Still Making Candy . . .

Every year the hubster tells me not to get carried away with making candy.

--and every year I go nuts.  I enjoy making candy.  It's right up there with inventing fantasy stories.  I made six flavors of candy (40 candies of each flavor) yesterday: Black Forest, Strawberry Margarita, Limoncello, Amaretto, Chambord, and Kahlua (the unexpected one).  So, in theory, I should have only had four flavors to do today, but I ended up with SIX, possibly SEVEN! 

How did this happen?

Well,  I did make ten new flavors this year, BUT that doesn't mean I didn't have some flavors that I made last year and froze.  And yes, making and freezing candy fillings works.  I've done it for years.  Sometimes you end up with more filling than you expected.  Sometimes it's because the mold you are using is smaller than the other molds. 

I calculated the Limoncello and Chambord perfectly.  Oh, I could make a few more candies, but why?  I'm already making enough candy for 35 gifts with 5 extra candies/flavor in case of accidents (I did have some problems with the Black Forest mold).  I'll probably freeze the little bit of left over so I can taste it next year to remember the flavor. 

Anyhoo, I ended up with six flavors today:  Lime Gimlet, Whiskey Toffee, Frangelico, Peppermint Schnapps, Grand Marnier and caramel.  The Caramel was unexpected.  I wanted to try my hand at making a HARD caramel.  The recipe wasn't all that and I ended up with a soft caramel--too soft to make turtles.  So, I'll use it in a filled candy.

If I could hazard a guess, it will taste FANTASTIC! 

And then there is my peanut butter cups.  Yes, they do taste almost like Reeses, though creamier.

Enough talking about making candy.  I need to make some coffee, take some Aleve, pick a movie for the DVD player, and get my chocolate melted.

Later, Peeps!

Cyndi wanted my peanut butter filling recipe.  I think it's smoother than Reeses, but still very good.  It makes a huge amount, so you might want to halve the recipe or you can freeze the remainder.

18 oz. jar Jif peanut butter
1 stick melted butter
1 lb. powdered sugar

Mix peanut butter and butter together. Add powdered sugar and mix together by hand.
If it's too dry, add more melted butter.  If it's too moist add more powdered sugar.

That's it, folks.  I have a peanut butter cup mold. I place a paper cup in the mold and coat the bottom with melted chocolate.  I make a ball of peanut butter filling and press down, leaving space around the edges.  Add melted chocolate around the edge of the peanut butter filling and over the top.  Tap the mold against the counter to release air bubbles.  Place in freezer to harden.