Merry Christmas to Me.

I just paid my spring 2012 tuition, and it came to about $1000 less than I thought it would, so I decided to treat myself.  I went ahead and ordered some enameled cast iron kettles.  I paid $40 for a 3-quart Wolfgang Puck kettle and another $51 for a 4-1/2-quart FancyCook (which I have never heard of).  We shall see how they last.  Now, I just want to find a 1-1/2-quart saucepan, and I think I will have all the candy-making pans I need.

Acid Drops

I have come across a period recipe for "Acid Drops".  These require tartaric acid, which the local grocery store does not carry.  Between looking for chocolate and other ingredients, I should start a business that specializes in premium and weird candy ingredients.  Anywho, my internet search says tartaric acid is available as a home brewing supply.  Now another decision: Do I just buy from the internet and hope the post office doesn't screw up or do I look around town for a home brewer.

Useless book

I bought The Victorian Kitchen Book of Candies and Confections in order to do research, as it claimed to "reveal the recipes and techniques perfected by the Victorian cook."  Well, almost nothing in this book has anything to do with the Victorian cook.  Nearly all the recipes are modern redactions, and very little is said of actual Victorian technique.  This turned out to be a nearly useless book when it comes to researching Victorian candy making.  Good think I paid less than $1 for it.

Decisions, decisions

I am looking for a slightly smaller granite pan in which to make candy.  I have a 6 quart, but I want something for making smaller batches.  Macy's has an enameled 2-3/4 quart for $44.03, but there is a 4-1/4 quart on eBay for $51.52.  I know the difference is only $7.50, but which pan is going to be better for my purposes.  The eBay pan has 4-1/2" sides; Macy's does not list the dimensions of its pan, and I can't find it elsewhere on the internet.  What to do?  What to do?

According to Macy's, they have it at a mall store about 10 miles from here.  Now, do I take the time to go look at it?  Decisions, decisions.

Well, I came to a decision.  I have a total of $140 to spend on this stuff.  I would rather buy ingredients and work on technique until I can afford the kettles.  Besides, I can keep looking at thrift stores, flea markets, and antique shops for the right stuff.

Chocolate Search 2

I was looking around for where to buy my chocolates when I came on a page at About.com that describes the various types of chocolates (semi-sweet, etc).  It also states that couverture is the chocolate type used by confectioners because of the high cocoa butter content.  So, that pretty much means I should be looking for couverture chocolates.

Chocolate Search

Well, school is ending Sunday, so I will be able to dedicate my study time to Victorian candy research, including making stuff!  In view of that, I started searching for chocolate.  For this break at work, therefore, I am going to go looking for info on high-quality candy-making chocolates.

Okay.  According to Gourmet Candy Maker, the best chocolate is couverture (called "pure chocolate" on this website) by Callebaut, Sharfen Berger, Veliche, and Valrhona.  The next grade down is premium chocolate (or "real chocolate" as they call it) made by Merckens, Peters made by Nestle, Guittard and Ghiradelli.  The remaining grades in descending order are a regular candy bar, a baking bar, baker's chocolate (not really made for candy), chocolate chips, and coco buttons.  At lunch, I am going to search for a source for the pure and real chocolates mentioned by this website.

A further search revealed a list of recommended chocolates at About.com.  They are Belcolade, Blommer, Cacao Barry, Callebaut, Carma, El Rey, Felchin, Ghiradelli, Guittard, Lindt, Scharffen Berger, Valrhona, Van Leer, and Wilbur.  Only 5 of these are also on the Gourmet Candy Maker list.

Not abondoned; just busy!

It has been over 3 weeks since my last post?  Dang.  I wanted to do better than this.  Anyhow, my two jobs and full-time school are pretty much taking up my time right now.  Plus, I am still waiting for another book to arrive and the temperature to drop low enough for me to play with food.  I did, however, find out that the local Sam's Club has Ghiridelli (sp?) candy making chocolates!  I never thought of Sam's club as the place to get chocolate making ingredients.  I may have to rethink that.  Well, I just wanted to get something posted so anybody searching knows I am still here.