Making chocolates or sweets

sophieschoice

Unfortunately I can't find the recipes online but there are some fabulous ideas for homemade sweets to give as gifts (or simply eat yourself) in the current Sainsbury's magazine.
True Marshmallows, Salted Caramels, Nougat Cups and Star Anise Truffles.

hannah_b_3

Kazipoo wrote: »

Sorry I wouldn't know where to begin to tell you whats wrong, I have only made it once myself.

ok well thanks anyway. im going to try ur recipe instead as the recipe i have been using is slightly different. where did u get ur gelatine sachets from? i can only find leaves
thanks
hannah

hannah_b_3

SallyForth wrote: »

At a guess, I think you might have boiled the sugar mixture for too long.
That one of the sweetie making principals with sugar, the longer you boil
it the harder it goes.

I used a sugar themometer to get it to hard ball temp which is what i read i needed to get it to.

Kazipoo

hannah_b wrote: »

ok well thanks anyway. im going to try ur recipe instead as the recipe i have been using is slightly different. where did u get ur gelatine sachets from? i can only find leaves
thanks
hannah

Sainsbury's, something daft like 69p

ethansmum

Nik if you used a sugar thermometer, then it didn't set because you didn't beat it enough. You can still save it though, roll it into a ball and then roll it as if you are playing with play dough, after about 15 minutes it goes hard just like it should be

nic2075

thanks for that, but too late im afraid, I ate most of it out of the tray as it was :o, it tasted it great but just not hard enough. I may try again. I think it was the beating, my 2 wee ones were fighting and trying to get my attention while in the middle of beating it. I thought it was long enough.

ethansmum wrote: »

Nik if you used a sugar thermometer, then it didn't set because you didn't beat it enough. You can still save it though, roll it into a ball and then roll it as if you are playing with play dough, after about 15 minutes it goes hard just like it should be

Kazipoo

nic2075 wrote: »

I made this exact recipe last week, I was shocked at the amount of sugar and butter etc in it. However mine didnt set properly. It was quite stiff but still toffee like. I whisked for ages, waited until the soft ball stage etc. I dont know what I did wrong. Let me know how yours turns out.

Hmmmm, mine is still soft too.... its set but soft... I put it in the fridge for a little while thinking it may help, and it did while it was still cold, but once it got back to room temp it began to soften again. I'll leave it overnight and then have a play around with it to see if I can remedy it.... I've see a few suggestions on the internet and will let you know if I manage to save it....

Btw, I think my reason is because I didn't have a thermometer and didn't do the water test

lesleymarr

laura16 wrote: »

I want to do some boxes of chocolates or sweets for my hampers any ideas on good yummy recipes please?

Hello Laura
these are very nice-but not cheap, sadly.
You get dried fruits, whichever ones you like. Figs dates or apricots have a cavity which could be filled with a nut or bit of crystallised ginger. I buy milk, plain and white chocolate. I melt each sort of chocolate one at a time, in a saucepan over a pan of boiling water and mix in some of the fruit so it's coated, and lay it on a grased tray to harden. So the pan is now more or less clean because I've emptied out the choc and fruit so I can put in the next block of choc, and start again with a different colour choc. While the choc on a fruit is still warm it's easy to put a blob of a different colour choc on and stir it round with the point of a knife; that looks really pretty. Dates with an almond in the middle go best with milk choc, apricots with white choc *sighs*. I eat 'em until my tummy hurts;:rotfl: these are so nice.

lesleymarr

tanmu wrote: »

I'm going to be making some traditional Scottish Tablet and some Baileys fudge. I'll cut it into cubes and put it into clean Jam jars with a homemade gift tag. The tablet recipe I'm using can be found here. I've never made it before, but how hard can it really be......?

My husband made this. It tastes EXACTLY like coconut Bounty bars. And he rolled it in chocolate, which he'd melted in the microwave. You have to be careful microwaveing chocolate as it burns so quickly but if you do it for a minute then open the door and check it and stir it each time it's fine. anyway they were delish and really cheap as it's mainly spud.

Here's another sweetie recipie (I have a sweet tooth).
you need :PNB: honey: powderd milk: sultanas
Mix 4 parts Peanut butter (the wholesome smooth sort without sugar, eg Suma) and 1 part hard (not runny) honey with 1 part sultanas which you roughly snip up with scissors. Mix in enough powdered milk so that it can be formed into balls. Try not to eat all the mixture before rolling it into balls, for some reason I think that's greedy.You could roll some of the balls in grated coconut to increase their attractiveness.
Eat them. Yum. *sighs*

NEgirl

Ive just made some Torrone (nougat) and cranberry/pistachio biscotti today for the first time. Both were reasonably easy and taste delicious! Full photos and step by step here