Field Guide to Candy

All Things Chocolate

Chocolate Bark

Chocolate Bars

Chocolate Nougats

Dipped Chocolates

Dipped Truffles

Filled Molded Chocolates

Hollow Molded Chocolates

Mendiants

Mint Meltaways

Peppermint Patties

Rochers

Simple Truffles

Solid Molded Chocolates

1a. dark chocolate and nut bark

1b. peppermint bark

CHOCOLATE BARK

General Description:

Chocolate bark is the simplest of homemade candy bars, consisting of a slab of tempered chocolate studded with toppings and broken into irregular pieces. It comes in an astonishing variety of flavor combinations; dark chocolate is most common, but white chocolate with peppermint is an eye-catching seasonal favorite. It does not require any molds or fancy finishing—just a flat baking sheet and some creativity.

History:

Chocolate bark was invented by chocolatiers to use up leftover tempered chocolate when making truffles, chocolate bunnies, orangettes, and other candies.

Serving Suggestions:

Any kind of tempered chocolate can be used. Experiment with the toppings of your choice. Try nuts, dried fruits, seeds, and even crushed candies: pralines, candied fruit, or chocolate-dipped pretzels.

Candy-Making Notes:

Bark is an excellent way to use up tempered chocolate left over after making other chocolates.

Recipe:

Dark Chocolate and Nut Bark

14 ounces bittersweet chocolate

1 cup almonds, toasted and chopped

¾ cup dried cranberries

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Melt and temper the chocolate.

Pour chocolate onto the baking sheet and spread it about ⅜ inch thick.

Sprinkle almonds and cranberries over the choco-late. Press them lightly so they stick. Let the chocolate set, about 1 hour.

Break bark into small irregular pieces with your hands or a sharp chef’s knife.

Yield:

About 24 pieces

Storage:

Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 1 week.

Peppermint Bark

This bark is a Christmastime classic, perfect for gift baskets.

14 ounces bittersweet chocolate

14 ounces white chocolate

½ cup peppermint candies, crushed

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Melt and temper the chocolate.

Pour chocolate onto the baking sheet and spread it to about ¼ inch thick. Let it set, about 30 minutes. Temper the white chocolate while it is hardening.

Pour the white chocolate over the bittersweet chocolate layer and spread it evenly.

Sprinkle crushed candy pieces over the white chocolate. Press them lightly so they stick. Let the white chocolate set, about 30 minutes.

Break bark into small, irregular pieces.

Yield:

About 24 pieces

Storage:

Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 1 week.

2a. chocolate bars

2b. filled chocolate bars

CHOCOLATE BARS

General Description:

Charlie Bucket could afford only one candy a year, and he always chose a Willy Wonka chocolate bar. Hershey’s iconic rectangular bars of milk chocolate are the most famous, but now a variety of high-end chocolate bars showcase the flavors of cacao beans from around the world. The higher the percentage of cacao bean content, the darker the chocolate bar.

History:

The Azetec ruler Montezuma served a spicy, bitter chocolate drink to Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortez in 1519. The Spanish took cacao beans to Europe, and decades later rich Europeans drank chocolate made of finely ground cacao beans mixed with cinnamon and vanilla or milk and sugar. In 1847, English confectioner Joseph Fry discovered how to recombine cocoa butter with cocoa powder to make a paste that could be molded and hardened to a solid: the first chocolate bars. These early chocolates weren’t the smooth bars we know today until 1879, when Rudolphe Lindt of Switzerland invented the conching machine that works chocolate into a smooth consistency.

Serving Suggestions:

Making chocolate bars from beans is a labor-intensive process, but tempering and pouring your favorite chocolate into molds is easy. Homemade chocolate bars are a sweet gift year-round.

Candy-Making Notes:

Sprinkle in nuts, dried fruits, cocoa nibs, or other additions after step 4.

Recipe:

16 ounces bittersweet, semisweet, milk, or white chocolate

Check that the mold is completely clean and dry.

Melt and temper the chocolate.

Carefully ladle tempered chocolate into the mold cavities, filling them to the top. Tap the mold lightly to eliminate air bubbles.

Using a spatula, scrape away any extra chocolate, leaving the tops clean and level.

Place mold in the refrigerator for 15 to 30 minutes.

6.

Remove it from the refrigerator when the chocolate looks firm and is starting to shrink away from the sides of the mold. Flip it over onto a clean surface to unmold chocolate bars.

Yield:

About 5 chocolate bars

Storage:

Wrap bars in foil or store them in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 1 month.

Variation:

Filled Chocolate Bars

Many of the fillings in this book can be used to fill chocolate bars. Try mint ganache, caramel, or melted fondant.

Ladle tempered chocolate into the mold cavities.

Invert the mold over the bowl containing the tempered chocolate, letting excess chocolate run out until just a thin layer of chocolate remains.

Refrigerate mold for 10 to 15 minutes.

When chocolate is firm, pour in the filling of your choice, to just below the top of the cavities. Refrigerate for another 15 minutes to let the filling set slightly.

