Treats for My Sweet

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My husband’s birthday is October 1st. How can I do something nice in short amount of time? How I can I be creative and impress him? These questions sparked an idea! How about a gift basket? I mean who doesn’t love a good gift basket. Not those “cheesy” meat baskets. Candy looked to be the most cost effective, and still creative. He says he doesn’t have a sweet tooth, but the stash spot says otherwise. Looking around his cabinet I had to come up with similar items to what he usually eats. 

 Each recipe I will be working with hot sugar, controlled temperatures, and accurate measuring. Candy is one field I have learned can be somewhat temperamental. If something in these recipes are off, the desired product cannot be achieved. Between his likes and my, somewhat, preparedness I was able to nail down a top four.
  • Gummy Bears
  • Hard Candy
  • Peanut Butter Fudge
These choices are simple if, you have the right tools and a little patience.

Tools List
  • Copper or steal pot: From my experience non-stick pots can cause crystallizing 
  • Candy thermometer
  • Wooden hand tools
  • Silicone Mat and basting brush
  • Clean, sanitized sheet pans: DO NOT SPRAY


One thing my husband desperately misses is the Minnesota State Fair. It is the one time of year that he can find watermelon cotton candy. Years ago, my mother got him a small machine for Christmas. Every once and blue moon he will buy powder to make his own. I discovered, however, that you can use non glazed hard candy in the small machines. I am a baker so why not just make him some of my own recipe.

Watermelon Candy
Ingredients

Sugar        10 1/4 ounces
Glucose   3 3/8 ounces
Water       2 1/4 ounces

Flavoring/Color: As desired
Recipes
  1. Heat all ingredients to 284*F
  2. Add color and flavor, heat to 311*F
  3. Cool until no bubbles visible.
  4. Pour into silicone molds or onto silicone mat in pan
Storage: Air tight container in cool dry place.

 My husband always keeps gourmet gummy bears in stock. Luckily, they are about five dollars a 1# bag, which is a great price in my book. What if I could create them? I have heard you can do them with juice. I looked online and, in my cookbooks, to formulate a recipe. Here is the one I came up with.

Gummy Candy: Bears & Emojis
Ingredients
Fruit Juice                            1 cup
Powdered Gelatin              4 envelops
Corn Syrup                          1/3 cup
Lemon Juice                        2 Tablespoon

Recipe
  1. Stir all ingredients together in a copper/steal sauce pan
  2. Gently stir and heat to a boil
  3. Allow to simmer until gelatin is dissolved
  4. Removed from heat a allow to cool slightly for use
  5. More or drop liquid into silicone molds
  6. Allow to chill 3-4 hours, until set
  7. After set allow to air dry for 1-2 hours. Candy will firm and tighten.
Storage: Air tight container or bag for up to 10 days. High heat can cause molding, refrigerate as need
Printable Recipe
I saved the simplest for last just to try some new, peanut butter fudge. This candy I am taking a chance with. I know my husband likes his grandmothers fudge. I don’t want to touch that yet. As spouses we know it’s hard to live up to those kinds of food expectations. I sure know he likes peanut butter. He does these snacks all the time called tortilla roll-ups. As it sounds, there is peanut butter smeared on flour tortilla, and rolled like little burritos.

Peanut Butter Fudge
Ingredients
Peanut Butter (cheaper the better)          1 cup
Sugar                                                               2 cups
Vanilla (clear if you can)                              1 teaspoon
Milk                                                                 1/2 cup

Recipe
  1. Melt ALL ingredients on medium heat until blended and creamy
  2. Pour into mixer with paddle whip until light in color, just cooled
  3. Poor onto silicone mat on a baking sheet, allow to completely cool before cutting
Storage: Air tight sealed container. Keep cool dry area.
Printable Recipe


All together each piece of candy has a special place for my husband. I have known him almost twenty years. His sweetness is his most endearing quality. Creating this basket for him was fun and easy. It seems to me that some of these recipes are intimidating. Be patient through this process and you can create a fun batch of fancy candies. With a little learning I was able to make a little basket of sweets for my sweet.

NOTE: Proceed with caution when working with hot sugar. It can reach high temperatures the can burn easily. Kids should work with an adult supervision.


  Has anyone else out there done man basket? I had such a fun time doing this I am sure to do another one

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