Fun stuff..
So what is on the menu:
Pate de fruit
Marshmallows
Salted Caramels
Chocolate Caramels
Almond Pralines
Lets begin...
French Praline Almonds...there pink!
6 thin layers of sugar coated almonds, where we agitate the sugar syrup to create crystallization over around almonds.
On to making Salted Caramels.
Next we make the traditional French Nougat- pronounced new-gah! lol..
Us Italians like to call it Torrone...:)
It is a variety of similar traditional confections made with sugar and honey, roasted nuts (a variety) and sometimes chopped candied fruit. The consistency of nougat can range from soft and chewy to hard and crunchy depending on its composition, and it is used in a variety of candy bars and chocolates.
There are three basic kinds of nougat: The first, and most common, is white nougat (which appeared in Italy in the early 15th century and later in France in the 18th century) is made with beaten egg whites and honey. The second is brown nougat (referred to as "mandorlato" in Italy and nougatine in French) is made without egg whites and has a firmer, often crunchy texture. The third is the Viennese or German nougat which is essentially a chocolate and nut (usually hazelnut) praline.
This one was made from egg whites, sugar, glucose, and honey. We later tossed in toasted pistachios and almonds.
Now onto Guimauve, or as we all know it...the Marshmallow! A whipped confection.
The use of marshmallow to make a candy dates back to Ancient Eygpt where the recipe called for extracting sap from the plant and mixing it with nuts and honey. The stem was peeled back to reveal the soft and spongy pith, which was boiled in sugar syrup and dried to produce a soft, chewy confection.
Candymakers in early 19th century France made the innovation of whipping up the marshmallow sap and sweetening it, to make a confection similar to modern marshmallow. The confection was made locally, however, by the owners of small candy stores. They would extract the sap from the mallow plant's root, and whip it themselves. The candy was very popular, but its manufacture was labor-intensive. In the late 19th century, French manufacturers devised a way to get around this by using egg whites or gelatin, combined with cornstarch, to create the chewy base.
Lastly, pate de fruit.
What is pate de fruit? A chewy candy with intense fruit taste made from purees of fresh fruit. To prepare, fruit is boiled and cooked down with sugar to an extremely concentrated, almost jam-like consistency before being poured, cooled and cut into small squares rolled in sugar.
Made in all sorts of flavors, we made passionfruit and raspberry the last 2 days
Tomorrow we will be cutting up our nougat and chocolate caramels....along with more goodies!
So if you like the sugar, come on back for another rush..
-N
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