Dec 11
21
By Kathryn Beach
Technically, these may not all be candy, although if you’re like me, adding chocolate to anything makes it delicious and sweet. If it’s also bite-size, I call it candy.
Once you’ve made the first two simple recipes, your imagination will take over and you’ll realize the world is full of other things that can be dipped in chocolate. Whether you like sweet and salty combined, as with the chocolate covered popcorn, or something even healthier like chocolate covered raisins, you’ll start looking at what’s in your kitchen cupboards in a whole different light.
While many fudge recipes are much more complicated than the chocolate peanut butter one below, this recipe also introduces you to the realm of possibilities with its basic simplicity plus the additions I’ve mentioned.
Most of all, have fun and invite a child along to help make these simple chocolate candy recipes.
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Simple Chocolate Covered Popcorn
1/2 bag of popped microwave popcorn.
1/2 bag of dark or milk chocolate melted and reheated as necessary
Pop the corn and put it in a large bowl; the stirring can get messy, and it’s easier for a child to mix without spilling if it’s in an oversized bowl. Poor the melted chocolate over the popcorn and stir until all the popcorn is covered.
I like to form the popcorn roughly into balls or clumps about the size of a golf ball and place them on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper. Then I put it in the refrigerator until they’re hardened.
While you’re waiting for them to chill, there’s lots of finger and bowl licking to do.
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Simple Chocolate Covered Raisins
1 cup raisins
1 1/2 cup chocolate chips OR equivalent in chocolate chunks
3 tbsp cocoa powder (optional)
Melt chocolate slowly in the top of a double boiler, or in a bowl placed over a pan with simmering water in it. If you place a lid on the pan or bowl, it must be vented to let steam escape. Stir occasionally as it’s melting.
Place 1/3 of the raisins in the melted chocolate and stir until coated. Remove the raisins from the chocolate with a spoon, then pick up individually with the fingers and place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Be sure to wipe the bottom of your spoon on the edge of the pan each time or you’ll have a huge drippy mess. Do not allow the raisins to touch each other, unless of course you want to have small clumps of raisins, like raisin balls. Continue coating your raisins 1/3 at a time until all are finished.
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Simple Chocolate Peanut-Butter Fudge
Melt together one small jar of peanut butter and one bag of chocolate chips in the top of a double boiler or in a bowl as described above. Stir in one can sweetened condensed milk. Spread in large flat pan to cool. Cut into 1″ squares when cool and hard.
Optional: mix in or sprinkle on top: chopped peanuts, coconut, cocoa powder, or powdered sugar
About the Author: Kathryn Beach has made homemade candy for over 30 years. Visit her website for more simple chocolate candy recipes, as well as for the more complicated but elegant truffles. http://candychocolicio.us/data/html/simplerecipes/3.cgi
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Author: Jesse
Pizzelle are a delicate, thin Italian cookie with grids or floral imprints featured on them. They are sometimes dusted with powdered sugar or rolled into cylinders for use as cannoli shells. Because of their beauty and elegance, a lot of people do not know how easy and simple a pizzelle recipe really is.
When making these cookies, they are more time consuming to make than they are difficult. Dough is spooned onto a hot iron with patterned grids on it. When the iron is closed and the cookies bake, it results in the thin, patterned design. Pizzelle makers are available for different cookie sizes and often only make from one to four cookies at a time.
However, the supplies and ingredients themselves are pretty simple and easy to find. In fact, most of them are likely found within your common baking ingredients already. These are the ingredients commonly used in a pizzelle recipe and supplies used in the baking.
The ingredients typically found in many cookie recipes include flour, butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, salt, and baking powder. Pizzelle use these ingredients, too. If your tastes tend towards a plain vanilla cookie, then you may only need these ingredients. But to change the flavor quickly, change out the vanilla for another extract, such as banana or peppermint.
