Sugar Boiling

Sugar boiling is the basis of nearly all sweet making. Getting the various types of sugar boiling correct takes a bit of practice but once the basics are learnt then this skill we stand you in good stead for making great sweets. Have a few key utensils ready for when you start this process. Finding you have the wrong type of saucepans and thermometers can mean it isn't easy to create and gauge when your sugar boiling is ready. Use a good heavy based saucepan for boiling and most cookery shops serve jam making or sugar making thermometers. These are the heavy duty metal ones that are specifically designed to work for cooks and chefs. Never ever use a thermometer that has not been designed for cooking as shattering is highly likely and contents of these are dangerous if consumed.

The sugar is first dissolved in the liquid, then brought to the boil, 100C (212F). The temperature continues to rise as the water evaporates and the syrup thickens and becomes darker.
The following are the most important stages; they are best checked with a sugar thermometer but simple tests are described for those who don't have a sugar thermometer to hand.

Thread 102C-104C (215-220F) Used for crystallising purposes. The mixture looks syrupy. To test, dip your fingers in water and then very quickly in the syrup. The thumb will slide smoothly over the fingers but sugar will cling to them

Soft Ball. 116-118C (240-245F)
Used for fondants and fudges. Test by dropping a little of the syrup into very cold water. It should form a soft ball. At 116C (240F) the soft ball will flatten when you take it out of the water; the higher the temperature the firmer the ball.

Firm or hard ball (120-130C (250-265F)
Used for caramels. When dropping into cold water the syrup forms a ball which is hard enough to hold its shape, although still piable

Soft crack 132-143C (270-290F) Used for toffees, When dropped into cold water the syrup separates into hard and brittle threads.

Caramel 1600162C (320-325F) Used for pralines and caramels. The syrup turns golden brown when it reaches this temperature

Avoiding Crysallisation
Sugar must be dissolved and boiled with great care, as syrup has a tendency to re-crystallise if incorrectly handled. The main causes of crystallisation are agitation of the mixture by stirring or beating whilst the sugar is dissolving and the presence of solid particles during boiling.

Collettes

190g (6.5 oz) plain chocolate
25g (1oz) butter
10ml (2tsp) brandy
60ml (4 tbsp) double cream
flaked almonds, glace cherries and crystallised violets, to decorate

1. Place 16 small papers cases on a baking sheet

2. Break 100g (4oz) of the chocolate in pieces into a heatproof bowl standing over a suacepan of gently simmering water. Heat gently until the chocolate has melted. stirring only once or twice after the chocolate has started to melt. Remove bowl from the pan.

3. Spoon a little chocolate into each case and using a clean paintbrush, coat inside of the cases. Leave to set in a cool place for about 1 hour.

4. Coat again making sure the cocolate forms an even layer. Leave to set in a cool place for about 1 hour. then carefully peel away the paper from the cases.

5. Melt the remaining chocolate with the butter as in step 2, leave for about 5 minutes until cool but not set, then stir in the brandy until evenly mixed.

6 Whip the cream until stiff and fold into the chocolate mixture. Leave to set for about 5 minutes until mixture is thick enough for piping.

7. Spoon the chocolate cream into a piping bag fitted with a snmall star nozzle and pipe into the chocolate cases. Decorate each with a flaked almond, a piece of cherry or a crystallised violet.

8. Arrange in clean paper cases in a box. Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Makes 16

These make a lovely Easter gift when arranged in a pretty presentation box. If you are giving them as a present please remember to make them just before you are going to give them to the recipient and keep them chilled as they include fresh cream and you don't want to give the recipient more than they bargained!

