high-heat applications. That specific characteristic is a must. Many flavorings exist, of course, but you must be sure to use a product thats meant for hard candy. If you dont, the flavor will dissipate during cooking, and youll be left with flavorless candy. In general, flavorings created specifically for high-heat applications will be called flavor emulsions. Natures Flavors, which is based in California, makes a good product. The Natures Flavors website very clearly explains which of their wide selection of unique flavorings work for high-heat applications.

Gelatin Youll need leaf gelatin, also known as sheet gelatin, for the recipes in this book. It comes in four different strengths, and I recommend silver strength. You may be able to find it in a well-stocked kitchen store or a specialty foods store. If you look online, search for silver leaf gelatin or silver sheet gelatin.

Glucose Syrup Glucose can be purchased at your local cake-decorating store, some well-stocked craft stores (in the cake-decorating section), or online. At QUIN, we use Pastry 1 brand glucose syrup, but there are several other brands on the market. A good way to search for glucose syrup is by using the phrase buy glucose syrup.

Malted Milk Powder Available at your grocery store and online, this is the stuff you can mix with milk (or into a milk shake) and make malted milk (or a malted milk shake.) Search for malted milk powder.

Salts Youll need three types of salt for the recipes. All of the salt thats cooked into candy is kosher salt. I prefer Diamond Crystal brand kosher salt, which is widely available in grocery stores. If you have trouble finding it, you can buy it online; search for diamond crystal kosher salt.

When Im sprinkling salt on cooked candy, I look to a flaky sea salt. Penzeys and The Meadow are good online resources, but well-stocked grocery stores usually stock Maldon (which is an excellent choice).

Finally, smoked flake sea salt is another good finishing salt. And again, Maldon makes an especially nice one; search for maldon smoked sea salt flakes.

Smoked Granulated Sugar Adding smoked sugar to a candy recipe lends a note of mystery and deep richness. I love smoked ingredients, and now that smoked sugar is readily available online, I can skip the chore of setting up a cold smoker to produce it myself; search for buy smoked sugar.

Tea I love both a good cup of tea and tea-flavored candy, and the teas from Steven Smith Teamaker never disappoint. Every recipe that calls for tea in this book was made with a Steven Smith tea; search for steven smith teamaker.

Vanilla Bean Powder At QUIN, we buy our vanilla bean powder online from Beanilla, but quality brands are also available through Amazon and other sites; search for vanilla bean powder. Make sure that you buy a quality powder, rather than one made from exhausted beans (see ). True vanilla bean powder isnt cheap, so if the price seems too good to be true, the product is likely inferior.

EQUIPMENT

See for a list of important candy-making tools.

WRAPPING AND PACKAGING SUPPLIES

Apple Bags These paper bags, which are sometimes called orchard bags, are perfect for packing up or for containing any number of sweet surprises youve made for someone. I prefer unprinted bags (and I just cant resist that crosswise handle!). Well-stocked restaurant-supply stores carry these bags, but youll likely have better luck locating them online; search for