Dessert By Candy

Family Dinner

Let’s take a break from caramel and chocolate for something more earnest. As much as my name would suggest otherwise, I cannot live on candies alone. I had an extraordinarily relaxing weekend and back on my low cognitive stimulation rest regiment. It is a setback but such is the nature of recovery, I suppose. Exercising is temporarily out of the question so I take this opportunity to tackle some cooking projects. Nothing terribly challenging but time-consuming tasks were much welcomed. I wanted to keep my hands busy and my head empty.

Two light yet comforting family dinners were the outcome of my weekend mandate. I have little love for making pie dough, much less by hand. Yet, without any looming deadline, it seemed like an appropriate way to spend the time on Saturday…especially knowing that my effort went towards a flakey Zucchini Ricotta Galette (recipe online at smitten kitchen). It had been a while since I last enjoyed any savoury galettes at home and I looked forward to reacquainting myself.

Roman Holiday: Chewy Ricotta Pistachio Caramel

I was going to share another not-so-successful candy making experience with you today but got too excited by my new creation. I am familiar with making chewy soft caramel candies so it is no longer a culinary challenge. Last year, I made smoky maple and vegan coconut lime caramels with wonderful results. I learned that by using different sugar, syrup, liquid, fat, and flavouring components, there is endless room for creativity. Thanks to Dan Lepard’s master recipe and detail explanation in Short & Sweet, I have free rein to experiment.

Traditional caramel uses cream to create a velvety rich smooth texture. However, it is not a hard and fast rule. I used coconut milk in a vegan version. Liddabit Sweets have a signature ricotta fig caramel that is one of my favourites. I love the idea of incorporating ricotta into caramel but not a big fan of the super soft rendition with Liddabit Sweets’ recipe. The high ratio of dairy and low cooking temperature create a candy that melts much too fast in the mouth. I want something with a bit more chew and longer lasting enjoyment.

With ricotta as my starting point, I took inspiration from signature Italian ingredients. Roasted salted pistachios, olive oil, orange zest, and orange blossom honey play well with each other and my new creation is born. Did I just throw every Italian cliché into one pot?

It Sets!

I made pâte de fruit (aka fruit jelly) for the first time and it gave me endless grief. I am relieved that it turned out well at last. Yes, there are plenty of lessons I learned. First and foremost, it’s fun! I know I called the experience frustrating but that was only because I slipped and slide on the learning curve. Secondly, make use of all that I learned from making jam. The knowledge is transferrable and the processes are remarkably similar. Third, I yearn to master the basics so I can let my culinary imagination run wild. There are so many flavours and ingredients that I want to turn into bite size jiggly candies.

I marvel at the ruby red sour cherry pâte de fruit  as they glisten under the sunlight. With only a handful of ingredients, they capture the essence of summer fruit. Where do summer fruit come from in the middle of March? My freezer of course! I squirreled away precious stash of pitted sour cherries and they are absolutely perfect.

Experiment And Reject

In my quest to build my own line up of candies, I am experimenting with ingredients and techniques that may not always yield winning results. Under normal circumstances, I would be disappointed but I am uncharacteristically calm about it all. Every one of my experiments is lesson to be learned. I discover processes that work for me, ingredient substitutions that end up with unexpected results, weaknesses with my technique, and concepts that fail to live up to expectations. This week I’ll take you through a few not-ready-for-prime time candies and explain why I am unsatisfied with the results.

Nutella is a crowd pleaser so it is hard to go wrong with a filling made with the entire content of an economy-size jar. When I saw the recipe for Hip To Be Squares in The Liddabit Sweets Cookbook, my eyes lit up. Big batch and quick to make? Sign me up!

Dessert By Candy Turns 9

It was nine years ago I started blogging at Dessert By Candy. That makes me feel like a great-grandmother in the blogging world. So happy birthday to me! Thank you for joining me on this journey and tolerate my clichés, random musings, and many many cooking baking adventures. It’s not birthday without cake. Let’s celebrate with a look back at some of my favourite celebration cakes. [cue applause]

Coconut Chocolate Bar With An Attitude

I am in a research frenzy and inspiration comes pouring in. The motivation that kicked off Candy Week is to develop my own line up of handmade candies. My project is still in early stage of planning but I am laying down the groundwork to make it happen in 2014. The excitement of recipe development stems from the creative process. I have the freedom to make something that is uniquely mine. On the flip side, the experience is also humbling. There are so many things to learn and I am learning from many mistakes.

