Here are the most common terms you’ll come across as your candy-making odyssey begins. You’ll also want to take a look at our behind-the-scenes video.
Bloom: The gray mottling that sometimes appears on the surface of chocolate is a result of extremes in heat or humidity. Chocolate stored in a fridge is subject to too much humidity, which causes the sugars to crystallize. If your chocolate is too warm, it will melt slightly and the fats will separate out. While not aesthetically pleasing, the chocolate is still usable and edible. The only risk is that chocolate with sugar bloom may seize since it has been exposed to moisture.
Couverture: Chocolate with a higher percentage of cocoa butter (at least 32 percent). It is used to enrobe candy because it forms a very thin coating when properly tempered.
Enrobe: Dipping or coating candies in chocolate.
Seed: One of the most common methods of tempering chocolate is the seed method. Because it requires the fewest tools and is the easiest to master, it is the method we recommend for the home cook. To do so, melt two-thirds to three-quarters of the total weight of chocolate you’re working with, and once it has reached 118 degrees Fahrenheit (for milk chocolate), add in the remaining chocolate (also referred to as the seed).
Seize: When melted chocolate comes in contact with even a small amount of liquid or steam, it hardens and becomes lumpy, a condition known as seizing. When working with chocolate, be diligent about keeping everything dry to avoid this. If seizing occurs, whisk 1 tablespoon of a neutral oil (such as canola, corn, or vegetable), clarified butter, or cocoa butter into every 6 ounces of chocolate. The repaired chocolate is still usable in most recipes unless you’re planning on tempering.
Temper: The method of melting and cooling chocolate in order to stabilize its crystal structure. Tempering makes chocolate shiny, with a good snap when you break it. Most baking recipes do not require tempering, but it is essential when enrobing chocolate confections.
sounds awesome as hell i love it now your talking something good and sweet
These look truly delicious. I've never thought about making candy bars myself, but I will now. I love the rollover cross-section comparisons between the factory made candy and the hand-made one.
I have a feeling I am in a whole world of trouble!
my kids just seen these(all teenagers) and say we gotta make them .Like it will be them doing any of it except the eating of course
NOM!
is it just me, or is this article emitting the scent of déjà vu?
In the Halloween candy department, I just wrote 'Giant Sewer Rats, Severed Chocolate Fingers: Halloween Candy Collection at Hope and Greenwood, London' on 'Serge the Concierge'
Here's the link
http://www.sergetheconcierge.com/2008...
Serge
'The French Guy from New Jersey'
I THINK THAT THIS I A COOL AND I THINK THAT IF I HAD THE CHOICE I WOULD DO ALL OF THEM.
I'll have to try these!
I have been making my own home-made version of the classic CHUNKY bar for years.
Many years ago, the CHUNKY was made with a good dose of cashews and raisins. Probably around the time Nestle acquired the brand they changed it considerably...the chocolate itself seemed marginally improved, but gone were the cashews, substituted by a stingy hint of crushed peanuts... and even the raisins were cut back considerably. With the CHUNKY being a shadow of its former self, the only solution was to make them the way I remembered loving them. They are always a big hit.
This seems like a good idea, but speaking from experience in caramel making... all of the caramel in these pictures is waaay underdone. I learned the hard way that if you get scared and pull your sugar off the stove too soon you are left with a bland, pale caramel.
Professor, could you share your recipe/directions for Chunkies? I've only ever had the current version (just once or twice) and remember thinking it could be so much better - your version sounds like the answer!
Those look great! The lables are cool too. I think that I have already had my quota for chocolate this month. I would have rather had some of this though.