Here ya go!

Simple Peppermint Patties:

3/4 cup condensed milk
1 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
4 cups 10x sugar

*In a large bowl combine milk & extract. I use a wooden/plastic spoon. NO MIXER!

*Mix in sugar one cup at a time to form a stiff dough - not sticky. All sugar is usually used.

*Flatten into circles of desired shape and put on wax paper. Wax paper works best but you can use alum. foil if necessary.

*Let air dry for 2 hours, turn over after first hour.

*I put them on a fresh sheet of wax paper (or turn the paper over) after the two hours. Then I put them in the freezer for about 10 minutes. This helps stiffen them so they aren't flimbsy (sp) in the chocolate.

*I then dip them in melted dark chocolate and refreeze until chocolate hardens. Wrap in foil squares. Can keep in fridge or on counter.

Remember the old York Peppermint Patty commercials where they cracked the patty in half and you heard the ''noise''? These do that too!

Hey all.
i have a couple of questions for you.
1 - when I have made white choc ganache, my ganache won't set. However, I used the same amount of white choc as I do brown choc. Do I need to double my white choc??? WTH???
2 - When I dip my cake balls in choc, the shell really is very crunchy. I would like to have a shell that isn't as thick, and is a bit softer. Can I mix in a wee bit of cream? Will this help???

I thought that I would differ to the experts in MAKING chocolate (I myself am more of an expert in EATING chocolate).

Oh and PS - when my DD was just a wee thing (about 3 years old) my MOM of all people told her that I wasn't married because I didn't make pie. I still wouldn't if it weren't for that darned pumpkin pie that I make for my DH every Thanksgiving!!! He eats the filling and leaves the crust behind. It's really THAT bad!!! Made with love, baby!!!

Mommyle-

First that story about the pie cracks me up! Moms, gotta love 'em!

I know the ratio for a white chocolate ganache is different than the other chocolate. I'll pull out my book by Sherry Yard, I know there is info in there and PM it to you. May be tomorrow though.

And if you want to soften the shell on the cake balls you can add a little veg shortening when you melt the chocolate. That should help but just add a little.

HTH!

Oh, Lenette, Thank you so much! I will totally appreciate that. whenever you get to it!
I am doing more balls for Tuesday. I will totally try the veg shortening. You mean like Crisco, right???
Thanks again! You so totally rock!

I have been Making candy for 28 years now and have never tempered any chocolate. I always purchased already tempered chocolate .

rezzycakes you asked about adding different colors to candies. I use professional paint brushes that are of good quality so I don't have the bristles falling out into my chocolate.

jenlg~

is the peppermint filling something i can pipe into my chocolate cups instead of preforming it in shape?

I clean my brushes by holding them under warm water with just a drop of soap to clean out the bristles. I lay them flat on a papertowel and air dry.

I'm so glad that this thread was started! I've wanted to learn more about chocolate making for over a year. I have the CIA book that someone mentioned earlier. It was well worth the cost and it really isn't hard to understand. LOL, unfortunately it's in another state right now. I, too, am leary of tempering. Are bonbons and truffles the same thing? I'd like to make chocolate candies for christmas gifts this year. Does anyone have a pumpkin spice truffle recipe, or any other recipes they'd like to share. My Hobby Lobby carries alot more candy making utensils than what they used to. My best friend wants to go up there this week, so it looks like I will be candy shopping.

Love the recipe for the Candied Orange Peel - ever thought of using orangel flavored alcohol to enhance the flavor. Thanks for posting.

I've been making chocolate candy for a few years now, and just started hard candy this year. With the chocolates i've done everything but the molds, and wanted to start trying those this year. When it comes to the mixing of all the different colors, I just don't have that much patients

another question about color - are those done in candy melts? I usually try to avoid those. I know they make oil-based colorings for chocolate, do they work well? Expensive?

I found this recipe on the internet and I've made them, they are delish. However, my ganache stayed so soft I had to freeze them in order to enrobe them in chocolate (I used dark chocolate to enrobe). I'm going to try adding some more white chocolate next time to see if that will help.

White Chocolate Pumpkin Ganache

100 grams white chocolate
40 grams pumpkin puree
20 grams heavy cream
15 grams butter
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I think I subed for pumpik pie spice)

Chop the chocolate into small pieces. Boil the pumpkin and heavy cream together and pour over chocolate. Stir until incorporated and the ganache forms. Let it sit overnight, roll into balls and dip in melted chocolate.

If you wanted to use a mold and pipe the ganache in, then it would be perfect as is.

Not a big eggnog fan but you have made me want to try it.

I use the colored candy melts. However, I have actually used AmeriColor with some white chocolate before for specific colors.

I didn't realize you only need to temper large chocolate chunks. I buy the Merckens melts so I guess I'm okay. I'm going to stick with those 'cause I love them.

Mary Jo

I also use Merckens colored melts. I think they are a TON better than Wilton's. The chocolate is definitely a better quality. It melts much nicer. The colors and white chocolate melts do need less heat than milk or dark. So, if you're melting in a microwave you need to be careful to take it slow, heat a little, stir, heat a little more, etc. I prefer to melt in a double boiler.

Mary Jo

I read all the pages, but not sure if I missed it or it wasn't mentioned....

Can you use regular chocolate chips (like Nestle semi-sweet) for molds or truffles? Can you temper it to make it have a slightly hard shell? I'd like to get rid of an ingredient in my cupboard if I can (Mercken's).

Mercken's doesn't need tempered, I never do it with mine. As for the chocolate chips...I know something should be done to it. I've never used them for candy making, sorry I can't help more.

Michelle (Hey fellow Ohioan):
I use choco chips, Hershey's, and they do need temering cause I never temper (too darn impatient) and they bloom... they taste good, just not so pretty...

jenlg, I don't temper my Mercken's either, but it doesn't harden and I have a hard time getting it melted enough/thin enough to dip well.

Hi mommy_of_3_DDs! Darn, was hoping that would solve my problem of an overflowing ingredient cupboard.

If you temper the chocolate chips they should be fine. I haven't molded them, but I've used them for drizzling and it set up no problem.

JennaB - thank you so much for the pumpkin recipe! I've been wanting to try something holiday flavored. I just cooked a pumpkin and pureed it last night, so I have plenty to work with. YUMMY!

Well heck, that's exactly the Mercken's I like to use, dark chocolate. Figures. Then I add paramount crystals and then it doesn't harden. I think I'm just going to take cake truffles off the menu. I'm so tired of making them anyway! It could be the 200+ boxes of truffles I made for a wedding a few weeks ago. Ugh.