Cunningham - Quick and Easy Candy Gifts: Make impressive confections with common ingredients to give for any occasion

Quick and Easy Candy Gifts
Make impressive confections with common
ingredients to give for any occasion

Copyright 2015
Jennifer Cunningham
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reproduced without express, written permission
from the author.

Dedicated to the memory of
Barry Thomsen
Always ready to give a smile, a story and a bit of inspiration.
You are missed.

Table of Contents

Quick and Easy Candy Gifts

When you close your eyes and imagine a fudge shop, you can almost smell the warm chocolate, toasted nuts and caramelized sugars. The impressive candies, adorned with delicate stripes and exotic toppings, unfortunately come with an equally impressive price. The thought of filling a box with these sumptuous treats is tempered by the ability to calculate cost per bite.
Fret not. You do not need a culinary degree to create similarly delicious candies at home. And even better, you can make them in quantities great enough to indulge even the greatest sweet tooth without taking out a second mortgage.
As an added bonus, you can share your batches with friends, family, neighbors and coworkers for special occasions or just because. How much fun would it be to fill a box with chocolate truffles in decadent flavors, melt-in-your-mouth fudge and even more sensuous chocolate covered cherries? Theyll be so impressed when you tell them these mouth-watering confections were mixed, rolled and dipped with your very own hands.
On the following pages are candies and treats I've been making for years. They mainly appear during the holidays, but on occasion I'll surprise the family with one or two. Theyre easy to make, dont require unusual ingredients and can take as little as twenty minutes. Better yet, the ingredients arent expensive. Even the nuts, when purchased seasonally and in bulk, make these indulgences economical. Even if off season, it's oh so worth the splurge.
I've organized the candies by ease and time to complete. Consider making more than one at a time to consolidate dishes and cleanup. For example, I made the Almond Rocha, honey brittle and spiced pecans in one and a half hours total, including cleanup. The pecans were last so the oven could warm. When the pecans were baking, the Rocha and brittle were cooling, and I was loading the dishwasher and wiping the counter. Most of the recipes call for lining cookie sheets with aluminum foil, parchment or wax paper, which aids in making cleanup a breeze.
As you move farther into the book, the recipes get a little more tedious and time-consuming (but not harder). If you have kiddos old enough, enlist them in the process. Who doesn't love rolling chocolate between their palms or watching it drip from a fork?
Enjoy your new talent and even more, enjoy the results! These treats will bring loads of smiles and years of joy and tradition.
Warmly,
Jennifer

Shaped Chocolate

It doesnt get much easier than this. All you might have done is melted some chocolate, but somehow chocolate shapes feel and taste more special.
Number of Ingredients: 1
Time to Mix and Make: 10 minutes
Ready to Eat: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
2 cups chocolate morsels (any variety)
Melt chocolate chips in a small microwave safe bowl for 1 minute. Stir vigorously until smooth. If further melting is required, do so in 15 second intervals. Be careful not to overdo it. Burnt chips can seize, creating a hard, unusable mess.
Pour into molds.
Refrigerate or freeze to set.
Remove from molds and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Chocolate Covered Pretzels

Okay, maybe it doesn't get much easier than this. The sweetness of the chocolate is a marvelous contrast with the salty crunch of the pretzels. It's also a perfect treat for the kids to make while you're working on other things. Put these out for football games, poker nights or anytime you need a breakout snack.
Number of Ingredients: 2
Time to Mix and Make: 20 minutes
Ready to Eat: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
2 cups chocolate chips (any variety will do)
Regular or stick pretzels
Melt chocolate chips in a small microwave safe bowl for 1 minute. Stir vigorously until smooth. If further melting is required, do so in 15 second intervals.
Dip pretzels into chocolate halfway. Reheat chocolate if necessary.
Lay onto a cookie sheet lined with wax or parchment paper until set.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week.

Almond Bark

The simplest of mixtures makes for a regal treat. Youre not limited to almonds, either. Like many of these recipes, you can swap out almonds for your preference. Macadamia, anyone?
Number of Ingredients: 2
Time to Mix and Make: 10 minutes
Ready to Eat: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
2 cups chocolate chips, any variety
Chopped or sliced almonds
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Lightly toast almonds in a shallow pan over medium heat. Stir frequently to avoid burning.
Melt chocolate chips in a small microwave safe bowl for 1 minute. Stir vigorously until smooth. If further melting is required, do so in 15 second intervals.
Stir in 3/4 of the toasted almonds and immediately pour onto parchment paper.
Smooth into an even layer and sprinkle with remaining almonds.
Refrigerate until hardened.
Break into pieces and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Spiced Pecans (or almonds or peanuts or )

Youve seen them at craft fairs, carnivals and flea markets. The aromas wafting from the roaster lift you off your feet and float you to them. Then the $8 per small paper cone snaps you back to reality.
The joke's on you, carnies. Now you can have these delicious (dare I say, healthy?) nuts anytime, anywhere, for a fraction of the cost.
Number of Ingredients: 5
Time to Mix and Make: 10 minutes
Ready to Eat: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
1 TBSP cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg (allspice or pumpkin pie spice will do in a pinch)
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg white
2 cups pecan halves
Heat your oven to 300 degrees.
Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray with a nonstick cooking spray.
Mix the cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar in a plastic gallon bag.
In a small bowl, whisk the egg white until foamy.
Stir in the pecans, making sure they are well coated.
Dump coated pecans into the plastic bag, zip closed and shake vigorously to coat.
Spread the pecans onto the foil, making sure they are not touching each other.
Bake for 20 minutes, remove and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week. (Not that they'll last that long!)

Almond Rocha

This rich, toffee-like candy will test your willpower to not personally devour the entire batch. The buttery sweetness is offset by the toasted almonds, giving it a wonderful balance.
Some personal preferences can be applied to this recipe. First is the coarseness of your almonds. If you purchase almonds whole and chop them yourself in a food processor, you can control the texture. I chop mine in a Vitamix to a fairly fine consistency. I don't like extremely crunchy things, so my almonds are almost powder-like with some small chunks for texture. The size is completely up to you. The added bonus to buying whole almonds is the price. They tend to be cheaper.