Oh, and Christmas is the day afterwards. Just when I have a
handle on the wedding stuff, the holiday stuff reminds me there is more to do.
So I take a lot of deep breaths and vow to enjoy these next
few days of celebration.
My Christmas gift to all of you are my favorite holiday
candy recipes. The peanut brittle, broken glass candy, and raisin-peanut
clusters are old family favorites. The truffle recipe is perhaps the easiest one
I’ve ever come across. Plus, I’ve added instructions for easy chocolate
tempering I received years ago from Granite State Candies in Concord ,
New Hampshire , a candy shop that has been
in existence for almost 90 years!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I’ll see you after the holidays
with stories of the wedding and my honeymoon to Branson ,
Missouri .
Classic Chocolate Truffles
From Truffles, Candies
& Confections: Techniques and Recipes for Candymaking by Carole Bloom
($24.95, Ten Speed Press, 2004)Makes 60 1-inch truffles
2 1/2 pounds bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped, divided
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream3 to 4 tablespoons cocoa powder
Place 1 pound of the chocolate in a 2-quart mixing bowl. In
a 1-quart saucepan over medium heat, bring the cream to a boil. Pour the cream
into the bowl with the chocolate. Let the mixture stand for 1 minute, then stir
together with a rubber spatula, whisk or immersion blender until thoroughly
blended. Cover the truffle cream, let cool to room temperature, and chill in
the refrigerator until thick but not stiff (2 to 3 hours). Or let the truffle
cream sit at room temperature for several hours or overnight until completely
set and thick.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or waxed paper. Fit a
12-inch pastry bag with a large, plain round pastry tip with a 1/2-inch opening
and fill partway with the truffle cream. Holding the pastry bag 1 inch above
the paper, pipe out mounds about 1 inch in diameter. Or use a small ice cream
scoop to form the mounds. Cover the mounds with plastic wrap and chill in the
freezer for 2 hours or in the refrigerator for 6 hours.
Dust your hands with cocoa powder and roll the mounds into
balls. These will be the truffle centers. Cover and chill the centers for
another 2 hours in the freezer.
Remove the truffle centers from the freezer and bring to
cool-room temperature so the outer coating won’t crack when they are dipped.
Line 2 more baking sheets with parchment or waxed paper. Melt and temper the
remaining 1 1/2 pounds of chocolate. Place a truffle center into the tempered
chocolate, coating it completely. With a dipper or fork, remove the center from
the chocolate, carefully shake off the excess chocolate, and turn the truffle
out onto the paper. After dipping each sheet of truffles, dip the fork into the
chocolate coating and form lines across the tops of the truffles by moving the
fork from one side of the baking sheet to the other, letting the chocolate drip
off.
Let the truffles set up at room temperature, or chill them in
the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes. When the truffles are set, place them in
paper candy cups. In a tightly covered container wrapped in several layers of
aluminum foil, the truffles will keep for 1 month in the refrigerator or 2
months in the freezer. The truffles are best served at room temperature.
Variations: Instead of dipping the truffle centers into
tempered chocolate, roll them in a small bowl of cocoa powder, confectioner’s
sugar, finely chopped toasted nuts, or toasted coconut as soon as they are
rolled into balls.
Peanut Brittle
2 cup sugar
1 cup white (Karo) syrup1/4 cup water
Pinch of salt
2 cups of raw, unsalted roasted or cocktail peanuts
1 Tablespoon butter, plus more for buttering pan
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
Butter a large cookie sheet and set aside. Place the sugar,
syrup, water, and salt in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan over medium heat. Bring to
a boil and continue to cook until the mixture reaches 260° on a candy
thermometer (hard ball stage). Add the butter along with the raw peanuts, if
using. Continue to cook until the temperature reaches 300° and the mixture is
golden. If using roasted or cocktail peanuts, add them now. Remove the pan from
the heat and add the baking soda and vanilla. Stir well and pour on to cookie
sheet. When cook, break into pieces and store in an airtight container.
Broken Glass Candy
3 3/4 cup sugar1 1/4 cup white (Karo) syrup
Flavoring
Food coloring
Dust a large cookie sheet with powdered sugar and set aside.
In a heavy-bottomed sauce pan mix well the sugar and syrup. Cook over medium
heat until mixture reaches 300° on a candy thermometer. Set off the heat
immediately and add 3 to 4 drops of flavoring oil or 1 teaspoon of a flavoring
extract. Then add food coloring until you get the desired color. Pour mixture
onto the cookie sheet. Let set until hard and clear, then break into pieces.
Store in an airtight container.
Easy Raisin-Peanut Clusters
1 12-ounce package of chocolate chips
1 can sweetened condensed milk1 cup peanuts
1 cup raisins
Cover two cookie sheets with waxed paper and set aside. Melt chocolate chips in either a double boiler or in a microwave on a 50 percent power setting. Mix in the can of sweetened condensed milk, peanuts and raisins. Drop teaspoon sized portions of the mixture in clusters onto the cookie sheets, cool and let stand overnight in a cool place. Store in an airtight container.
Easy Chocolate Tempering
The folks at Granite State Candy Shoppe in
Microwave Method: Break chocolate into small pieces. Put 2/3 of chocolate into a bowl and melt on 50 percent power in one-minute intervals, stirring in between. Temperatures should be around 110°. Add remaining chocolate in small amounts while stirring. Be sure that pieces are completely melted before adding more. The chocolate will thicken and become cool, shiny and smooth. When the temperature is around 90° the chocolate has been tempered and is ready to use.
Table Top Method: Break chocolate into small pieces. Melt
chocolate over a very low heat using a double boiler, stirring constantly. Do
not let the water in the bottom of the double boiler come to a boil. When the
chocolate has completely melted, remove from heat. Pour 1/3 of the chocolate
onto a smooth surface (preferable a marble slab) and work with a spatula to
spread out the scrape together until the chocolate cools to around 84°. Then
add the cooled chocolate to remaining warm chocolate in the bowl and stir until
smooth. Chocolate should then be at around 90° and ready to use.
To check if chocolate has been properly tempered, drop a
spoonful onto wax paper and cool. If the chocolate is shiny and not streaky, it
is ready.