More concentrated and used in a smaller quantity than an extract, these are also utilized to flavor a pizzelle recipe. Anise has a licorice taste and is typically favored, especially by Italians. If it is not what you prefer, though, you have many other options to use. Orange and cinnamon are two more that work well. Flavoring oils are often found with candy making supplies or online.
An electric mixer is best for this recipe, as the recipe makes a thick dough.
True, a pizzelle iron is not a very multifunctional appliance. It’s mainly used to make pizzelle and a couple of other waffle-style cookies. But it is well worth investing in an electric one if you make these cookies at least once a year. A pizzelle maker has anywhere from one to four grids that you drop the dough on to create the elegant designs. They can be found in stores and online.
Dust the cookies lightly with sifted powdered sugar after they cool. While it is not necessary, it makes the presentation prettier.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/desserts-articles/pizzelle-recipe-what-are-the-materials-needed-for-making-pizzelle-4939292.html
About the Author
For more pizzelle recipe information and resources, visit http://www.thepizzellemaker.com.
Author: Deandre Castro
What is Christmas without treats? Does it really seem like Christmas without them? All those delicious candies are a delight fit for the holidays.
Candy making is more of an art but there is some science to it. You must balance creativity with skill and incorporate some technical procedures that are sometimes hard to comprehend.
Wait, here’s where we can help.
The trick to candy perfection is knowledge, so what do you need to know this holiday season to keep your sweets just as delightful as the occasion? Easy, you just need to know a little bit about the basics on how candy is made, starting with that basic candy building block, sugar. Well what’s so special about sugar, you ask? Sugar has some special properties that make it the perfect choice for candy recipes.
Now, what special properties, you ask? Sugar crystals are solid at room temperature, but once you put these sugar crystals in water, they dissolve, this is the step-one in candy-making, this forms a clear solution. Apply heat and hold at “just right” temperatures and then this sweet elixir is allowed to boil at very at these specific temperatures. In doing so chemical changes or reactions occur in the sugar; this is because heat breaks the crystals apart into molecules, later the molecules will get back together forming sugar crystals again as the sugar syrup cools. This basis of candy making the backbone of all candies.
You need to understand the care required for the candy before you can ensure that they’re served in the optimal state, you want to give your sweets the proper care and storage they need. Here’s what you’ll need to know:
Although there are many different varieties, as many as imagination will allow, there are only three main types of candy. They can usually be classified as one of the following, or a combination of the following:
First, we have the hard candy. Hard candy is made with the highest sugar content. Characteristically, they include various flavors and colors. Some of the most classic hard candies include peppermint sticks and a variety of different mints, does anyone remember rock candy?. Hard candy should be stored at temperatures ranging from 10-21°C for best results, and a relative humidity of 40%.
Second, are the softer candies. In this category we have marshmallows, jellies, and nougats etc. These sweets contain mostly sugar, as well as a low percentage of other ingredients that do not solidify like pure sugar. For optimum results, these soft candies should be stored at temperatures ranging from 24-27°C, with a relative humidity of 45-40%.
Third, we look at candies that contain a majority of other ingredients rather than being heavily concentrated on sugars. In this group, we’ll find fudge, chocolates, sugar- or chocolate-covered raisins or nuts, my personal favorite, caramels, and much, much more.
In terms of storage, this group is the trickiest. Caramels are optimum at temperatures ranging from 21-27°C, while chocolates are best at the temperature range of 16-18°C, with a 50% relative humidity. It’s definitely worth paying attention to to get the most from this exquisite delicacy called candy.
The amount of moisture that candy gains will affect the storage and shelf life of most candies, if they last that long
Storing Your Candies
Careful storage will enable your magical Christmas candies to be the best nature intended it to be, remaining firm but not hard, soft but not sticky. No matter what age you are, you can always appreciate the taste of good quality candy.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/food-and-beverage-articles/information-about-secret-christmas-candies-2610262.html
About the Author
To read about cheese allergy and cheese storage, visit the Cheese Facts site.