I love coconut chocolate bar. You may know it as Mounds, Almond Joy, Bounty, Cherry Ripe, or Quality Street Coconut Éclair. I tried them all and love them equally well. What can I do to improve on something that I already enjoy so much? I tried adding in some of my favourite things! That was how my Tangelo Coconut Bar with Candied Ginger and Cashew came to be.

Candy By Candy: Quick, A Hostess Gift!

Do you find yourself in a bind for an emergency hostess gift? The last few years I was rarely in that situation thanks to diligent canning and preserving. Last year, I made a conscious decision to slow down my jam-making activities to reduce backlog in my larder. As a result, I don’t have many ready-made hostess gift anymore. On the other hand, my friends let out a collective sigh of relief. Finally, no more jam!

Last week I needed to come up with a quick hostess gift while juggling a few other baking projects at the same time. I wanted something easy to make, keeps well, travels well, and can be slowly savoured over weeks. I made sesame candies not too long ago and they certainly fit all the criteria. The only problem was that I was not 100% happy with the result last time.

Candy By Candy's Candy Bar

I strive to develop my expertise driven by what interests me. I love playing with sugar so confectionery holds a special place in my heart. On the other hand, tempering chocolate is a task I do not enjoy. You would think with my accurate Thermapen to take the guess work out of the way, tempering chocolate would be an easy task. I just simply don’t enjoy it. I tempered chocolate at home exactly twice since I finished my chocolate course in culinary school. I go out of my way to avoid the task ever since.

Last weekend my friend foodpr0n invited a bunch of us to her home for a casual evening of girl talk and dumplings. She mentioned that she wanted to make another batch of moon pies and my ears perk up. “So….does that mean you’ll have a big vat of tempered chocolate at your house? May I bring a few things to dip, pretty please?”

Among my group of cooking friends (the same cast of characters that co-produce Pie Day, Cake Day, Waffle Bar, Cookie Day), each of us are known for our different expertise. Some are stronger bakers while others excel in savouries. Foodpr0n is known for her chocolate treats. Her homemade holiday gifts usually include some sort of chocolate covered goodies and they are not to be missed. I was so happy she didn’t mind me piggyback on her moon pie project!

Mathie's Pi Pie

I love surprise presents. Last week, on the eve of pie potluck party, a friend dropped off the most amazing gift at my door. You guessed it from the photo above. It’s a pie plate in the shape of the letter pi! For those who don’t know, I graduated from mathematics program in undergrad. The love of math is in my blood. When I opened the package, my inner mathie shouted hurray, wiggled a little happy dance, and smiled with glee. The practical baker in me was not as enthusiastic. How do I use this oddly-shaped pan wisely to turn out spectacular result?

A double-crusted fruit pie was quickly ruled out. Even under the best circumstances, baking the filling to set properly is already a challenge. A cookie crumb crust would be easy to fill but unduly difficult to pry out of this curvy pan. Delicate filling would be asking for trouble. A pecan pie would be perfect in every way except pecans are very expensive and I would rather not splurge on an experiment. Then it came to me. I would use pre-rolled store bought pie dough to get a sense of how best to line the pan. I would blind bake the crust. Finally, the crispy crust would be filled with a recipe I longed to try: Karen’s Peanut Butter Pie from Melissa Clark’s In The Kitchen With A Good Appetite.

Dishwasher

I don’t trust my dishes to just anyone. No, I am not shilling for dishwashing detergent. I grew up without a dishwasher so washing dirty dishes by hand was my introduction to helping out in the kitchen. As I got older, I was promoted to cleaning vegetable, cooking rice, making simple main courses. By now I’ve been running my home kitchen for years. The progression shares some similarities with a commercial kitchen, doesn’t it?

The unspoken rule at my house is that the one who cook doesn’t need to clean. That is why I learned to wash under the watchful eyes of my Dad. Likewise, Little Brother takes care of all the dirty dishes for our weekend family dinners. Unfortunately, that system doesn’t work so well with visiting guests. Let me explain.