Hot Chocolate and Marshmallows!

In this lab, we made marshmallows and hot chocolate!

My group decided that making square marshmallows were too boring so we decided to cup them out of shapes!  

 

The first shape we used was angels! It turned out really cute because this was during winter, so we pretended they were snow angels, until we put cocoa powder on it...
 

The hot chocolate was really good but we had too much even when we only used 3/4 of what the recipe needed since one of our group mates were gone.

 

The other shape we used was flowers! The cookie cutter for the flowers (we did about 4 different flowers) was actually from my house that I brought over just for this lab since we didn't want to do square marshmallow and we didn't know if we got to have cookie cutters.

 

With this cup we decided to put sugar on the rim and sugar on the plate to make a snow theme! We tried to make a "snowball" but we kind of failed at that...

Banana Splitsville

So to continue with our candy making unit in Food Art we made Banana Splitsville which the recipe was from Good Eats: Citizen Cane. The recipe was split into 3 parts, the basic caramel software (which was the doodads, a random candy swirly thingy), the caramel sauce and the banana brulee. The recipe for me was personally confusing when I read it but when I watched the Good Eats video (Good Eats: Citizen Cane) it made more sense.

Finished Product

The recipe:

Ingredients:  

Basic Carmel Software:

• 500 mL sugar
• 250 mL water
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup

Caramel Sauce Software:

• 1 batch caramel (above)
• 500 mL heavy cream

Banana Brulee Software:

• 4 bananas
• sugar for coating

Additional: ICE CREAM

Method:

1. Combine the sugar, water, and corn syrup in a small, heavy saucepan and place over high heat.As soon as the sugar dissolved, heat your thermometer under warm tap water (to prevent thermal shock) and attach to the side of your pot,  making sure that the bulb is completely submerged but doesn't touch the bottom of the pot. DO NOT STIR THE MIXTURE OR AGITATE THE PAN AT THIS STAGE!
2. When the mixture reached 230°F (110°C), reduce the heat to medium and allow the sugar to colour gradually. As the temperature approached 300°F (150°C) the colour will start to turn amber. At this point, it's safe to swirl the pan gently to help distribute the heat evenly. As the caramel heads towards 340°F (170°C), it will reach a deep amber colour.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and slowly stir with a metal spoon, allowing it to cool until the caramel falls from the spoon in a solid stream, like a string (keep stirring and lifting up the spoon). When it does, it's doodad time!
4. Form the doodads by holding the spoon 12 to 16 inches over with caramel and drizzling a pattern on the parchment. The thinner it fall from the spoon the better (Hint: allow the spoon to unload into the pan for a few seconds before attempting the doodads. This will allow a narrower stream).
5. Quick back and forth motions or side to side movements are the best (I personally like to make circles). It's all in the wrist. Allow the doodads to cool for 15 minutes then peel the paper off (not the other way around, you might break it). Stack in an airtight container with wax paper between in each pieces if you are not using it.
6. After making 15 to 20 doodads, you should have sufficient caramel reaming to move on to the sauce phase.
7. Return the remaining caramel to medium high heat and continue cooking until you dee the first sign of smoke (in the pot not the element!) Immediately remove from the heat, and add the cream all at once, at arms length (it will boil furiously). Once the mixture calms down, return to medium heat and boil for 3 minutes more, stirring occasionally. Cool to room temperature and then move to squirt bottle (or just into a glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap) and refrigerate for up to a week.
8. To make the banana brulee, quarter the bananas (peel on) and then remove the peel and put sugar (we put a lot) on the flat part of the banana and place on cooling racks over several players of foil. (Don't try to do this on you dining room table). Don you safety goggles and fire up your torch (you don't actually need goggles). Hold the torch so that the very tip of the flame barely touches the banana, and move quickly back and forth until the sugar melts, turns brown, and bubbles. As soon as it looks like caramel (the top of a crème brulee), move on. You know you've got it down when a solid, glass like sheet of gold (no graininess)  has formed on the banana.
9. To do the split (so to speak), squirt a pattern  of caramel sauce on a chilled plate top with 4 banana pieces (Lincoln log style), top with ice cream of your choice and finally, a doodad. But you can do it any style you want if you don't want to do the log one.

Product: 

I keep forgetting to bring my camera to class >.< (had to charge it last night and forgot to put back the battery so I brought a camera with no battery) so yet again I had to use my iPhone camera  which not only was crappy but in the middle of taking pictures it shut down on me when it still had 100% and refused to open again for the whole day until I plugged it in a charger! So I was only able to take few. I asked if someone (ie. one of my group mates that wasn't my sister) if she could take some pictures for me and send it to me but she refused which was pretty mean especially when she took pictures off my blog without asking me! Sorry for that little rant there but it was making me angry.

Sorry for the really bad pictures

heating the sugar

we didn't get an amber colour for our doodads >.<

Caramel sauce when we added the heavy cream (bubbling)

Our first attempts but we got better!

We actually put more sugar on it but it dissolved
but we put more in the end

Bananas we torched

close up, you want an amber colour

the plate that I decorated

my finished product! it was good though the ice
cream was kind of bad, it was all chunky 

tried to use this new app on my phone

Overall the product tasted really good (except the ice cream), my group really liked the caramel sauce, they were putting in everywhere! The doodads were kind of spiky when we ate it...it hurts when it when down our throat. 

Easy Nut Brittle

In our food art class, the unit we're doing right now is candy making!! I love candy but I can't say I like making it...it's all about the temperature and things like that which I suck at. But lucky this recipe was REALLY easy to do!

Finished Product

The recipe:

Ingredients:  

• 250 mL sugar
• 125 corn syrup
• f.g. salt
• 250 mL nuts ( it can be peanuts, cashews, almonds, macadamia nuts, etc.)
• 5 mL butter/margarine
• 5 mL vanilla
• 5 mL baking soda

Method:

1. Spray a jelly roll plan with non-stick spray and place on a hot mat.
2. In a large glass bowl or glass measuring cup stir sugar, corn syrup and salt (if the nuts are salted already, you don't need to put in salt) with a wooden spoon or silicon spatula.
3. Microwave the mixture on high (cover the top with scale paper or a paper towel) until the syrup is pale yellow (about 5-8 minutes). If it doesn't turn colour when the time is up add 30 seconds until colour change.
4. Add nuts and then put it back into the microwave for 1 more minute (or longer if you don't get an amber colour to the mixture, always add only 30 seconds every time you put it for longer in the microwave).
5. Immediately stir in the butter, vanilla and baking soda. Don't worry if it starts bubbling  or foaming, it's meant to do that.
6. Quickly and carefully (it's HOT!) pour into the jelly roll pan.
7. Spread the brittle evenly across the jelly roll pan (you have to do this quickly or it would start to harden).
8. When the brittle is completely cooled break into pieces.

Product: 

So I forgot my camera when we did this lab so I had to use my really bad iPhone camera. So sorry for the bad pictures!

This looks really unappealing in this picture...
but it tastes really good! 

At home, since I didn't have time to take pictures during school.

I really liked this recipe, not only was it easy but delicious too! Everyone in my family liked it except my grandma but she complains about everything I make.