Author: Zach Doherty
Rock cakes may sound weird but this type of cake is loved by a lot of kids. It is very easy to do too. Imagine baking cookies, using two spoons to drop the soft dough into the prepared tray. Press the dough with a wet fork, if it is a little too stiff. Leave spaces in between the dough.
Rock cakes are known for its small and fruits buns. A lot of kids and grown – ups love its wonderful texture and sweet taste.
Below is a simple recipe in making a rock cake.
Ingredients:
· 200 Grams of Sultanas or raisins
· 100 Grams of margarine
· 75 Grams moist brown sugar
· 200 Grams of self raising flour
· 1 Egg
· 1 Teaspoon of mixed spice (optional)
Equipments:
Oven
Mixing bowl
Knife for mixing
Scales (optional)
Baking Sheet
Greaseproof paper
Instructions:
1. Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius or 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Mix 100 grams of margarine and the 200 grams of flour in a mixing bowl. Mix them until they look like bread crumbs.
3. Mix the other ingredients (200 grams of sultanas or raisins, 75 grams of moist sugar and egg.)
4. Get your baking tray lined with grease – proof paper.
5. Carefully arrange the dough balls (4 centimeters in diameter) on a tray.
6. Bake it for 15 to 25 minutes.
7. To check if it is cooked, insert a toothpick. The inside should be dry and the inside should not appear raw.
8. Allow it to cool until it hardens.
Tips:
· The original recipe of rock cake are used just a half as much of fruit as today.
· Sultanas are usually cheaper than raisins.
· If you don’t want to make your cake taste dull, avoid using cheap white sugar.
· When making dough balls, if the mixture is too dry, you can moisten the mixture with use of milk.
· For added flavor, topped the cake with glaced cherry and coarse – grain sugar.
· For some people, using hands is better than electric machines because machine mixer will throw the dry mixture rather than mixing it together.
· Electric blender is recommended for mixing ingredients.
You can also enhance the look of your cake by using cake decorating kits. Adding birthday cake decorations such as flowers, colored candies, chocolate sprinkles, grinded coconut and other edible cake decorating stuff will definitely make your cake attractive.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/recipes-articles/interestingly-delicious-rock-cake-recipe-4033897.html
About the Author
Learn about birthday cake decoration. Visit us today and get tips from experts using cake decorating kits.
If you found the article useful, please pass on our information to your friends. Many of the issues discussed in the article are not widely known.Aug 11
4
Author: OnNetworks
Halloween is coming and candy corn has become a staple in the memories of any trick-or-treater. The colorful, triangle shaped candy is certain to show up in candy bags all over. The tradition of candy corn has made it the most popular candy treat in the United States especially during Halloween.
Although candy corn colors are widely known to be yellow at the bottom, orange in the middle, and white on the top, manufacturers have morphed the candy into designed corn shaped pieces for different holidays. Red and greens are added for Christmas, pink and red for Valentine’s Day, and light pastel colors are used for Easter Holiday.
Throughout the years, the unique recipe has remained the same. Although candy corn is normally made from corn syrup and sugar, the added ingredient of carnauba wax is usually added. The softness of candy corn is mainly from the tiny bit of marshmallow that is later included.
Today, manufacturing companies use large machines to process the grand amount of candy corn consumers purchase every year. The molded candy ingredients are poured into large sheets of cutout corn shapes where the candy is left to harden. The millions of candy corn are then dumped into buckets where they are later separated and packaged to be delivered to your local grocery store’s shelves.
Unfortunately for us, we don’t have the large mechanics and heavy machinery to create candy corn. What we can do for our Halloween treats is make the candy through a more traditional style. Before beginning, you will need a saucepan, a large and small mixing bowl, stirring utensils, and some wax paper to keep the final product from sticking together.
Ingredients
In the saucepan, bring the sugar, butter, and corn syrup to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and let it continue to boil for 5 minutes then remove from the heat.
In a large bowl, mix the powdered sugar, powdered milk, vanilla and salt. Pour the contents into the saucepan and allow it to sit until it turns warm.
