33
votes
Blown sugar globe with smoke enclosed inside - is it a plausible candy to make?
Almost exactly what you describe can be done, it’s shown in this video.
The sugar isn’t hot blown, it’s isomalt, a lower-calorie sugar substitute used in lower calorie candies and by foodies because ...
- 58.4k
24
votes
Accepted
Making Fudge or Candy While it is Raining or Snowing
It's not an old wives tale; it's actually true to a point. I can't say it better than Exploratorium, Science of Cooking
Can weather affect candy making?
Oddly enough, it can. Cooking candy syrup to ...
- 58.4k
21
votes
How to prevent chocolate covered items from sticking to the cooling rack?
The simple approach is to skip the wire rack and place the dipped confections on parchment paper, waxed paper or a silicone mat. (Some use plastic wrap or aluminum foil, but this may stick as well. ...
- 57.8k
18
votes
What went wrong with my walnut brittle
You are absolutely right to use a candy thermometer; when used properly, it is the most reliable way to get good candy.
What happened here though is that your recipe is not optimal. The brittle is ...
- 135k
14
votes
Edible straws that look like plastic ones
Pirouette cookies (here by Pepperidge Farm) are rolled wafer cookies. The inside is stuffed with chocolate, chocolate hazelnut or vanilla.
Here's a recipe that includes a picture using them in a ...
- 58.4k
13
votes
Accepted
Edible straws that look like plastic ones
Stick candy would be an option. They even usually offer it in many flavors including root beer or sassafras. Obviously, the root beer flavored ones are sort of boring looking but the other flavors ...
- 16.3k
13
votes
Blown sugar globe with smoke enclosed inside - is it a plausible candy to make?
I have seen smoke presented under glass domes. Clearly the smoke wasn't put in there while making the glass.
source: http://www.weekendnotes.com/onyx-dessert-lounge/
Probably the steps are:
Make a ...
- 11.2k
12
votes
Accepted
Protecting gingerbread house windows from humidity
Coconut oil?
Give them a smear. You might need to take them out and bake off the moisture they have absorbed, then let them cool. Coconut oil will be solid at winter room temperature. It will serve ...
- 6,596
11
votes
Edible straws that look like plastic ones
Pocky is probably about the right diameter, but doesn't have that spiral of color that would really look like a straw.
Candy Sticks look right, but the available flavors might not be a great match ...
- 8,362
11
votes
Dicing Hot Tamales (candy)
Freeze them. After they are frozen, put them in the food processor and you should no longer have the issue of them sticking to the blades. As Dougal mentions below, you can also freeze the blade to ...
- 2,838
11
votes
How to prevent chocolate covered items from sticking to the cooling rack?
One thing you can put them on is teflon cooking liner (example). Chocolate doesn't dry by evaporation but but cooling, so you don't need airflow underneath. You can put this on top of a cooling rack ...
- 43.1k
10
votes
How to inject carbon dioxide into hard candy, to make popping rocks?
Looks like it takes about 600psi CO2 to treat the liquid candy.
Patent search should reveal more detail: US patent 3012893
Patent links are notorious for decaying over a short time frame.
If the ...
- 11.7k
10
votes
Accepted
How to inject carbon dioxide into hard candy, to make popping rocks?
There are recipes on the internet for making home made pop rocks.
Some of them call for using baking soda plus an acid, so that you generate carbon dioxide in the syrup, rather than injecting it as a ...
- 79.3k
10
votes
Accepted
Savory Cotton Candy?
After researching this, I think there are a few possibly options you could try (though I haven't personally tried any of them, they seem worth experimenting with).
Isomalt
Apparently isomalt can be ...
- 784
9
votes
Making Fudge or Candy While it is Raining or Snowing
This is actually (partially) true. It is more correct for fudge, not so much for candy overall. The texture of fudge and fondant depends a lot on the water contents where a 1% difference will matter ...
- 3,094
9
votes
Accepted
Can I use aluminum foil instead of parchment paper for resting candied fruit?
Aluminum foil is not non-stick, except for those specially silicone or otherwise coated foils that are explicitly marketed as such. (And which are probably even more of an environmental nightmare than ...
- 57.8k
9
votes
What went wrong with my walnut brittle
@rumtscho has probably got it, but since you say it's not shiny, I do wonder if your brittle might have crystallized and become a very hard, crumbly praline instead. Since maple syrup is primarily ...
- 5,204
8
votes
How to make hard candy with only fruit as a sweetener
I think classic hard candy would be difficult if not impossible to make with fruit juice because it combines the fruit sugars (fructose) with a lot of other things, and hard candy is normally made by ...
- 2,976
7
votes
Are there any situations where untempered chocolate is better than tempered?
Untempered chocolate is superior IMO in homemade chocolate chip ice cream. Untemper [read: melt], spread on parchment-paper-covered cookie sheet, freeze, break into bits, keep frozen and add to ice ...
- 71
7
votes
How to inject carbon dioxide into hard candy, to make popping rocks?
Applied Science, a YouTube channel, had a video about making carbonated candy a la Pop Rocks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsSwvmNEr0Q
Here's a broad outline:
Craft a mixing chamber that can hold ...
- 909
7
votes
Accepted
What are these sweets from 16th century?
I think user23614's comment is correct. They're ragged comfits, sugar coated seeds or spices.
These two paintings by the German painter Georg Flegel, have similar objects depicted, and are described ...
- 2,146
7
votes
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How to prevent filling getting squeezed out of chocolate coated candies?
If I had to guess I would say your filling is not cold enough when you dip it so it starts to melt and pockets of air form when it comes into contact with the warm chocolate, which then doesn't cover ...
- 231
6
votes
Edible straws that look like plastic ones
I was considering rolling chocolate or fondant and lo and behold some googling turned up these fondant straws made for use atop cupcakes, along with instructions on how to make them:
https://...
- 171
6
votes
How to use lemon or other fruit acid in Brigadeiro without curdling?
As someone pointed out, key lime pie (or "torta de limão com merengue" as we know it) shouldn't curdle, but it is a different type of heat we're talking about, so bear with me for a while.
A few tips:...
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6
votes
Accepted
Why does my invert sugar always crystallize?
The crystalization is to be expected, that's what inverted sugar does. It is the same thing as with honey, which is chemically nothing but a contaminated inverted sugar. So, you are not doing anything ...
- 135k
6
votes
Candy making in Dutch Oven when there is only one of you
One option is to put the dutch oven on top of something next to your cooling pan then tip it on it's side, still on top, and scrape it from there. You could probably use an upside down pot or tray, ...
- 351
6
votes
What was this "gravel gum candy" product from the early 1990s?
Oohh I remember this!
I loved the apple juice ones. My dad used to get them every time he went to the US.
A quick search with "candy" "gum" "apple" "milk carton"...
5
votes
Accepted
Crystallization of sugar solution, and oddly crunchy candy with fudge-like texture after eating
It looks like you are trying to make sugar fondant. I often make a batch to use as seed crystals in my holiday fudge preparation.
Sugar Fondant
Sugar fondant is a crystalline sugar confection where ...
- 98
5
votes
How can I make vegetarian marshmallows?
Try using mallow root. It is where the confection got its name, and is the very ingredient that has been superseded by gelatin.
5
votes
hard crack candy coming out too sticky
I have the answer to this and as someone above said, it is to do with humidity. I make toffee apples to sell and have found out by trial and error that
you have to make sure they are definitely ...
- 51
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