Monthly Archives: February 2012

Dried Cherry, Chocolate, Pistachio Nougat

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Soundtrack: Pursuit of Happiness, Kid Cudi

finished nougat

Supplies:
standing mixer
measuring cups/spoons
spatula
silpat lined baking sheet
candy thermometer

Ingredients:
1 large egg whites, room temperature
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1 and 1/3 c sugar
1/2 c honey
2 Tbs water
roasted pistachios
chocolate covered dried cherries
rice paper or wafer paper

ingredients

roasted pistachios

chocolate covered dried cherries

chop up whatever you decide to put into nougat – i had a scant half cup of pistachios and some chocolate covered dried cherries on hand i figured would be a nice combo.

cooking

combine sugar, honey and water in saucepan. mix to combine and increase heat. cook until syrup reaches 252 degrees.

mixing

in standard mixer with whisk attachment beat egg white and salt on medium high until foamy. with mixture running add in syrup and continue to beat.

whisked

whip up into a light fluffy mixture.

mix-ins

add in pistachios and chocolate covered dried cherries

mixed

stir to combine.

spreading

spread onto waver paper and top with another sheet. let cool for about two hours.

cutting

cut into pieces with serrated knife

noms

Lessons Learned:

  • it’s hard to whip up just one egg white in a standing mixer. not sure if i should have used a hand mixer to start since the final nougat mixture didn’t seem to whip up into a fluffy base, but it still worked
  • i should have spread more mixture in between the wafer paper. the ratio tasted a bit off and i would have preferred more nougat to wafer.
  • the kitchen store i went to didn’t have rice paper which i think would have worked much better than the wafer paper since the wafer paper is a bit thick.

Review: delicious. i love nougat and the chocolate covered dried cherries and pistachio were great additions. really soft consistency and gorgeous color. would love to make again with rice paper.

Salted ‘Bit ‘o Honey’ (ish)

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Soundtrack: Animal, Miike Snow

finished salted 'bit 'o honey'

Supplies:
standing mixer
measuring cups/spoons
spatula
silpat lined baking sheet

Ingredients:
1 large egg whites, room temperature
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1 and 1/3 c sugar
1/2 c honey
2 Tbs water

so this post is kind of a haphazard way to see if i could fool around with a recipe i messed up. you’d think i’d have learned my lesson before about letting the sugar mixture reach too high of a temperature…but i apparently not.

(not pictured – combine sugar, honey and water in saucepan. mix to combine and increase heat. i should have stopped at 252 degrees were i to continue with nougat making but i went a bit over. honestly, not even sure what the final temp was before i pulled it off the stove and tried to incorporate in with the whipped egg whites…)

mixing

in standard mixer with whisk attachment beat egg white and salt on medium high until foamy. with mixture running add in syrup and continue to beat. (the color was my first clue something was wrong)

mixed

this doesn’t end up whipping up into a light fluffy mixture…sooo just mix for a few minutes until throughly combined (second clue)

cooling

pour onto silpat lined baking sheet – sprinkle with sea salt flakes. let cool and harden, break into pieces. at this point i knew it was a salvage or not situation so i thought sea salt and honey sounded like it be a tasty treat.

noms

Lessons Learned:

  • um, watch temperature on candy thermometer. do not decide to chop additional ingredients or load dishwasher in meantime.

Review: great flavor pretty much on point with bit ‘o honey with a twist – honey and salt is a total winner in my book. however, consistency is like really, really hard chewy taffy. it takes some work but then again it keeps you from eating too much in one sitting i suppose…

mistakes were made

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so in a (totally my fault) turn of events, my attempt to make pistachio/chocolate/dried cherry nougat has resulted in a confection that reminds me of Bit o’ Honey. luckily i could see that gross miscalculations had been made and avoided adding in any of the nougat additions i had prepped. (posts for both forthcoming)

but quite honestly, this is kind of why i love teaching myself how to make all kinds of confections, you never know what you’ll wind up with (if you’re anything like me). and even mistakes are still a good way to learn how to roll with the punches life inevitably throws at you.

mammoth

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Soundtrack: Snow Patrol

noms

off to mammoth for the three day weekend. bought my first pair of snow pants and some other warm clothestuffs. anticipating a greater sledding to skiing ratio, just praying i don’t freeze to death in the meantime…

made some chocolate dipped marshmallows that were leftover from the filming batch. insta-s’mores.