Divide the dough into 3 parts (these are the layers for your candy) and put each part in a small bowl. Add the appropriate food colors to each small bowl. If you need, grab some plastic gloves since the food coloring may stain your fingers and knead the dough until color is fully absorbed.
Roll each dough part into long, thin rope-like strings. Connect these three pieces together so that they make one, long multipart rope.
Cut the dough rope into triangles creating a three-layer color candy corn. Let the candy sit until hardened. Use the wax paper to separate the different cut outs to keep them from sticking to each other.
For more information, visit http://www.oncandy.tv.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/recipes-articles/how-to-make-candy-corn-612960.html
About the Author
If you want to know more about make candy, you may click on the resources to lead you to more information. You may also use the search box to further lead you to other articles. If you want to contribute to this website, we would love to hear your suggestions! It would be great to have you share your thoughts about make candy. Feel free to send an email to us.By IPRWire Staff Writer
If you are into making your own home cooked treats, you might do well to investigate into a candy making supply company that can fill all of your needs. There are a few reasons why this is important.
For starters, when you find an honest and reliable candy making supply firm you will immediately benefit by saving time. No longer will you have to search one place and then another and then another to find the components you need for your projects. This can save you literally hours of shopping time and can help you get your projects finished more quickly and more easily.
When you look for a candy making supply firm, spend some time exploring their inventory lists to see if they have the things you will need. Try to keep in mind not only the project that you may be working on at the time, but any future projects you may be involved with.
Also, as you investigate, consider the various holidays and special life events such as weddings, graduations, birthdays, and parties that you may have to provide for. Do they carry a wide selection of items to fit each of these areas? If not, you may want to go to another candy making supply retailer. As you know already, there is a lot of disappointment when you cannot find everything you need for a project. There is no need for that any longer. While it may be hard to find a one stop shop that carries everything you could need for any project, it is not impossible.
You also want to see if they have a variety of good quality ingredients for use with your projects. Do they carry the best chocolates? Do they carry the best flavoring oils?
Lastly, you want to see if they also carry the sundry items that often make a project a work of art. Things like gift boxes and gift wrappings. Accessory items such as lollipop sticks and bags should also be investigated. You want to know that they have all the items you may need so that you will not have to go hopping all over the Internet to find the components needed for your project.
A fantastic place to start is with Candy Plus at http://www.candyplus.net. Candy Plus features a huge selection of products and they offer them in many different themes, shapes, and sizes. They also carry the best ingredients to be found such a Callebaut chocolate and Lorann Oils. Their prices are very competitive and their shipping rates are more than fair. Contact them directly at www.candyplus.net to learn more!
About the Author: http://www.candyplus.net offers the chocolate expertise of its sister-owners, Kathryn Whitaker and Kim Velez. Candy Plus offers candy making supplies, chocolate candy molds, ice sculpture molds, hard candy molds and candy molds.
Source: www.isnare.com
Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=136857&ca=Business
Author: Kiron Abraham
Candies are one of the simplest things to make. In order to prepare a food item though, you need to know what it is. Many people consider candy and chocolate to be one and the same thing. However, there is more to these fun filled treats than gooey chocolate delight. The different kinds of candies include hard, soft and sweet. Truffles and lollipops are easy recipes that can be made in your kitchen.
Making rock candy at home is a source of pleasure because you can add your own creativity to the recipe. You can experiment with different flavors and colors to come up with new and interesting delights. In fact, the whole family can join in the fun!
To begin the process of candy making, soak a piece of thread in water for some time. Then tie the thread to a stick or a pencil and place the pencil at the mouth of the jar. In order to help the thread to hang straight, you can attach a paper clip to it. The next step is to roll the wet thread in granulated sugar. This action helps the sugar crystals to stay glued together as the rock candy starts to form. You can either prepare the sugar syrup at home or buy it ready made from your local supermarket. Pour the sugar syrup into the jar.
