Becoming A Confectioner

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Oh goodness gracious! Do you see that up there? YUM! Can you guess what's in the middle? It's not fruit nuts, or chocolate...CARAMEL! (pronounced care-a-mel, not caramel) 
See, I like making cakes and cupcakes but there's nothing quite like making chocolates. Partially, because it's chocolate, and partially because they're a lot harder to mess up! This Christmas, one of the lovely presents that my husband gave me was a culinary arts confections book. This is where the story begins...
The amazing husband he is, it doesn't just include how to make truffles... it has all kinds of candies in it! Oh, this is only the beginning. Despite your speculations; guess who is part of the no cavities club this check up? Me! Another perk to making little candies is that they're easier to give away to friends! So, to begin my quest to the perfect chocolates, I had to learn how to temper chocolate. Tempering is a series of heating a cooling chocolate so that it will "set" right. For example, dark chocolate has to be melted and cooled to a different temperate than white or milk. 
You tell me, which one looks more delectable? I'm sure you've all seen a spotted candy that has been melted perhaps, in your car and then it reset itself. Nasty! :) 
So, to temper chocolate I've learned that it's best to use the thermometer that is named after such a purpose; a candy thermometer, NOT a meat thermometer. Who would have thought? If you use a meat thermometer, sometimes it fails you and your peppermint bark does not stick together! You may remember that I mentioned tempering chocolate at the end of a previous post. So, here you have it... the star of the show...taaa da!
Candy Thermometer!
I have yet to get a stainless steel candy pot. I've heard that a non-stick pot doesn't heat the same was as stainless steel. Goodwill usually has such pots... we shall see. 
So, I started out making this recipe of caramels. Oh. My. Word. They are divine. However, since most recipes are a guide (liars) this poor batch did not reach a high enough temperature to set right; they're too soft. Next time I may try 250 degrees for two minutes rather than 245. But, when life hands you sloppy caramel then all you have to do is cover it in tempered Ghiradelli dark chocolate.  
 After wrapping some in waxed paper to enjoy plain, and rolling some into balls, they all joined the party in the freezer. I was a little worried that they would be hard to dip but with the help of my old faithful fork and spoon, I believe there was success. 
 Sadly, I forgot to sprinkle some with sea salt but, there are MANY more caramels to dip. I had so much fun! I can't wait to do it again! Blake, and my sweet friends at work all agreed, they are delicious! 

 More tempered friends below: 

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