Whitely - Candy With a Kick

The recipes contained in this book contain alcohol. Please prepare and eat responsibly. Not for underage consumption . These recipes can be made with or without Alcohol.

Candy making is a lot of fun. A few rules for candy making should be noted.

1. Cold months are best for candy making. Any day is a good day to make candy but cool dry days are the best. You can make candy year round the only candies you dont want to make on warm humid days are hard brittle candies because they absorb moisture and become soft and sticky.

2.Use a large heavy saucepan.
3.Use a large wooden spoon. Never beat candy with a metal spoon or a rotary beater unless specified.
4.Measure accurately and never double up ingredients.
5. Before cooking any type of crystal candy (sugar type) be sure to wipe sides of cooking saucepan with vegetable oil. This stops bad crystals from forming and sticking on the side of your saucepan while cooking. Be sure to wipe sides clean intermittantly..
6.Heat using diffuser method. Some stoves have hot spots in the flame so to fix this problem use a large cast-iron skillet and place your saucepan inside the cast-iron pan this will displace the heat evenly throughout your saucepan. This method is called heat diffuser.
Tools of the Trade

Iron skillet

Heavy duty saucepan

Half sheet pans

Parchment

Silicone baking mat

Wax paper

Wooden spoon

Offset Spatula

Microwave

1 candy thermometer

Candy Molds

Chapter 2
Tips for cooking candies
Amorphous candies like brittle and taffy contain no crystals. Crystalline candies like fudge and pralines do have crystals. Also the saucepan has to be very clean because a dirty saucepan will form small crystals. The crystals will form in your mixture and as they cook they will get larger and make your candy look foggy and will not form into a brittle. First use good tools when making your candy. You need a good heavy duty saucepan and a tight lid and a good wooden spoon because it won't conduct heat and thats good for your candy.
Cooking Syrups
A candy thermometer is the best way to determine the accurate temperature of boiling syrups. Never touch the bottom of the saucepan with the thermometer. It provides much greater accuracy than the cold water test.
There are three methods of melting chocolate .
Double Boiler Method
Melt chocolate on top of a stove in a double saucepan by filling the bottom saucepan with water about a inch from bottom of top bowl, next fill top bowl with small cuts of square pieces of chocolate never let top bowl touch water of bottom saucepan or let water reach a boiling point. Keep on low heat and continue stirring until chocolate becomes fully melted and completely smooth. Remove from heat. Place melted chocolate bowl on top of a bowl of warm water because this will keep chocolate melted longer.
Direct Heat Method
Direct heat method is the easiest and most convenient way to melt chocolate. Cut your chocolate into small squares then put in heavy saucepan. On low-heat, keep stirring until chocolate starts to melt then remove pan from heat and keep stirring until chocolate becomes real smooth.
Microwave Oven Method
Place 5-6 ounces of chopped chocolate squares in an uncovered microwavable safe bowl. Microwave on high for about 1 -2 minutes keeping a watch on the chocolate and stirring every minute or so. At 2 minutes if chocolate is not completely melted remove from microwave and continue to stir until fully melted or chocolate becomes very smooth. Then every 30 seconds if needed.

Chocolate Dipping
To dip candies in chocolate it's best to work in a cool dry room. The ideal temperature is from 60 to 65 deg. F. Melt dipping chocolate in top of a double saucepan over simmering water. Put one candy at a time in melted chocolate using a long handle two-tined fork. Then put chocolate on dripping rack and let harden. When unused chocolate coating is dry pack chocolate in a container and cover. When the chocolate is exposed to air for any length of time it can become dull and milky.

Coloring Sugar
Pour sugar onto a piece of wax paper and sprinkle it with a few drops of desired food coloring. Lift up the sugar with both hands and rub together until color is evenly distributed. Place on pan and cook at 275 deg. F. for 5-7 minutes just to dry the food coloring. While warm take hands and rub colored sugar to separate crystals. Store in tightly covered container until ready to use.
Fondant
Is a versatile candy paste used to make center creams dipped candies and candy.