Wilson - A bakers field guide to holiday candy & confections: sweet treats all year long

THE HARVARD COMMON PRESS
Boston, Massachusetts

THE HARVARD COMMON PRESS
535 Albany Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02118
www.harvardcommonpress.com

Copyright 2005 by Dede Wilson

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publisher.

Printed in China

Printed on acid-free paper

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wilson, Dede.
A baker's field guide to holiday candy & confections : sweet
treats all year long / Dede Wilson.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 1-55832-309-0 (hc : alk. paper)
1. Candy. 2. Confectionery. 3. Holiday cookery.
4. Cookery, International. I. Title.
TX791.W59 2005
641.5'83dc22
2005004952

ISBN-13: 978-1-55832-309-4

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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Book design by Night & Day Design
Cover and interior photographs 2005 Eric Roth Photography
Candy and confection preparation and styling by Mary Bandereck

To the women in my lifeyou enrich
it immeasurably: Julie Angell, Emily
Boudreault, Claudia Brown, Liz Cantor,
Julie Chartier, Marion Dussault,
Barbara Fairchild, Annie Kelly, Kristine
Kidd, Linda Kielson, Maureen Lasher,
Suzanne LoManto, Mary McNamara,
Juanita Plimpton, Marge Poore,
Judy Pozar, Pam Rys, Amara Staffanell
Wagner, Amy Wasserman, Ravenna
Wilson, Belle, Hope ... and to
Steve Kelly

Acknowledgments

Introduction

How to Use This Book

The Field Guide

New Year's

Star-Shaped Marshmallows

Honey Walnut Candies (Gozinaki)

Good Luck Marzipan Pig

Chestnuts in Yam Paste (Kuri Kinton)

Valentine's Day

Giant Chocolate Kiss

Chocolate-Covered Cherries

Chocolate Hazelnut Italian Kisses

Bittersweet Chocolate Truffles

Liqueur-Enhanced Chocolate Truffles

Milk Chocolate Truffles

Gilded White Chocolate Truffles

Cinnamon Fireball Candies

Champagne and Cherry Heart Lollipops

Golden Heart Passion Pops

Purim

MarzipanStuffed Fruit and Nuts

Poppy Seed Candy (Monlach)

Sweet Wine Chocolate Apricot Balls

Vernal Equinox

Mint Jelly Leaves

Maple Sugar Leaves

April Fool's Day

Rainbow Chocolate Fish

Kitty Crunchies

Easter

Easter Peepers

Solid Chocolate Bunnies

Easter Cream Eggs

Easter Egg with a Surprise

Easy Easter Nests with "Eggs"

Panoramic Sugar Egg

Passover

Matzoh Brown Sugar Buttercrunch

National Licorice Day

Licorice Toffee

Summer Solstice

Crystallized Flowers

St. John's Day

Pumpkin Candy (Docinhos de Abbora)

Fourth of July

Classic Creamy Fudge

Pecan Penuche

Easiest Fudge in the World

Molasses Taffy

Sugar Sparklers

Autumnal Equinox

Mendiants

Simchat Torah

Fruit and Nut-Stuffed Dates

Halloween

Peanut Butter Cups

Easy Marbled Candy Corn Bark

Spider Webs

Give 'Em the Eyeball Candies

Day of the Dead

Sugar Skulls

Thanksgiving

Harvest Fruit 'n' Nut Bark

Spiced Pumpkin Pecan Fudge

Chocolate Leaves

Diwali

Coconut Cashew Burfi

St. Nicholas's Day

Sugar Candies (Borstplaat)

Hanukkah

Candy Dreidels

Winter Solstice

Peppermint Patties

Christmas

Candy Canes

Ribbon Candy

Double Chocolate Peppermint Bark

Chocolate Walnut Rum Balls

Sugarplums

Christmas Divinity

Angel Food Candy

"Barley" Sugar Toys

New OrleansStyle Pralines

White Christmas

Glazed Chestnuts

Apricot Candies (Mebos)

Turkish Delight (Lokum)

Caramelized Milk Candies (Tejas)

Coconut Candies (Beijinho de Coco)

Egg Yolk Nougat (Turron de Yema)

Italian Nougat (Torrone)

Panforte di Siena

Chocolate-Covered Caramelized Almonds

Burnt Almonds (Brente Mandler)

Weddings

Pastel Butter Mints

Cream Cheese Rosettes

Sesame Honey Candies (Melekouni)

Resources

Measurement Equivalents

Index

This book has a large international component and many people helped me track down recipes and traditions. Some are friends and family, some are people whom I enlisted on the spot at IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) conventions.... Then there are the people I met on planes or at parties, or whom I e-mailed cold. I cannot thank all of you enough, and I am afraid that I will probably leave someone out, so please forgive any oversights.

Thanks to Maria Kijac and Marcela Sorondo for South American candy information; Faye Levy for insights into Jewish cuisine; Anne Marie Aznarez for help in researching Spanish confections; Darra Goldstein for information on Russian sweets; David Lebovitz for his Francophile knowledge; David Jesson from Peru; Enge Berit for her Norwegian recipein Norwegian! And thanks to Pam Juengling, who led me to Anne Donnelly, who helped with translation; Raghavan Iyer came to the rescue with Indian recipes, as did Darin Sarin, whom I met on a plane quite fortuitously! Jill Hough from COPIA made phone calls for me to Guatemala; Kim de la Villefromoy from "down unda" introduced me to copha (); Lily de Jensen came through with information on Colombian candies; and Evie Arharidis and Naomi Waynee, both of whom I know through our beloved yet silly dogs, sent recipes and ideas. Elizabeth Andoh generously spoke with me all the way from Japan; Arzu Yilmaz gave me her Turkish Delight recipe. I have a lot of new friends!

Pam Hoenig, editor extraordinaire, goes to the top of this list. She brought me to The Harvard Common Press, where I found a happy home, and this is our third collaboration. The Field Guide concept was hers, and I feel blessed that she enlisted me to bring it to life. Pam wasn't able to see the book through to the end; the final piece of work was guided beautifully by Valerie Cimino. Thank you to Debra Hudak for copy-editing help. The folks at The Harvard Common Press keep the pages turning, so to speak: Bruce Shaw, publisher; Jodi Marchowsky, production editor; Virginia Downes, production manager; Christine Corcoran Cox, managing editor; Pat Jalbert-Levine, project manager; Skye Stewart, publicity director; Betsy Young, sales director; Liza Beth, publicist; Julie Strane, special sales manager; Amy Etcheson, marketing assistant; and Megan Weireter, office manager. Heartfelt thanks to my agents, Maureen and Eric Lasher, who feel more like extended family.