Chocolate Hazelnut Clusters

225g (8oz) shelled hazelnuts
225g (8oz) plain chocolate
about 7g (1/4oz white vegetable fat (optional)

1. Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven at 180C (350F) mark 4 for about 10 minutes, turning them or shaking the tray from time to time. Turn into a clean tea towel and rub off the skins. Leave the nuts to cool.
2. Break the chcolate into a bowl and place over a pan of hot water until melted. Add a small knob of vegetable fat if necessary to achieve a coating consistency. Line a tray with non-stick baking parchment.
3. Remove the pan from the heat. Drop the nuts into the chocolate and stir them around. Using a teaspoon, retrieve four nuts at a time with a good portion fo chocolate. Plece each cluster in a little heap on the parchment-lined tray. If the chocolate starts to cool and thicken while making the clusters, return the pan to the heat but take care not to overhat the chocolate or it will become too liquid to work with.
4. Leave the hazelnut clusters to dry thoroughly.
Makes about 350g (12oz)

Chocolate Nut Truffles

100g (4oz) plain chocolate, finely grated
25g (1oz) chopped mixed nuts
50g (2oz) icing sugar
1-2 drops of vanilla flavouring
about 15ml (1tbsp) single cream
chocolate vermicelli
1. Put the chocolate, nuts and sugar into a bowl and add vanilla flavouring and enough cream to bind the ingredients together.
2. Form into small balls, roll them in chocolate vermicelli and put into paper cases when firm.
Makes about 225g (8oz)

FLYING SAUCERS

These are one of my all time favourites, taking me back to a childhood of local fairs and days out by the sea. My children equally love them and eat them exactly the same way, first making sure the sherbet filling is on one side then biting in half the rice paper casing, keeping the half with the sherbet in then putting the tongue in the half thats left and letting the sherbet and sugar casing dissolve.. yum! The sherbet-filled ricepaper discs, which have been around since the 1960s and remain a great favourite of many.

Clove Balls and Clove Rock

These sweets always remind me of a rather elderly lady who on a Sunday during service at church would ply us with clove balls in an attempt to keep us sat quietly. For some it worked, for others there was a quick attempt to try and get rid of the clove sweet without making too much of a scene. Whether loved or loathed, Clove balls have been around a very long time and still perform their function of cleansing the pallet today. Its pain relieving properties and numbing attributes of cloves are still used in medication especially for dental reasons to relieve toothache.
Yes it is an acquired taste but they are still deserving as having a major spot in the traditional sweets sections of many sweet shops today.

So, a little about where the Cloves sweets got there very unusual taste from, and that is mainly to do with its Clove ingredient.
The Clove itself is still used extensively today in cooking and medicine and comes from an evergreen tree normally found in Indonesia and India. The Cloves themselves are made from the flower buds of the tree which are first green but ready for harvesting when they turn a bright red colour. The clove is used extensively in medicinal treatment as a painkiller especially for dental reasons, so this may explain the popular use in a sweet that could be sucked, to relieve any pain from toothache.

So with a little bit of background I was interested to test these clove sweets on my two daughters (one of 15 and one of 9). I think the taste of the cloves for my 9 year old was a bit of a strange combination for a sweet, but my 15 yr old decided that it wasn't too bad. As for me it brings back plenty of memories and will always remain one of my favourites from by-gone days.

OUR LOCAL TRADITIONAL SWEET SHOP

We are lucky to have quite a traditional sweet shop locally where we get a lot of our sweets. Its one of those places that you walk in and are instantly transformed back to childhood with varieties of sweets you had forgotten. This is a lovely shop where all the sweets are displayed in their jars and literally fill the walls. Each week I will endeavour to purchase sweets from here and other smaller retailers locally and follow up with some pictures and tasting sessions! Its a hard job but someone has to do it .

If you arent as lucky as us to have a sweet shop like ours the there are places on the web to purchase these sweets. Some of the sites I have found for over the internet purchasing are..

http://bagsofsweets.co.uk/?gclid=CLr4i7_pzZsCFZ0U4wod7TsBKw

http://www.keepitsweet.co.uk/catalog/index.php/cPath/49/sort/2a/page/2

http://www.aquarterof.co.uk/index.php

These are just a few of the many that are on the internet... so happy shopping!