Candy making madness

Back when I was living in Iowa City, my friend Anne Marie invited me to join her in making candy to share with friends and family. It was a very fun and busy day and got me hooked on candy making (not to mention supplied me with several good recipes!). This year I decided to go with some old favorites and try some new things as well. Mike's partners and clinic staff will enjoy most of the spoils, but I also packed up some boxes as treats for my fellow bell-ringers at church.

First off was mocha fudge. Didn't get a picture, but I doubled the amount of instant coffee powder in the recipe and it tasted awesome!

Next was Mint Oreo cookie drops, made with crushed Mint Oreos and cream cheese plus a little extra mint extract to really bring out the flavor. I dipped them in green candy melts and drizzled with dark mint chocolate.

Then was peanut butter bon-bons. I had a recipe that I liked but wanted to try a recipe with rice krispies this year to give some extra crunch. After an on-line search I found a few recipes and mixed and matched them with my old recipe to come up with something kind of on the fly. Luckily they turned out great. I dipped them in milk chocolate and sprinkled with chopped toasted peanuts.

  

Next up: cookie dough truffles. These are awesome. The recipe is basically a regular chocolate chip cookie dough recipe minus any leavening agents or eggs, and with sweetened condensed milk to hold it all together. I put in mini chocolate chips and finely chopped walnuts, dipped in semi-sweet chocolate and sprinkled with Christmas-colored nonpareils.

 

Then I made two batches of butter pecan fudge (again, no picture of the fudge). I made two because the first batch turned out very crystalline and crumbly and broke into all kinds of tiny pieces when I tried to cut it. Again to the internet to figure out what went wrong (I have made it in the past and it turned out fine, but it has done this before, too). I tried again using a candy thermometer (instead of just timing the boiling step the way the recipe is written) and adding a little bit of corn syrup to the mix to try to prevent crystallization. The second batch was better but not great, so I'll have to take notes and make more adjustments next year.

Finally, I decided to put my new KitchenAid mixer (thanks, tendonitis in my elbow!) to good use and try my hand at homemade marshmallows! I used the recipe and directions from Alton Brown on the Food Network, but substituted almond extract for vanilla and rolled the edges in crushed almonds once cut.

They turned out pretty well, but again I would make some adjustments if I make them again. Alton called for spraying the pan with cooking spray and then dusting with a half cornstarch, half powdered sugar mixture before adding the marshmallow mixture, then dusting the top again before allowing to set. I could taste both the cornstarch and the cooking spray in the final product, so next time I think I would either use butter or no spray (ie use wax paper or similar) and use only powdered sugar for dusting (which is what Ina Garten's recipe suggested), or just use nuts on all sides. Marshmallows are really easy to make with the mixer (you have to leave it whipping on high speed for 10-15 minutes!) but super messy and sticky. Fortunately everything cleans up easily in hot water!

Then I really went overboard and decided to get crafty. I went to Michaels and bought cake boxes (in the wedding section; these are boxes meant for wedding guests to take home leftover cake), which turned out to be the perfect size for six pieces of candy. I made a little guide for the top of the box and a paper band to help hold it shut. I think the final product turned out pretty cute!

After making individual boxes for Mike's partners and my bell gang, I put the rest in boxes and tins for Mike to take to work for the clinic staff to share. We had about 5 or 6 pieces of each kind leftover for us to keep, which is just about perfect. We can't keep all that sugar in the house!!