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Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Third Sunday of Advent: Christmas Candies

I haven't fully understood why but Christmas means a lot of baking and a candies production. I suppose that the truth is that they don't have panettone and they have to compensate somehow. The candies I mean are often cacao based but, although they could easily be eaten during the rest of the year, they are mainly consumed during the Christmas holidays. Since people here do not have enough to do, they tend to prepare them by themselves involving also the kids. The candies includes toffee, chocolate, marzipan and even butterscotch.

Since I didn't have enough to do (obviously...), I decided to undertake such task, hoping Isabella would want to help (instead, she just ate the sugar) and experiment a bit.

Ginger Butterscotch

Ingredients

  • 100gr butter
  • 4 spoons of cacao
  • 2dl of double cream
  • 3 1/2 dl of sugar
  • 1dl light syrup
  • 2 spoons liquid glucose
  • 2 spoons finely grated ginger

Melt the butter in a pot with a thick bottom. The pot should have a quite large base.
Remove it from the heat and mix slowly the cacao, so that there are no lumps made.
Add the cream, sugar, syrup and the glucose. 


Cook the mix until it reaches the temperature of 120 degrees, or higher if one wants something crunchier. 
I have been trying to do this without a thermometer, but the first attempt was not a successful one. With the help of a thermometer, reaching the right temperature is much easier. It is also true that it might take a while before the mix reaches the right temperature: it seems that for hours nothing happens and then all of a sudden one risks to burn it!


Put some oven paper on a tray or a big pan and pour the batter on it. Let it cool over night or at least for four hours.
Break it in small pieces and enjoy it!

Puff toffee

Ingredients:
  • 100gr butter
  • 1dl sugar
  • 1/2 dl syrup
  • 1 spoon cacao
  • 3 spoons flour
  • 3dl puffed rice

Mix all the ingredients but the rice in a pot.

Let it boil while mixing and then lower the temperature and let it cook it more for about 5 minutes. Mix it the whole time.

Add the puffed rice.

Put the batter on a pan where you have been previously putting some oven paper.

Let it cool over night and then divide it in small pieces.



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