Ladle tempered chocolate over the top of the mold. Using a spatula, scrape off the excess, leaving the tops completely clean and level. Refrigerate 20 minutes before unmolding the bars.

Yield:

About 10 filled chocolate bars

Storage:

Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 2 weeks.

3. chocolate nougats

CHOCOLATE NOUGATS

General Description:

Fluffy, chocolate-flavored nougat fills chocolates and candy bars in North America. Nougat filling is much softer than European nougat. One of the most well-known nougat-filled candy bars is 3 Musketeers, which has a very fluffy, chocolate-flavored filling similar to this recipe.

History:

In the 1920s, the Pendergast Candy Company in Minneapolis reportedly put too many egg whites into one of their batches of dark, chewy, European-style nougat. The resulting airy concoction was used in their Fat Emma bar, and it proved so popular that it became known as Minneapolis nougat. Frank Mars of Mars, Inc., created his own nougat-filled bar, the Milky Way. He turned Mars, Inc., into a candy powerhouse that went on to create other nougat-filled bars, such as Snickers, 3 Musketeers, and Mars Bars.

Serving Suggestions:

These chocolate nougats are a wonderful treat for kids on Halloween. Dipped in your favorite bitter-sweet chocolate and nestled in foil cups, they are elegant enough for dinner parties. Try adding toasted nuts on top of the nougat centers before dipping them in chocolate.

Candy-Making Notes:

Be sure to whip the mixture until it is stiff and thick so that the nougat will stay light and fluffy.

Recipe:

2 egg whites

2 cups sugar

1⅓ cups light corn syrup

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted

⅓ cup cocoa powder, sifted

1 pound bittersweet or coating chocolate

Line an 8-by-8-inch baking pan with foil and grease well.

Whisk the egg whites in a stand mixer on high speed until soft peaks form.

In a saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, ½ cup water, and salt. Cook over medium heat until it reaches a boil. Continue cooking until the mixture reaches 270°F, soft crack stage.

While the mixer is running, slowly pour the hot sugar syrup into the egg whites. Continue to beat until the mixture is stiff and glossy, about 5 minutes.

Mix in the vanilla extract, butter, and melted chocolate.

Add cocoa powder and beat until combined.

Pour mixture onto the baking pan. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Cut nougat into pieces with a well-oiled knife. Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper.

Melt and temper the chocolate.

Dip nougats in chocolate with a dipping fork, coating completely. Let set on baking sheet 1 hour.

Yield:

About 50 pieces

Storage:

Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 1 week.

4a. vanilla bean chocolates

4b. jasmine tea chocolates

4c. ginger chocolates

DIPPED CHOCOLATES

General Description:

Although many candies are dipped in chocolate, in confectioner’s terms a dipped chocolate is a small square of ganache or other solid filling hand-dipped in tempered chocolate. It is similar to a truffle: both are made by enrobing ganache in tempered chocolate. The flat tops of these square chocolates are beautifully decorated with hand-applied color, glitter, or decorative patterns that are clues to the flavors inside.

History:

Dipped chocolates originated in the fine chocolate shops of France. At first, their sleek, minimalist designs were a stark counterpoint to the fancifully formed and elaborately decorated truffles and filled molded chocolates. But recently chocolatiers have begun decorating dipped chocolates in colorful and distinctive ways. One of the biggest innovations was transfer sheets, invented by chocolatier Jean-Pierre Wybauw in 1965. These thin sheets of acetate are coated with edible inks applied in a variety of designs—from swirls to dots to words—that can be pressed onto the tops of dipped chocolates.

Serving Suggestions:

Select toppings that match the flavor of the filling inside. Transfer sheets come in an array of colorful and eye-catching patterns to suit any occasion.

Candy-Making Notes:

Keeping the chocolate in temper—at the right consistency and temperature—will allow you to dip your chocolates quickly and consistently.

Recipe:

Vanilla Bean Chocolates

⅔ cup heavy cream

1 vanilla bean, split

9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into pieces

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted, for coating

1 pound bittersweet chocolate, for tempering

Line an 8-by-8-inch baking pan with plastic wrap, letting it overhang the edges on all sides.

Combine cream and vanilla bean in a saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, cover saucepan, and let steep for 15 minutes.

Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl.

Strain cream into a clean saucepan and bring to a boil again over medium-high heat.

Pour cream over chopped chocolate and wait 1 minute. Slowly stir with a wooden spoon or whisk until the chocolate is fully melted and combined with the cream.

Add butter and stir just until the mixture is smooth, thick, and uniform.

Pour the ganache into the prepared baking pan in a smooth, even layer. Let it set at room temperature until firm, 2 to 4 hours.

When you are ready to make the chocolates, line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper or wax paper.

9.

Using the plastic wrap as handles, remove the slab of ganache and flip it over onto a clean baking sheet or other work surface. Pull off the plastic wrap.

Using a small offset spatula, spread the melted 4 ounces of chocolate in a thin layer over the surface of the ganache slab. Let the chocolate set, about 20 minutes.

Flip the ganache slab. Using a sharp chef’s knife, cut the slab into 1-inch squares. Refrigerate for a few minutes if the squares soften too