Conversation Hearts

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Soundtrack: My Funny Valentine, Frank Sinatra

finished conversation hearts

Supplies:
standing mixer
measuring cups/spoons
spatula
silpat lined baking sheet
food safe gloves
food safe pen (i used Gourmet Writer)
small heart shaped cookie cutter

Ingredients:
1/4 oz gelatin (one packet)
4 oz sprite
40 oz powdered sugar
1/4 tsp salt
extract options
corresponding food coloring

ingredients

weigh out all ingredients on scale (if you don’t have a scale i have a feeling the accuracy isn’t too finicky in this recipe so just convert. ie: 40oz is roughly 5 cups)

melting

combine gelatin and sprite in heat safe bowl. mix with fork over simmering water just until gelatin is melted.

mixing

in standard mixer with beater attachment, place gelatin sprite mixture and one cup powdered sugar. mix on low speed.

dough

continue to add in more powdered sugar and mix to combine until a play dough like consistency forms.

kneading

knead dough with more powdered sugar if necessary (for me it was).

dividing

divide into however many flavors you plan on making

flavor coloring

wearing food safe rubber gloves, add in small amount of flavoring (i used a scant 1/4tsp) and coloring. mix in hands to combine

cutting

flatten out (with rolling pin or hand). use cookie cutter to cut out hearts. pace on silpat lined baking sheet to harden out overnight.

noms

decorate using food safe pen <3

Lessons Learned:

  • gosh i hate my handwriting
  • i wish the pen had a skinnier point
  • don’t stop adding in powdered sugar too soon. i thought i was at the right consistency but when i tried to roll and cut out the hearts it kept sticking to the board. i had to work in more powdered sugar to make it work, which is no big deal, but it would have been easier in the mixer in the first place.
  • i put some candy hearts on a drying rack which left some marks on the back. again, no big deal since these are going to loved ones, but i should have put them on another baking sheet (my other one was occupied with hardening up marshmallows so my kitchen was quite the confectional sight)
  • i mixed some colors together when i didn’t have enough to make a full heart and got these:

    frankenheart

    super cute, but i forgot to consider flavor mixing. luckily my flavors aren’t that pronounced, but just something to be noted.

Review: these are so so so much fun to make. the flavors i did were: strawberry, champagne, brandy, peppermint, and vanilla. i loved all of the flavors, except brandy, which now reminds me of that eggnog fudge i made, which is sadly a flavor i cannot seem to get on board with. i was supposed to write on them with a friend, but we got sidetracked so the majority of mine still remain unadorned. however they’re so adorable i don’t really mind. apparently Sprite is what gives them that flavor profile reminiscent of actual candy hearts, whatever it is – it works. these turn out a bit softer than the store bought kind, but you can leave them out for more nights if that’s what you want to eventually achieve.

Candied Citrus Peel

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Screening: Pineapple Express

finished candied citrus peels

Supplies:
paring knife
saucepan
wire rack

Ingredients:
orange, lemon, lime
1 c water
1 c sugar plus more for coating
pinch cream of tartar
pinch kosher salt

ingredients

slice tops and bottoms off fruit. score peel into 1inch strips, use fingers to peel off strips.

simmering

place in saucepan and cover with water. bring to boil and reduce heat to simmer for 20min

de-pithing

drain peels. cut/scoop away excess pith (whites)

slicing

cut lengthwise into thin strips

syrup'ing

in saucepan combine water, sugar, cream of tartar and salt. bring to boil over medium heat and add in strips of citrus fruit. reduce heat to low. cook until peel is translucent – about 30min. remove from heat and transfer into heatproof container. let sit overnight at room temp. (stage 1 pic)

sugar coating

remove peels from syrup, let dry out overnight. (stage 2 pic) roll in granulated sugar.

noms

Lessons Learned:

  • this process takes three days. yes i was unaware of this when i started out.
  • i wish i could have thought of something to do with the leftover citrus syrup. in the interest of cleaning my kitchen back up i just got rid of it but there must be something fun i can do with it next time i make this confection…

Review: this a pretty easy recipe. the only timely thing (aside from the overnight waiting) is peeling and cleaning out the pith from the citrus fruits. i didn’t use that many fruit peels – one orange, one lemon, one lime, one tangerine – because i was more interested in figuring out which one tasted best (tangerine in my humble opinion) and had potential for future gifting. however, it wound up making a good amount of candied peel.

package sent off to dad, hopefully a healthy-ish treat that he can enjoy.