Desserts and Line Drive and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mavens challenged us to make sinfully delicious candies! This was a special challenge for the Daring Bakers because the good folks at http://www.chocoley.com offered an amazing prize for the winner of the most creative and delicious candy!
I loved this challenge! There were so many options, I had a hard time deciding which types of candy I wanted to make. I decided to make salt water taffy, since it is a classic summer candy. I also made chocolate truffles, flavored with orange zest. Both recipes were very simple, and I'm planning on experimenting with more candy recipes in the future!
Salt Water Taffy
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| Bring sugar, corn starch, corn syrup, salt, butter and water to a boil and cook until the mixture reaches 256 degrees F |
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| Stir in mint extract and food coloring and pour mixture into heat-proof pan |
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| Pull warm taffy for about 20 minutes |
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| Cut taffy into bite-sized pieces |
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| Wrap finished taffy in wax paper |
Salt Water Taffy
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons butter
1 tsp salt
1 tablespoon mint extract
Food coloring (optional)
1. Lightly butter a heat safe dish and spatula.
2. Sift together the sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan. Add the corn syrup, water, salt and butter. Heat on the stove top over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Using a candy thermometer, bring the mixture to 256 degrees F.
3. Remove from heat and stir in food coloring and mint extract. Pour into prepared heat safe dish.
4. Once the candy is cool enough to handle, grease hands, and pull the candy with your hands. Pull the candy out into a rope of at least 12 inches, then fold in half and repeat. Continue pulling candy for about 20 minutes, until glossy. To finish, pull candy into a long rope and cut off bite-sized pieces with greased scissors. Wrap in wax paper.
Orange Flavored Truffles
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| Pour warm cream and orange zest over chocolate to melt. |
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| Beat mixture until smooth and refrigerate |
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| Scoop out small truffles and dust with cocoa powder |
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| Enjoy! |
Orange Flavored Truffles
3/4 cup heavy cream
Zest of one orange
12 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
1 tsp vanilla extract
Cocoa powder, for dusting
1. Bring heavy cream and orange zest to a simmer over low heat. Pour warm cream over dark chocolate, and allow to stand for 10 minutes. Add the vanilla and stir until chocolate is completely melted and smooth.
2. Allow chocolate to cool at room temperature for one hour before beating it until it is thick. Refrigerate chocolate for 2 hours.
3. Use a melon baller or cookie-dough scoop to scoop out small balls of the refrigerated chocolate. Roll the truffles in cocoa powder to finish and store in refrigerator.
Taffy recipe was adapted from the recipe found at http://vanillaandlace.blogspot.com/2010/05/salt-water-taffy.html
Truffle recipe adapted from Tyler Florence's Dark Chocolate Truffles, found at http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/dark-chocolate-truffles-recipe2/index.html
-Posted by Jennifer
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