Making sweeties - need some help pretty please

laurajayne

Afternoon all,

Well, I've been doing so well on the baking/cooking front that I thought it'd be fun to try making my own sweets. I whipped up some fudge (yum) and toffee (was almost clear!) from Mrs Beetons - but she doesn't really have that many recipies other than the basics. I want to make sweets for my christmas presents, especially the 10 in my team at work (I work from home, we see each other twice a year, and last year i got a weeks warning, whereas I'm prepared this time )

So, off I went to Hobbycraft (found cracker making kit - fantastic for boxing them up in!) and bought a candy making book. Well, the clue is in the title isn't it lol, it;s american :wall:

Now cups, cream and that I can work out mostly, but I have an issue with a few of the fairly regularly occuring ingredients, and was hoping that anyone could give me a clue, with either a subsitution, or where to get it - I've tried googling, but so far, not much luck.

Ok, here goes then:

Light corn syrup - I do have liquid glucose, would that work maybe?

Shortening - butter and something I think?

Invert sugar?

Invertase?

Confectioners sugar? - Was thinking that this maybe Icing sugar

Half and half - I think this is 1/2 single cream, 1/2 milk?

Lecithin?

If anyone can shed some light on these mystery ingredients, I'd be very greatful

thriftlady_2

Can't shed much light I'm afraid but shortening is a solid vegetable or animal fat like lard or Trex/White Flora.

laurajayne

Wayhay - I just happen to have trex in the fridge :j

Thanks so much Thriftlady xxx

Pink.

Hi laurajayne,

This older thread gives alternatives for some of the things you've asked about:

American cookery terms

Pink

custardy

http://www.wwrecipes.com/convert.htm

anything there?

found this link to,no help but interesting reading seeing what yanks miss/cant get over here

kate83

Hiya,

Think I can help on a few - lecithin you can get from a health food shop, think it's normally with omega supplements (may be sold as soy/soya lecithin)
Light corn syrup - golden syrup
Confectioners sugar - icing sugar
Invert sugar looks to be a name for a group of syrups - so I'm guessing either golden syrup or glucose syrup
Invertase is a digestive enzyme such as sucrase so don't know why this would be used as an ingredient?