Homemade Candy

Homemade Candy

I LOVE making candy! Yes, it's back breaking, but satisfying somehow. All fillings for the truffles are of my own invention, and many of the other candies have been tweaked to make them my own. I do not sell my candy, but give it away to friends, family, and co-workers. I have been known to donate to various charities over the years.

 

And for those of you who are just starting to make candy don't get frustrated.

I've had many, many mistakes over the years.

In fact just last month, I made Sea Salt Caramels and heated the caramel too quickly. While it was "at temp" it really wasn't hard enough to dip. My solution: reheat slowly until it was at the true hard ball temperature. It worked like a charm!

The English Toffee didn't fare as well and so it was trashed. Sometimes it's better to take a loss than to try to resurrect something that doesn't work.



2016 Christmas truffles

In 2017, I used a basic rounded mold to make the truffles, decorating them according to whim. I have made them with individual molds, as in the picture below, in the past, but the molds are different sizes resulting in some truffles with either less or more filling. Plus the added issues of bubbling and cracking.  

All molded truffles are filled with my own recipe using high quality Ghirardelli chocolate (white and dark), cream, cane sugar, fresh fruit--zest and juice--nuts, and liquor (the alcohol cooks out, but leaves the wonderful flavor behind).
 

See? I do make my own fillings. They also freeze quite nicely!

 2016 Fillings: 

Aftershock Cinnamon–Cinnamon liquor, cinnamon oil in white chocolate

Amaretto—Amaretto di Saronno (almond) liquor in a dark chocolate

Bäranjäger—a honey liquor in a dark chocolate

Black Forest—minced dark cherries and cherry liquor in dark chocolate

ButterShots—Butterscotch schnapps made in dark chocolate

Bronx Cheer Raspberry—raspberries and Chambord liquor in a dark chocolate

Cherries Jubilee—similar to Black Forest except in white chocolate base

Cranberry Cosmo--cranberries, twist of orange zest in white chocolate

Cup O' Joe—Italian roast coffee in dark chocolate (in white chocolate shell)

Earl Grey—Earl Grey tea in white chocolate

Frangelico—Frangelico (hazelnut) liquor in dark chocolate

Gingerbread—ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and molasses in white chocolate

Grand Marnier—orange juice and zest, and Grand Marnier in dark chocolate

Key Lime—lime juice and zest and Tanqueray Gin in white chocolate

Lavender Honey—lavender steeped cream and honey in white chocolate

Lillet--Lemon/lime/orange juices and zest, peppermint oil in white chocolate

Limoncello—#1 favorite flavor Lemon juice and zest in white chocolate

Mango Madness—mango puree and lemon juice in white chocolate

Midnight Magic Blackberry—blackberries and crème de cassis in white chocolate

Pilgrim's Progress Maple Nut—pure maple syrup in white chocolate / walnut pieces

Pomegranate Pucker—pomegranate and lemon juice in white chocolate

Porto—Spanish port wine in dark chocolate

Rumple Minze—schnapps and peppermint oil in white chocolate

Rum Raisin—Rum macerated raisons in dark chocolate

Strawberry Margarita—strawberries, lime juice and tequila in white chocolate

Whiskey Toffee—whiskey and toffee pieces in dark chocolate

 

2017 potential fillings:

Vanilla Bean—Vanilla bean in white chocolate

I also want to play with layering my flavors.

Tequila Sunrise—Tequila, orange white chocolate/dark cherry white chocolate

Black and Tan—Dark chocolate ganache / caramel white chocolate ganache

Sex on the Beach—3 layers—cranberry white chocolate/ peach schnapps white chocolate / orange white chocolate

 
 

 

 Sea Salt Caramels

Sea Salt Caramels—seriously to DIE for—buttery, creamy caramel with a crunch of sea salt for the sweet and salty treat we all seem to crave-milk or dark chocolate dipped. Since they are all hand cut and dipped, the caramels tend to differ in size.  

 

 And while I don't have pictures for the rest of my candies, I'll try to make the effort this candy making season. The recipes are under the Foodie Friday section of my blog.

Along with the truffles and sea salt caramels, I also make.
I do make:

MAG's Decadent Fudge
Buttery Pecan Toffee
Turtles -- Pecans covered in homemade caramel (I'll have to post this recipe after I finish fixing my blog and broken links! Email me if you want it at Margaret.golla@gmail.com) before enrobing in chocolate.
Pongos -- A layer of dark chocolate covered in peanuts, caramel and milk chocolate decorated with a white chocolate drizzle. (And I LOVE my heat sealer, which allows me to package everything!)


Pongo--hubby hates the name, but I like it!

Peanut Brittle
Polar Bear Poop
Reindeer Poop

 Enjoy!