I’m a candymaking machine (which only makes me think of that famous I Love Lucy episode in the candy factory). I made Martha’s Winter Bark from page 228 of the December Living.

If you’re afraid of candymaking, this is a recipe for you. You melt bittersweet chocolate and white chocolate. Martha says to use a double boiler, but being a gal of the modern age, I used the microwave ( I am just so cutting edge). Then you mix some peanuts in the bittersweet chocolate and dump it out on a piece of waxed paper or parchment on a baking sheet. Then drop glops of the white chocolate over it and swirl it with a skewer or cake tester. Let it cool

then break it into pieces. Super, super simple. It tastes pretty good. Nothing incredibly exciting, but good. Next time, I would use almonds instead of peanuts. This candy is really pretty and makes a nice gift.

I’ve also made two other candy recipes recently. One is called

Opera Fudge, and is something I saw on Martha last year. I don’t have any photos to post from this because my hands were coated in candy throughout the process. Basically you cook the candy to soft ball stage, pour it out and let it cool. Then you plop your butt in a comfy chair, in front of a tv show which you do not want to change the channel of (because you’re not going to be able to change it), and you knead the candy for about half an hour. At one point I became a little panicked. I was home alone and all I could think of was the house starting on fire and me being unable to open the door to get out because my hands were coated in a huge, horrible, nasty sticky mess.

It was truly weird though. Just when you reach that panicked point where you think the candy has come to life and is going to eat you alive, it gets warm and morphs into a ball and is no longer sticky at all. Very, very strange. Then you make balls and dip it in chocolate. The consensus here was that it tasted good but was not worth all the effort.

I’m a candymaking machine (which only makes me think of that famous I Love Lucy episode in the candy factory). I made Martha’s Winter Bark from page 228 of the December Living. If you’re afraid of candymaking, this is a recipe for you. You melt bittersweet chocolate and white chocolate. Martha says to use a … Read more →

I’ve decided to give some candy as gifts this year. I’m using some of Martha’s recipes for this endeavor.

On page 226 of December Living is a recipe for Penuche Fudge. I had never heard of this fudge, but it sounded good.

This was a very easy recipe. I boiled evaporated milk, brown sugar, white sugar, butter and salt. It has to get to 236 degrees on a candy thermometer. Fortunately, I have one. I’ve even made candy before, so I wasn’t as terrified as I might have been if this was all new to me.

I always forget how long it takes for candy to reach the right temp. You can be cruising right along up to 200 degrees and then it will take what seem like an hour to crawl up to that soft ball stage.

Once the candy reached the right temp, you mix in powdered sugar for about 4 minutes until it is smooth. Then you add vanilla and nuts (I used pecan instead of walnuts) and pour into a loaf pan.

Very simple, very nice. The candy tastes good. It’s got a caramel flavor and because it is fudge, it is not hard to chew. I would say it is good, but not great.

If you want a fab candy, I’ve got an amazing one for you. The December issue of Paula Deen’s mag has a recipe for a Kit Kat bar that is awesome! It’s made with crackers and is really simple.

I’ve decided to give some candy as gifts this year. I’m using some of Martha’s recipes for this endeavor. On page 226 of December Living is a recipe for Penuche Fudge. I had never heard of this fudge, but it sounded good. This was a very easy recipe. I boiled evaporated milk, brown sugar, white … Read more →