I need to have What by When?!

For the past few months, I've been talking to friends about having a "Cocoa and Cocktails" evening at either Island Creek or Drink.  Both of these bars have fantastic bartenders with amazing palates who can do drink pairings.  Unfortunately, the summer humidity has been giving me some problems with chocolate.  Chocolate and water get along together about as well as, well, most cats and water.  On Saturday I had plans with a friend of mine, and when I checked in to see what the plans were, he said that he thought I was going to bring chocolates down to Drink.  Eep!

I had about six hours.  Truffles were absolutely out of the question, as the ganache needs to set overnight.  My friend doesn't like coconut or peanut butter, so that cut out a few other options.  Caramel would take too long, and I couldn't think of any flavors of buttercream I wanted to make at the time. I also didn't want to break out any of my "good" chocolate, in case it just seized up.  

One of my favorite bartenders just got engaged, and I also know that both she and her fiancee love a good sazerac cocktail.  A sazerac contains essentially cognac, rye, absinthe, Peychaud's bitters, simple syrup, and a lemon twist.  It has a very rich, round flavor to it, that really wants to play well with chocolate.  I've tried a few versions of a sazerac truffle so far, with some success, but I hadn't really nailed it yet.  But the drink itself is also a gorgeous red color.  I wanted to giver them a little engagement present.

So I tried making sazerac hard candy.  I mixed up the cocktail with no ice or extra water, and no simple syrup.  To keep the liquid balance with the candy, I cut an equal amount of water out of the sugar syrup that I had to cook down.  It really wasn't difficult, other than I had to control the urge to stir the mixture.  I don't know if developing sugar crystals when making hard candy is important, but I didn't want to risk it.

I broke in my Lego people silicon mold, and also tried the truffle mold, then spread the rest out on a piece of parchment paper to make cracked candy.  Other than getting a drop of 300 degree sugar syrup on my thumb, the initial preparation went fairly well.  As a note, I wouldn't recommend that.  300 degrees is rather hot, and creates an impressive blister.

I knew that she was also a fan of the 20th Century gummy candy, so I made up a batch of that too, now that I can do that one fairly well.  To keep the chocolating to a minimum, and I did some chocolate covered cherries, and some s'mores.  Both of those I know for a fact play well with cocktails, and can be thrown together pretty quickly.  I was right to worry about the chocolate.  It was definitely not my prettiest work.  The flavors were good, and we were going to be in a dark bar, so it worked.  But I am glad that I didn't try to do anything fancy.

The flavor on the sazerac candy turned out nicely, although a little subtle.  I would highly recommend the silicon molds for that, it was super easy.  The truffle mold was a little more of a challenge, as I had missed the recommendation to oil it first.  I had a bit of a challenge to unmold those, but it's a good lesson for next time.

Oh Alton

This past week I tried some variations, with the input of Alton Brown.  The first was marshmallows.  I noticed that most marshmallow recipes online don't use egg whites.  I figured if they are just as good without them, then they would also be a lot cheaper to make!  Because I trust his techniques, I tried the Alton Brown marshmallow recipe, figuring that I could adjust the flavorings at the end.

Essentially the difference between the two types of recipes is this:  With the original recipe I used, you mix the gelatin with water in one bowl, beat the egg whites in a second, cook the syrup, then mix together and beat until cool.  Without the egg whites, it's pretty much the same process, but syrup is just poured directly in with the gelatin.  Originally I was planning to do a mini taste test, between the egg white marshmallows, the Alton marshmallows and store bought handcrafted marshmallows.  This didn't happen.

The marshmallows with no egg whites were easy to make, but there is just no question whatsoever when it comes to texture.  The protein in the egg whites creates a much better foam structure, and the marshmallows turn out much lighter and fluffier, similar to store bought.  The ones with no egg whites had an internal texture similar to marshmallow fluff.  The flavor was there, but they just weren't as good.  My opinion is that marshmallows should always contain egg whites.

