Sugar, sugar

Strawberry and Mango Lollipops

The pastry overflow is slowly tapering off. A few weeks ago I came home with boxes of lollipops and candies, and announced to my roommates that this was the last of the white pastry boxes. They were simultaneously sad and relieved. I feel the same way too. The candy and confections class was a lot of fun. I enjoyed making the marshmallows the most. Yes, you can make marshmallows at home, and they taste soooo much better than the store bought ones. I flavored mine with coffee extract, to give my hot chocolate a nice mocha taste. Crema is now serving in-house-made candied ginger marshmallows on their hot chocolate, and it is to die for.

Hot Chocolate with Coffee Marshmellows

Of course when making candies we can't forget a popular French treat. We made two kinds of Nougat; regular and chocolate. I had seend a lot of nougat in the shops in Paris, but had never tried it. It's actually pretty tasty; though I'm still not too fond of any candy, no matter how delicious, that sticks in my teeth. My classmates and I were a little suspicious of the paper that is used to cover the Nougat at first. Chef brought it out, tore a little piece off and stuffed it into his mouth. He then explained that it was made of rice and completely edible. We each tried a little piece too. It was pretty flavorless. After we made the Nougat and I realized how sticky it is, the paper coating really made sense and you can barely tell it is there.

Nougat and Caramels

Despite my lack of funds, everyone on my Christmas list this year is going to get some great gifts. Who doesn't like a box of handmade sweets? Candy making is definitely more fun then frantic Christmas shopping. Sweets are one size fits all, and I don't think there will be any thoughts of returning, exchanging or re-gifting. I witnessed members of my family fighting over a box of my chocolates at Thanksgiving, more than once.

Lollipops Ready to Eat