Candy

My favorite part about this photo of Rocky Road Pops isn't the candy itself. Sure, there's a lot to love about marshmallows dipped in chocolate and rolled in nuts. But I'm actually a little bit obsessed with the polka dotted sticks the marshmallows are skewered on! Want to know a secret? They're actually paper straws.

Retro paper straws in dots, stripes, and other patterns have become really popular, and I'm happy to say you can use them for more than just livening up your drinks. It's easy to give your lollipops a little straw love: simply skewer them like normal, on a regular lollipop stick, then slide the straw over the stick to the base of the pop. For soft pops, like these Rocky Road Pops, you can actually press them into the base of the candy a little bit to adhere them. The straws aren't sturdy enough to use on their own, but when you use them as a "slipcover" for lollipop sticks, they're perfect. This is a fun and easy way to make your treats a little fancy, and it's perfect for candy buffets or themed parties. Oh yeah, and the recipe's not too shabby either.

Get the recipe: Rocky Road Pops

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Rocky Road Pops Photo ©2012 Elizabeth LaBau, licensed to About.com, Inc.

I got the idea for these Toasted Marshmallow Truffles when reading a recipe for toasted marshmallow ice cream. Obviously, my mouth started watering as soon as I read those words, and I was immediately curious--how did they get the toasted marshmallow flavor into the ice cream? Some costly exotic extract? A fancy French flavor extrusion technique? Well, it turns out they simply stirred some toasted marshmallows into an ice cream base, and called it good. I thought to myself, "A monkey could do that! I am smarter than a monkey! I could do that too!"

So I did.

Instead of making ice cream, I decided to do what I do best and make candy--specifically, Toasted Marshmallow Truffles. Real marshmallows are toasted under a broiler (or with a kitchen torch, if you're a pyromaniac like me fancy) and are then mixed into a white chocolate truffle base. After they're dipped, they're each topped with a miniature toasted marshmallow for decoration. These are a great way to add a little class to the familiar campfire favorite--just don't try sticking them between two graham crackers!

Get the recipe: Toasted Marshmallow Truffles

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Toasted Marshmallow Truffles Photo ©2011 Elizabeth LaBau, licensed to About.com, Inc.

Living with me, my husband gets to taste a lot of different candy. Although he enjoys almost everything, he tells me that his favorites aren't the more exotic or gourmet candies. In fact, Saltine Toffee is at the top of his favorites list. This simple candy is made from common kitchen staples like saltine crackers, butter, sugar, and chocolate chips. However, the combination of crunchy, salty crackers, rich butter toffee and semi-sweet chocolate produces an uncommonly good candy that is seriously addicting and husband-approved.

Get the recipe: Saltine Toffee

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Saltine Toffee Photo ©2008 Elizabeth LaBau, licensed to About.com, Inc.

Funny story: after my husband tasted these sweet and salty Peanut Butter Pretzel Truffles, he immediately proposed. (I gently reminded him that we were already married.) I can't blame him, though--these rich truffles might make you do crazy things too. A quick and easy chocolate ganache is packed with salty peanut butter (I use crunchy to get the most bang for my buck) and finely chopped salted pretzels--so not only do they have the sweet-and-salty thing going for them, they also have the creamy-and-crunchy thing working too. And to top it all off, I finished them with a hefty pinch of flaky sea salt on top. Can you blame a guy for getting a little hasty with the marriage proposals after tasting these? All I can say is: make sure you're in good, safe company when you enjoy them!

Get the recipe: Peanut Butter Pretzel Truffles

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Peanut Butter Pretzel Truffles Photo ©2011 Elizabeth LaBau, licensed to About.com, Inc.

Have you gotten on the spicy candy train yet? "Hot" chocolate isn't exactly a groundbreaking trend these days, but it's still novel enough that I get strange looks from friends and family when I explain that the bark they're about to try is liberally spiced. I'm glad it's becoming more mainstream, though, and I'll keep adding spice to my candies until someone pries the jar of cayenne from my clenched fingers.