Secondly, while I was looking through Alton recipes, I found this one.  It's very similar to what I did with the Twentieth Century gummy candy, but with a LOT more gelatin.  So I gave it a try.  The results were much better than the prior attempt.  In fact, I think that I could even get away with one or two fewer packets of gelatin.  I also decided to skip the sugar coating, in case these decided to sweat, and they didn't seem to need a boundary from the outside air.

Not Your Average Stay Puft

Recently I started having people tell me that I should sell my chocolates. My response was that I should probably learn how to properly temper chocolate first. So what else would I do than to search the internet! As I was looking, I found a recipe for homemade marshmallows from David Lebovitz here. It was actually the first time I'd heard about making your own marshmallows, so I was intrigued.

I had been told by a friend that homemade marshmallows were exceptionally tasty, but they were really hard to make. So unusually, I set everything up in advance, read through the recipe for the fourth or fifth time, and gave it a shot. For this recipe, the hardest part is the meringue, meaning, not hard at all.

Don't assume that this means I didn't make a mistake. The recipe reads "continue to whip for 5 minutes, until the mixture is feels completely cool when you touch the outside of the bowl". Have I mentioned that I'm bad at reading directions? I let it whip for 5 minutes (set my timer and everything), and then poured it out. When they cooled, the bottoms were soggy, and would just absorb the "marshmallow mixture". They were very tasty, just sticky. They ended up being perfect for certain uses that I'll talk about later. The second time I tried this recipe (I promise, I don't have to do every single recipe more than once) I ignored the time, and just whipped them until the bowl was cool. Those marshmallows turned out absolutely perfect.

Since trying that recipe, I've looked around and have seen that most homemade marshmallows don't actually use eggs. I'm planning to try one of those recipes as well, to see which turns out better. Also, I've got a few other marshmallow related recipes in mind, but I'm keeping those secret for now.

Fruit Gummies for Adults Only

I've been experimenting with a lot of candies, in an attempt to turn some of my favorite cocktails into tasty desserts. One of the challenges I've had is that chocolate will often overpower the subtle flavors of a more delicate drink. This is why you will commonly see chocolates with Kahlua, Amaretto, Irish Cream, but rarely with a Ramos Fizz.

One of my favorite cocktails is a 20th Century. It's a combination of gin, light creme de cacao, Lillet blanc, and lemon juice. It's mellow, lemony, and a little floral.  This is something that chocolate would just obliterate. I considered marshmallow, but I think there would be a conflict between flavor and texture.

Enter in the newest book in my arsenal. A Baker's Field Guide to Holiday Candy & Confections. In the book, the author has a recipe for mint leaves. Kind of like the gummy fruit slices you can get at your local drugstore. And I was reminded of a scene from Star Trek, Deep Space Nine.

Doctor Bashir: What are you eating? 
Chief O'Brien: I'm not eating, I'm chewing. 
Doctor Bashir: Chewing what? 
Chief O'Brien: Gum. It's traditional. I had the replicator create me some. 
Doctor Bashir: They just chewed it? 
Chief O'Brien: No, they infused the gum with flavor. 
Doctor Bashir: What did you infuse it with? 
Chief O'Brien: Scotch. 

I figure that if he can infuse gum with scotch, why not gummy 20th Centuries? (yes, I know it's a fictional show. But the point still stands.) Making the recipe is only a little more difficult than making jello. Of course, the first run through, I managed to mess it up (I'm not that much of a feeb, I swear!). I failed to account for the extra liquid from the cocktail, and when the candies were left out at room temperature they started melting. Oops! Conveniently, for anyone who has had to fix a jello problem that didn't involve pineapple, all you have to do is melt it back down, bring it to a boil, add some more gelatin, and let it re-set. The second time around, success!

I think that this form would work for a variety of light floral cocktails. Anything in the Final Word family, a good daiquiri, possibly even a pina colada. But remember, no pineapple or the papayase will keep it from setting up!

*** Edit***  This recipe still could use some tweaking.  The flavor is good, but at room temperature they sweat, and get a little slimy.  The next time I might try the Alton Brown recipe.