Archive for the ‘Candies’ Category
In general, I usually reach for a bag of chocolate chips when I want to add some chocolate to a batch of cookies, brownies or other baked goods. Around the holidays, however, I am often swayed by the seasonally colored bags of M&Ms and similar candies and throw those into recipes to get some fall color along with my chocolate fix. I’ve been seeing leaves start to change to red, orange and yellow and couldn’t resist a similarly colorful bag of fall M&Ms, so I chose to include them in this Autumn Cookie Torte.
The torte is essentially a giant chocolate chip cookie that is baked in a springform pan. As the cookie bakes, it rises up the sides of the pan and acquires a crisp, buttery “crust” and a very moist, fudgy center. It really is a wonderful contrast of crisp and chewy for cookie lovers. The torte will sink slightly in the center as it cools, while the edges stay firm, and it should be cooled completely before it is sliced so that it will be fully set. That said, it is also fun to eat it while it’s slightly warm and the chocolate is melty, if you don’t mind your slices being slightly less than perfect!
The M&Ms pack a nice chocolate punch and you still get a hint of their crisp candy shells as you eat the torte. You can use chocolate chips, nuts or other mix-ins, but that little splash of color makes this torte stand out and makes it seem like an extra special treat in the fall.
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When you’re out tasting wine on a lazy weekend in Sonoma, you might expect your wine to be paired with cheese, crackers or maybe even some fresh-from-the-vine grapes. You’re probably not expecting to pair wine with caramel corn. If you happen to be visiting the Kendall Jackson Wine Center in Santa Rosa, California, however, you might need to change your expectations a bit because the caramel corn that they make there and serve as a pairing with one of their sweet, late-harvest wines is absolutely fantastic.
And fortunately for those of you who don’t live near the Sonoma Valley – or those of us who just returned from there – the chefs at Kendall Jackson have kindly shared their recipe on their blog so that anyone can make it at home.
Kendall Jackson’s Double Gold Caramel Corn is pretty much the perfect caramel corn, especially if you like the salty-sweet taste of kettle corn. It is sweet and salty, with a generous amount of kosher salt added to the caramel before it coats the popcorn. The addition of salt prevents the popcorn from being overly sweet (which many caramel corns are) and makes your mouth water every time you pop a piece in.
The instructions left by the chefs are quite specific and, if you follow them carefully, you’ll end up with perfectly crisp caramel corn. The caramel is made with butter, brown sugar and corn syrup on the stove top. Salt, vanilla and a small amount of baking soda (to aerate the caramel and prevent it from becoming too dense and difficult to bite into) are added before the caramel is tossed onto air-popped popcorn (you can buy this, plain, at the grocery store). The coated caramel corn is baked at a low temperature to dry it out and keep the popcorn crisp and fresh. You’ll have to wait until it cools down to dig in, but the recipe is not difficult and not too time consuming. If you’re like me, you’ll go through a batch of this fairly quickly – especially if you have a bottle of the amazing Kendall-Jackson Late Harvest Chardonnay to pair it with. Store the popcorn in an airtight container after it has completely cooled if you’re not eating it all at once.
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Milk and dark chocolate truffles are equally common in the candy aisle or in the display case of your favorite chocolatier. White chocolate doesn’t pop up as often but makes an equally delicious choice for a truffle because it starts out with a deliciously creamy flavor from the get go. Chocolate truffles are easy to make at home and only require a few simple ingredients, namely heavy cream and chocolate. This is true weather you want to make white chocolate truffles or dark chocolate. The only thing that really varies from recipe to recipe is the ratio of these two ingredients, as a higher percentage of cream will leave you with a truffle that definitely melts in your mouth, but might not last long in your hand!
These chocolate truffles are made with white chocolate, and have a white chocolate ganache center. All white chocolate is flavored with vanilla, but I took a moment to infuse the cream of the ganache with even more vanilla just to play up that flavor as much as possible. If you don’t have a vanilla bean, you can also use a bit of vanilla extract. Choose the best quality white chocolate that you can find, one that uses real vanilla and real cocoa butter and not vegetable shortenings. Also, choose a white chocolate that you like the flavor of, as you’ll just be amplifying it in these truffles.
The most basic chocolate truffle is rolled in cocoa powder before serving. That looks a bit odd on these creamy-colored treats, so instead I opted to dip mine in some more white chocolate before serving. The exterior coating of chocolate should be thin, just enough to give the truffle a little texture and keep them solid when getting from the dessert plate to your mouth. Feel free to try dipping these in dark chocolate, too, if you want to add a bittersweet element!
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There are many ways to make fudge that start out with some sugar and a candy thermometer, and while I’ve had plenty of excellent fudge made this way, I’ve also ruined more than a few batches by not watching the temperature closely enough. The idea of a worry-free fudge, therefore, appeals to me. And, fortunately, it is very easy to make a delicious batch of fudge with virtually no effort at all.
This fudge recipe starts with semisweet chocolate and sweetened condensed milk – and those two ingredients make up the bulk of the recipe, with just a little butter and a little vanilla to round things out. All the fudge ingredients are combined in a a double boiler and melted together. You can actually do this in a large saucepan instead of a double boiler, but you will need to stir constantly to prevent the chocolate from scorching (the pan will get quite hot where the burners make contact) as everything melts together.
To make the fudge more interesting, I turned it into a big batch of s’mores by stirring in marshmallows and chopped graham crackers. They help break up the intensity of the chocolate a bit, so you get a nice mixture of rich chocolate, chewy marshmallow and crisp crackers. It’s a great variation on a s’more. Mini marshmallows are already the “right” size for this recipe, but it is very easy to cut large marshmallows (or homemade ‘mallows) into quarters with a pair of scissors and stir them in instead.
Store these in an airtight container to keep the graham cracker bits nice and crisp. The fudge will taste best within the first few days it is made. I try to keep the pieces medium-sized, but you cut cut them down to bite-size squares to serve a crowd.
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Peppermint bark is a holiday staple – or, at least, it appears in quite a few stores and a package always seems to make its way under my tree around Christmas. It’s easy to make it yourself and it makes a great holiday gift, as well as being a good treat to put out when guests stop by for snacks and hot cocoa. It is basically a layer or two of chocolate that has crushed peppermints added to the top. The combination of crunchy mint and creamy chocolate is a good one.
But as much as I enjoy crushed candy canes, big chunks of mint can be a little bit too crunchy for my tastes. This year, I topped my peppermint bark off with crushed Peppermint JoJo’s, the Trader Joe’s brand Oreo look-a-like. I’ve used these cookies before in Peppermint Cookies n’ Cream Brownies with great results. They’re crisp, have a nice creamy center and have just enough flecks of real peppermint candy in the filling. They make a great topping for this chocolate bark with all of those different textures!
My chocolate base has three layers, with dark, milk and white chocolate. Each layer must be chilled before adding the next layer, so make sure to allow some chilling time when you set out to make this. Also, use good quality chocolates (I like Dove, Ghiradelli and Guittard) because the chocolate is the most important element of this dessert and it just won’t be the same if you use the cheap stuff.
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