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Caramels, candied citrus, and nut confections

The last two days have been busy! With help from my friend Susan and her daughter Allegra, I’ve been chocolatiering up a storm. Here are just a few of the things we’ve made over the last few days:

English toffee
English toffee
Coffee cardamom caramels
Coffee cardamom caramels
Candied orange peel
Candied orange peel

But wait, there’s more!

We also finished the lime-ginger-chile-peanut caramels:

lime-ginger-chile-peanut-caramels
lime-ginger-chile-peanut-caramels

…and a few others:

  • candied bergamot peel
  • candied grapefruit peel with rose geranium syrup (yum!)
  • candied citron peel

Here’s a quick pic from behind the scenes: cinnamon honey caramels, being cut on my confectionery guitar:

cinnamon honey caramels, in progress
cinnamon honey caramels, in progress

And the same caramels, cut, dipped, and decorated:

cinnamon honey caramels
cinnamon honey caramels

Plus we got started on a bunch of new flavors. Here’s a luscious video of the strawberry rose honey fruit gels, bubbling away:

And here it is, cooling in the frame:

strawberry rose honey fruit gels
strawberry rose honey fruit gels

I also got bold and made some pecan, walnut, and sesame giandujas. Giandujas are a mix of nut paste, chocolate, and sugar (the most famous one is Nutella) – I’ve attempted it a few times in the past, with mixed results. But we were running far enough ahead of schedule that I felt I could afford an experiment or two, so we made maple pecan gianduja, cinnamon-walnut gianduja with tiny bits of caramel mixed in, and sesame gianduja with tiny bits of caramel-covered sesame seeds mixed in, and a dusting of cardamom on top. Here are two of the giandujas, poured, hardened, and ready to cut and dip:

pecan and walnut giandujas
maple pecan and walnut caramel cinnamon giandujas

And, finally, here are coconut fudge and a thin layer of Concord grape fruit gel. The coconut fudge will get dipped in chocolate with an almond on top (making a very high-class Almond Joy), and the Concord grape fruit gel will get a second layer of peanut butter gianduja poured on top. Yes, that’s right – I’m making a chocolate peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich!

coconut fudge and Concord grape fruit jellies
coconut fudge and Concord grape fruit jellies

And, finally, another peek behind the scenes. Here is about 8 pounds of  leftover chocolate at the end of the day, poured into a giant sheet pan, scored, and ready to be remelted and used the next day. (I call it “chocolate slag”.)

chocolate slag
chocolate slag

The “score” so far is 28 pounds, 1 ounce of finished chocolates. Only ~100 pounds to go!

Comments

  1. I was a self employed chocolatier for 32 years, before selling my business two years ago. A friend of mine sent me your blog and I have to tell you how delicious your flavor combinations sound. Your candies look beautiful as well. My hat is off to you. A job beautifully done.

  2. I can’t stand it ! The chocolates and confections look fabulous!! Why are you making 100 pounds? Are these for sale, and where is the fright gel video you refer to ?

    • I do an annual “Chocolates for Charity” drive each year (this year the beneficiary was the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, and all the boxes were claimed within a day!) I’m making 80 1-pound boxes this year – 40 for the charity drive and 40 for friends and family. All my Christmas gifts are taken care of in one fell swoop!

      The fruit gel video (very short, but luscious) is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYdKwLFSWU8 – unfortunately YouTube videos don’t embed into emails!