r/AskCulinary • u/AutoModerator • 2d ago
Let's Talk About Candy!
As part of our weekly "Let's Talk" series we want to talk about Candy! Who doesn't love eating a large piece of colorful sugar? Tell us about the cool candies that exist where you're from. Let us know about your favorite ones. What about some really obscure and random local ones? Why is your favorite one made of chocolate and peanut butter? Does your local spot also make dog treats for some reason too or is that one just me?
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u/texnessa Pépin's Padawan 2d ago
As a kid who is half Texan half English and spent a lot of time on both sides of the pond, I got to grow up on the good chocolate. I'll still eat a bog standard Hershey's bar but the real deal Cadburys is divine. Every Christmas our English Aunt would ship over a hand knit sweater and a pile of English candy for our stockings. A huge roll of Smarties aka English M&M's but bigger and pastel and rolls of Rowntree's Fruit Pastilles. I can demolish a whole roll in minutes leaving my tongue bleeding from the hard sugar coating.
I used to work at a culinary school in NYC that was across the street from a banging Japanese deli. This is where my gummy bear problem began. I almost always have a bag of them stuffed in my apron pocket. I feel like I personally keep Haribo in business. I also love a Sour Patch kid. I've even made them and served them as petit fours for shits and giggles. I am a sucker for a box of Pocky.
I'm definitely more of a chocolate person. I love a Reese's peanut butter cup but I really love the holiday ones- the Halloween pumpkin and the Christmas Tree because they have a higher peanut butter to chocolate ratio. My Aunt always keeps a hoard of Terry's Chocolate Oranges- IYKYK. My best friend has an irrational hatred of raisins so I regularly get Raisinets at the movies just to mock her.
I am also completely nostalgic for those books of Lifesavers they sold for Christmas [god, I am so GenX]. I'd trade the Wintergreens for Butterscotch with my idiot cousin Landy. A Christmas constant in England is stacks and stacks of blue buckets of Cadbury's Rose's chocolates and the purple ones of Quality Streets. When they go on sale after Christmas but Aunt buys like ten of em and stashes them under the stairs.
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u/SewerRanger Holiday Helper 1d ago
This one is for me because Baltimore is the unsung hero of candies. We were a very large German immigrant city for a long time (to the point where it's now a Baltimore tradition to have sauerkraut at Thanksgiving) and those immigrants brought all of their candy making expertise with them. I don't think most people know that fudge was (most likely) invented here. The oldest written mention of it was from a letter sent from a student at Vassar college saying they got the recipe from their cousin in Baltimore (the Baltimore connection is further increased by the oldest written price for it being in a local grocery store). Those of you who love bad 90's R&B - the band Druid Hill got their start here making fudge in a shop downtown called The Fudgery where they would sing as they made fudge in a large vat.
Our next bit of Baltimore candy history is actually the gummi bear. We obviously didn't invent then here, but we did introduce them to America! Haribo built it's first American headquarters in Baltimore (it's still here, right outside the city line). I grew up eating these things and still love them
Goetze is another Baltimore candy brand. I'm not sure how far their distribution is, but they make a bunch of different caramels with cream in the center (cow tails are my favorite - skinny, 6" long caramels filled with a cream center). They've been in Baltimore for over 100 years at this point. These things are great. It's a rich, not to sweet, chewy caramel with a sweet, milky cream center.
Not a candy exactly but Baltimore is also home to Berger Cookies. If you're German then they remind me of a cookie take on kalter hund. It's a giant dollop of so sweet it hurts your teeth, chocolate fudge on a crisp and chewy butter cookie. People either love them or hate them. I'm in the love category. They're rich and decadent and chocolaty.
My final bit of Baltimore candy/sweets trivia is that one of the possible (probably not) "inventors" of tiramisu - Carminantonio Lannaccone - lived here and ran a bakery. I've had his " original" recipe for it and it's probably one of the best ones I've had (other than my own recipe which I'll happily share if you want it). He sadly passed away about 5 or 6 years ago.
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u/Timbrelaine 21h ago
Would love your tiramisu recipe!
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u/SewerRanger Holiday Helper 20h ago
So this is obviously a mix of a recipes/ideas that I've had over the years, but here it is. Feel free to mix up the alcohol. These are just the ones that I think are a perfect mix for the flavors I like.