This Spicy Chocolate Bark is a good starter recipe if you're on the fence about adding heat to your sweets. It's made with mild, sweet milk chocolate and candied pecans, so there are a lot of other flavors and textures to balance out the spice. I recommend starting with a small amount of cayenne and tasting as you go, so that you don't jump into the deep end and discover you don't like the taste of extra-spicy chocolate after all. I like to top mine with a little crushed red pepper, for decoration more than flavor, but you can add more nuts or other additions, like dried fruit or coconut, on top. Just don't leave out the cayenne--it's what makes this ordinary-looking bark so special!

Get the recipe: Spicy Chocolate Bark

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Spicy Chocolate Bark Photo ©2013 Elizabeth LaBau, licensed to About.com, Inc.

After I made, sampled, and photographed my last batch of dulce de leche, I knew I had a decision to make. If I put the dulce de leche back in the refrigerator, it would only be a short matter of time before my husband and I ate it all, one grazing bite at a time. There's nothing wrong with this plan, but it seemed a little wasteful. Why not take advantage of this beautiful batch of dulce de leche and try to incorporate it into another recipe?

Thus, Chocolate Dulce de Leche Truffles were born. I mixed the dulce de leche with heavy cream and brought it to a boil, then mixed it with chopped chocolate. Three ingredients, and as my homie Emeril would say, "Bam!"* The resulting truffles have a gorgeous silky texture with just a slight chew, and an undertone of caramelized milk. The dulce de leche flavor isn't intense, it's more of a flavor enhancer for the chocolate, so don't go into these expecting to taste really robust DDL goodness. Instead, think of this recipe as a nice twist on traditional chocolate truffles, or a good way to use up excess dulce de leche. In the future I want to experiment with a white chocolate version, so the DDL taste can come through a little clearer. But for now, my mouth is full of Chocolate Dulce de Leche Truffles, and I'm a happy camper.

*We're not actually homies. He doesn't know I exist. Call me, Emeril!

Get the recipe: Chocolate Dulce de Leche Truffles

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Chocolate Dulce de Leche Truffles Photo ©2013 Elizabeth LaBau, licensed to About.com, Inc.

Let's raise a glass to chemistry, without which we would be bereft of the culinary delight that is Dulce de Leche. Dulce de Leche, or literally, "milk jam," is a thick, rich, caramel made from milk and sugar. For most home cooks, it's made by simply heating up sweetened condensed milk--that's right, it requires just one ingredient! You can boil your can of condensed milk on a stovetop, cook it in a pressure cooker, or even cook the condensed milk in a slow cooker overnight! No matter how you make it, at the end of the cooking process, your milk will have turned to a thick, dark brown caramel, thanks to two chemical processes: caramelization and the Maillard reaction. (I don't pretend to know everything there is to know about chemistry, but About.com has a handy chemistry site for learning more!)

I do know that caramelization is the process whereby the sugars in sweetened condensed milk become brown and develop the distinctive toasted caramel taste. The Maillard reaction involves the browning of proteins, like when a bread crust turns golden brown, or a seared steak gets a browned "crust," or when the milk solids in condensed milk are toasted and turn--you guessed it--brown. So when you combine two different chemical reactions that both produce deep flavor, you get a candy that is rich and complex. And since chemistry does all the work, you're free to noodle around the internet while the amino acids and sugars are reacting away!

I love dulce de leche on its own. Our usual way of enjoying it at my house is to either eat it with a spoon, spread it on toast, or cook it until it's a solid candy and then devour. If none of these sound appealing to you, try using it in this recipe for Dulce de Leche Pecan Bites. A spoonful of rich caramel is squished between two toasted pecans, then the whole sandwich is dunked in chocolate. The combination of sweet and tangy dulce de leche, crunchy toasted pecans, and rich chocolate is fabulously addicting.

Get the recipes: Dulce de Leche
Dulce de Leche Pecan Bites

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Dulce de Leche Photos © Elizabeth LaBau, licensed to About.com, Inc.

