Candy And Cream Ribbon Recipes

CANDY RIBBON

Steps:

• Before you begin this recipe, please take a class from a professional on working with sugar. This is a skill that professional pastry chefs develop after years of experience. Working with sugar will burn your fingers so know before you start that your fingers will develop burn blisters. Place the sugar, vinegar and water in a saucepan over high heat. Insert a candy thermometer and cook until the sugar reaches 320 degrees F. Use a pastry brush to keep the inside of the saucepan clean as the sugar cooks or the sugar may recrystallize. To do this, dip a clean brush in cold water and brush the inside of the pan clean. Pour the cooked sugar onto 3 or 4 silicone baking mats. If you want to color and/or flavor the sugar with food colors and/or flavored oils, this is the time to do so. Add a few drops of color to the sugar. Mix with a wooden skewer. To get started, push the sugar from the sides toward the center. This process takes a little while. Try to keep the sugar divided by color. Use the mat to push the firm sugar around the edges toward the center. Use a folding motion to accomplish that task. The next step is to pick up the sugar with your hands. Place each color under the heat of the sugar lamp. Pull the sugar until it becomes glossy and the color is evenly distributed. You will need to pull the colors simultaneously. Keep them under the sugar lamp but keep an eye on them. The lamp can melt the sugar so it is important keep rotating it and folding it onto itself.
• Start with 2 colors. I used green (mint) and yellow (lemon). Place the sugar pieces side- to-side. Pull and lengthen. Cut in half. Place them side-to-side again. Pull to lengthen. Cut in half and place them side-to-side. Now you have a flat piece of sugar that you are pulling long. Cut off the ends, (they are bulky), when the sugar starts to harden. Make some waves to create the ribbon. Join the 2 edges to make a circular ribbon. Voila! Beautiful for the holidays.

OLD-FASHIONED RIBBON CANDY RECIPE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Prepare four cookie sheets by spraying them with nonstick cooking spray or covering them with a light layer of oil.
• Preheat oven to 200 F. Combine sugar, corn syrup, and water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring continuously, until sugar dissolves.
• Insert a candy thermometer and continue cooking without stirring until candy reaches 285 F (soft-crack stage).
• Once the proper temperature is reached, remove candy from heat immediately and stir in peppermint extract.
• Pour 1/3 of the mixture onto a prepared cookie sheet and place it in the heated oven to stay warm.
• Pour another 1/3 onto a second sheet and sprinkle green food coloring on top. Place this sheet in the oven as well.
• Add red food coloring to remaining 1/3 of candy.
• Pour candy out onto a marble slab or heat-safe cutting board. Allow it to sit briefly until it forms a "skin."
• Spray a bench scraper or heat-safe spatula with nonstick cooking spray, and use the tool to begin spreading candy out and pushing it back together, working it across the board and allowing it to cool. Don't forget to check out the instructions showing how to pull candy if you get confused about the process.
• As soon as the candy is cool enough to handle, but still quite hot, begin to pull it. If you have plastic gloves, put them on and spray the gloves with nonstick cooking spray-this will help prevent overheated or burned hands. Take candy in both hands and pull hands in opposite directions, stretching candy into a long rope.
• Bring ends of strands together and twist candy into a rope.
• Then pull rope out into a long strand.
• Continue to twist and pull candy until it has a satin-like finish and is an opaque red color.
• Once candy is still pliable, but barely warm, pull it into a strand about 2 inches thick, and place it on remaining prepared baking sheet. Put this sheet back into oven, and remove baking sheet with uncolored candy syrup. The pulled candy will remain pliable in the warm oven while you work the second portion.
• Repeat pulling procedure with the second, uncolored portion of candy. In the end, candy should be a pearly white color.
• Form into a log 2 inches in diameter, just like red candy.
• Repeat pulling procedure with last, green portion of candy. In the end, candy should be an opaque and satiny green color.
• Form into a log 2 inches in diameter.
• Remove candies from oven. Cut a 5-inch segment from each of the green, white, and red logs, and place them next to each other on fourth greased cookie sheet, with the white in the middle.
• Begin to pull candies together, gently molding them together as candy gets thinner. Try to end up with a very thin piece of tri-colored candy 1-inch in height.
• Once twisted candy is the shape you want, use oiled kitchen shears to cut them to into approximately 6- to 8-inch lengths.
• Immediately push them into a ribbon shape and place them on a baking sheet to set at room temperature.
• Repeat pulling and cutting with remaining candy.
• If candy gets too hard to pull, place in the warm oven for a few minutes to soften, but don't let it sit too long and melt.
• The ribbons will get very hard at room temperature, but if left out for long periods of time they will get soft and sticky, so be sure to wrap them in cellophane once set.

BLUE RIBBON CREAMY CARAMELS

Steps:

• Spray a large loaf pan or 8-inch square baking dish with cooking spray.
• Stir white sugar, 3/4 cup cream, corn syrup, butter, vinegar, and salt together in a heavy pot; bring to a boil. Stir in remaining cream. Cook, stirring constantly, until caramel is 244 degrees F (117 degrees C), or until a small amount of caramel dropped into cold water forms a firm but pliable ball, 10 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool briefly.
• Stir walnuts and vanilla extract into caramel; pour caramel into prepared baking dish. Cool completely, at least 1 hour. Turn baking dish over onto a flat work surface to remove cooled caramel from dish; cut caramel into serving pieces.

RIBBON FANTASY FUDGE

Steps:

• Line a 9-in. square pan with foil and grease the foil with 2 teaspoons butter; set aside. In a large heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, milk and remaining butter. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 4 minutes over medium heat, stirring to prevent scorching. Remove from the heat and set aside., Divide marshmallow creme between 2 heat-resistant bowls; add chocolate chips and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla to 1 bowl, and peanut butter and remaining vanilla to the other. Pour half of sugar mixture into each bowl., Stir chocolate mixture until smooth and pour into prepared pan; stir peanut butter mixture and carefully pour over chocolate layer. Refrigerate until firm. , Using foil, lift fudge out of pan. Discard foil; cut fudge into 1-1/4-in. squares.

KENTUCKY CREAM CANDY

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients.
• Cook over medium heat but do not stir after mixture starts to boil.
• Continue boiling until mixture reaches 265 degrees on a candy thermometer.
• Pour on marble slab or cool hard surface.
• As edges cool, push toward center once.
• When cool enough to handle, pull with buttered hands (Keep hands cool with damp cloth).
• Pull and fold over in a half twist.
• When pulling is completed, cut into pieces with scissors.
• Makes approximately 30 half twists.
• Recipe History: an old recipe for cream candy.
• Candy is not hard like taffy but has a softer and smoother consistency.
• This candy tends to melt in your mouth.