Carefully lower the string into the jar till it is about an inch from the bottom. Now cover the jar with a plastic or paper towel and wait for the sugar crystals to set. It will take around two to four hours for the sugar to crystallize.
Lollipops are another easy dessert recipe. The ingredients needed for a lollipop recipe are granulated sugar, water and corn syrup. In a pan, mix together 3 ½ cups of granulated sugar, a cup of water and 1 ½ cup of corn syrup. Then, heat the mixture until the sugar dissolves properly. It is important to stir continuously till the mixture reaches a boiling point. Remove the pan from the heat and add in your own flavors and color. The ideal temperature to allow the candy to boil properly is 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
This easy recipe shows that making candy is not a difficult task and it is not even time- consuming. Along with that, homemade rock candy does not include any chemicals and other additives. This makes it a healthy treat for the kids as well.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/cooking-tips-articles/an-easy-recipe-for-home-made-rock-candy-4697084.html
About the Author
Kiron Abraham is a lover of all things FOOD and is especially fond of writing for Slurrpy.com, which is overlfowing with traditional recipes especially Indian recipes.
If you found this article insightful, please let us know. It's your feedback that keeps us motivated to dig out the details. If there are any other issues you would like to see us addresses, again, just let us know and we will include them in future articles and newsletters.Aug 11
4
By Peta D’Silva
A bouquet is usually made just from flowers, but that doesn’t have to be the case. You can make your bouquet more interesting by adding other items, such as candy.
Yeah, you read correctly, I said, Candy!
Candy Bouquets are fun to make, look great, and they are a fantastic talking piece. I promise that everyone that sees your candy bouquet will feel compelled to comment on it. Young children in particular, will be absolutely delighted when they see your candy bouquet!
To make a candy bouquet, you will need:
- 5 Silk Rose Buds
- 1 Bunch of pearlies
- 2 Thin Gauge wires
- 1 Thick Gauge wire
- 9 Lollipops.
- Silk Leaves
- Stem tape (green or white)
- Ribbon
Step 1: Trimming the lollipops
Trim the lollipop sticks to about an inch or two in length, or just below the wrapper. Later, we will wire and tape the sticks just like normal flowers. We do this so that the lollipops can be moved around and positioned more easily.
Step 2: Trimming the Rose Buds
Trim the stems on the rose bud heads, and then wire and tape them.
Step 3: Wire the lollipops
To wire the lollipops you will have to put a twist in the wire around the stick of the lollipop. You will probably have to do this twice, to make sure that the wire is tight and wont come loose. The easiest way to do this is to use long-nosed plyers, and to squeeze the wire around the stick.
Step 4: Wire and Tape the Pearlies
Although you don’t need pearlies in your candy bouquet, they can work well to soften the bouquet, and make it appear more like an everyday floral bouquet.
Wire and tape the pearlies. Place the wire alongside the white part of the pearly strand, and then stem tape in place.
Step 5: Assemble the Candy Bouquet
Now start to assemble the candy bouquet. Start the bouquet with the lollipops in a bunch, in one hand.
Then slowly insert the leaves between the lollipops.
Fan the lollipops into a circular shape, with the leaves facing out.
Place the flowers in next, keeping two lollipops between each flower.
Fill any gaps left over at the end, with leaves and pearlies.
Step 6: Add Figure-of-Eight Bows
Make eight figure-of-eight bows, for the last layer of the candy bouquet, and fan them around the base. You can use normal ribbons or curling ribon.
Step 7: Prepare the handle
The last step in making a candy bouquet is to trim and tape the handle.
That’s it! Simple isn’t it?
All you have to do now, is resist eating the bouquet long enough for some other people to see it!
About the Author: Peta D’Silva has been making bouquets for over 14 years. Her website
http://www.visionsofsilk.com, has lots of free information on making your own bouquets, including more details (and pictures) on how to make a candy bouquet: http://www.visionsofsilk.com/How_to_make_a_candy_bouquet.shtml
Source: www.isnare.com
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