While it may be true that all men are created equal, the same cannot be said of dried cherries. I don't mean to offend anyone, but to my mind, there are two distinct classes of dried cherries: sweet cherries and tart cherries. Now you may be thinking that sweet cherries sound like the better option. After all, "sweet" is built right into the name, and who doesn't love sweet things? But let me tell you: sweet cherries pale in comparison to their tart cousins. Sweet dried cherries, like Bing or Rainier, are often large, dark, and moist, with a strong cherry flavor but without a lot of depth. Tart dried cherries are smaller and shriveled, with enough sweetness to make them palatable when eaten plain (they are usually sweetened a little with cane sugar during the drying process) but retaining a little of their acidic bite. Think of the difference between your typical raisin and a dried cranberry--this is the sort of flavor difference between sweet and tart dried cherries.

My point, in dropping all of this cherry knowledge on you, is to emphasize that you must--yes, MUST--use tart dried cherries when making this Hazelnut Cherry Bark. Sweet cherries just will not do. They will add a chewiness, yes, but the cherry flavor will be entirely lost and overwhelmed by the chocolate, ginger and hazelnut flavors. Tart dried cherries, on the other hand, are able to hold their own against other strong flavors, and the lip-puckering flavor is a perfect match for spicy ginger, toasty nuts, and rich chocolate.

Get the recipe: Hazelnut Cherry Bark

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Hazelnut Cherry Bark Photo ©2010 Elizabeth LaBau, licensed to About.com, Inc.

Can a candy be called sexy? Let me check with my editor. *whispers and mumbles to self* Yes, yes it can. In that case, I declare that these Marzipan-Covered Cherries are the sexiest candies I've seen in weeks. There's just something about the layers of colors--coarse golden nuts, shiny dark chocolate, smooth white marzipan, all ending in a thin delicate stem--that I just love. And then you take a bite, and you see a bright red cherry inside! If that's not gorgeous, I don't know what is.

These candies are a fun twist on the chocolate-covered cherries I mentioned yesterday. Instead of cherry fondant, the cherries are covered with a layer of fresh almond marzipan, then partially dipped in chocolate and nuts. You can use either storebought or homemade marzipan (try this recipe if you're doing it at home!), and because you're not waiting for the center to liquefy, they're great if you're a fan of instant gratification.

Get the recipes: Marzipan-Covered Cherries
Homemade Marzipan

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Marzipan-Covered Cherries Photo ©2011 Elizabeth LaBau, licensed to About.com, Inc.

Have you ever wondered how chocolate-covered cherries get their liquid center? Well, it turns out our friend chemistry is to thank. An enzyme called invertase, when added to a sugar candy like fondant, reacts with the sugar and turns it to liquid. What this means is that you can make a simple powdered sugar-based fondant, add a dash of invertase, shape and dip the candy like you would any other fondant, and after a few days, the invertase has done its work and you have a liquid filling, like magic!

These Chocolate-Covered Cherries use this process to great effect. Maraschino cherries are wrapped with a lightly flavored cherry fondant that contains a bit of invertase, then the cherries are double-dipped in chocolate. The process has a few steps, but none of them are difficult--and if you have questions, I've put together a photo tutorial showing how to make chocolate-covered cherries. The really hard part is actually waiting for them to be ready to eat--they'll need a few days, or even a week, to fully liquefy and have that gushy, squirt-when-you-bite-it volcano effect we all know and love. Your friends & family won't believe that you made a liquid-filled candy yourself--heck, you may not even believe it!

Invertase can be found in some candy supply stores, or it is easily purchased online--I got my bottle for about $3, minus shipping. But you may not have the time or inclination to track it down. Never fear, the cherries taste just as great without the invertase. The center might not liquefy (although it will definitely soften a little thanks to the moisture in the cherry) but you'll still have a sweet and juicy cherry-and-fondant candy, wrapped in a rich chocolate layer. Invertase or no invertase, these candies are still the (cherry) bomb.*

Get the recipe: Chocolate-Covered Cherries
Chocolate-Covered Cherries Photo Tutorial

*Apologies to 1998 for trying to bring that slang into the 21st century. It won't happen again.

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Chocolate-Covered Cherries Photo ©2011 Elizabeth LaBau, licensed to About.com, Inc.