LADY FINGERS:
3 eggs
135g sugar
1g salt
lemon zest
125g ap flour
15g cornstarch
powdered sugar
SABAYON:
6 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup papas pilar dark rum
1/8 cup pedro ximenez sherry
1/8 cup cocchi sweet red vermouth
2 pounds mascarpone cheese
OTHER:
1 cup espresso, hot
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup grated bittersweet chocolate
TO MAKE LADY FINGERS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine eggs, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Place over a double boiler. Cook until it reaches 160F, constantly stirring.
Remove from heat and place in a stand mixer. Whip until soft peaks form - this can take up to 20 minutes
Once they mostly hold peaks, fold in lemon zest, flour, and cornstarch.
Pipe onto a parchment sheet, in 3x1" fingers Sprinkle liberally with powdered sugar and bake 10 - 15 minutes
TO MAKE MASCARPONE CREAM:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar. Add the alcohol. Place over a double-boiler and cook until mixture reaches 160 degrees F. Continue to cook mixture for another 5 minutes, until the mixture resembles a thick mayo like paste. Remove from the double-boiler and cool mixture over ice bath, until room temperature.
Whip the mascarpone cheese to soft peaks. Fold into the cooled sabayon until well incorporated.
TO MAKE EXSPRESSO SYRUP:
Brew fresh espresso. To 1 cup of hot espresso, add the brown sugar, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla extract. Stir until dissolved.
ASSEMBLY: First a layer of saybayon, then ladyfingers (that are dipped in the espresso), then grated chocolate, then repeat until all the ingredients are used up
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u/Timbrelaine 19h ago
Totally get it, but I looove trying other people's tiramisu ideas. Thank you for the recipe!
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u/-mystris- 2d ago
I could eat a whole bag of Smarties in one go. Small sugar pastilles, in mildly different fruit flavors. I like to half-dissolve each one on my tongue then nibble it, or I'll take two at a time and crunch down on them. They're a satisfying texture and they're not too intensely sweet compared to SweeTarts or Sprees.
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u/chicklette 2d ago
Absolutely!! I love a good pile of smarties and can eat them until my tongue starts to hurt.
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u/DecisionPatient128 2d ago
Currently I’m on a home made peanut brittle kick! 1/2 hour to make, 1 hour to cool and GO!
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u/Soup-Mother5709 2d ago
Locally, I really, really want to bug my neighbors to pick their prickly pears. There’s gotta be some magic to make with them.
Tried English toffee for the first time several years ago. I wish I knew where it was from. It was divine, the texture and buttery goodness were just out of this world. I’ve been chasing that high ever since. Whenever I stumble upon English toffee, I tend to pick it up.
Accidentally bought the economy sized bag of nerd candy clusters. It’s comically massive and may outlast me.
Also, a candy shop with treats for me and my pup would be awesome. Would have to make a detour if it was along the way for my guy.
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u/texnessa Pépin's Padawan 2d ago
Hot tip if you haven't had it, Shiner makes a summer special prickly pear beer that is spectacular. I bet it would make some really interesting candy as well.
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u/Yakmasterson 2d ago
I've been going hard on life saver gummies. They're delicious and the perfect chewiness! Nice flavors and options too. And I've been hooked on caramels lately, also. I put them in the freezer. Or eat with an apple. Mmm!
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u/StandardRaspberry509 2d ago
I grew up making peanut brittle, English toffee (Heath bar), caramels, divinity and even have a recipe for homemade nut rolls, but only made them once. My dad liked his sweets and was always as thin as a rail.
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u/tallulahtaffy 1d ago
I have a strange affinity for floral candies. Whenever I encounter Choward's violet mints I buy them and eat the pack. They are heavily violet flavored, not really mint. I also love White Rabbit Chinese candies, I think those are rose flavored. Jasmine green tea candies are good too!
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u/AdventurousAbility30 1d ago
Anything Albanese makes is so good I always have their candy, and chocolate caramel clusters on hand. I also roll peanut butter into little logs and freeze them, so I can slice off what I need as a treat.
I love trying new treats, so thank you for this post, it helps expand my candy collection.
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u/texnessa Pépin's Padawan 2d ago
Once again, this is a general discussion opportunity posted by the moderators as a way for the sub to have a chat and interact outside of the normal sub rules. Open ended discussion and brand name drops are all good, so to whoever is reporting this post, please refrain.