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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, June 14, 2022
Updated: Tuesday, October 11, 2022
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Brittle is a great summer treat, because it can stand up to warm summer temps all while satisfying the need for sweet, salty and whole lot of crunch! This week we’re sharing 5 quick tips from RCI members who are known for their brittles, among their other delightful treats, Joy Lyn’s Candies of Paradise, California. Keep reading as we troubleshoot common problems faced when making brittle and how to resolve them. - Crystallization can be caused by an incomplete wash-down of the kettle, mixing blade and other utensils used while making brittle. This means not all sugars have dissolved which will create a grainy texture.
- Sticky brittle could be the result of undercooking the batch, creating higher than desired moisture content.
- Alternatively, cooking brittle at too high of a temperature can lead to a scorched or bitter flavor.
- Butter your table top before pouring the batch to prevent it from sticking to the table.
- Brittle that is too hard and thick can happen if you use a fan to cool your mixture, allowing it to set too quickly. Avoid the use of a fan to cool mixture and work quickly to thin and spread brittle.
Joy Lyn's Glenn Hartley works quickly to create crisp, buttery peanut brittle. Game Changing Tools for Working with Brittle
Sometimes even perfect formulations can only get you so far, here’s a couple of Joy Lyn’s favorite tools for crafting drool-worthy brittles with consistency. As seen in the series of photos above, Glenn Hartley uses Tucker BurnGuard safety gloves and a heavy-duty scraper fashioned from the lid of a food-grade bucket. Finding the right heat-resistant gloves will not only protect your skin from burns, they allow you to spread hot brittle thinly and quickly. Joy Lyn’s wears high-temperature Tucker BurnGuard® safety gloves over white cotton gloves to lessen the heat. Sometimes a standard scraper is just not enough for confections, like brittle, that require a high-level of heat. Joy Lyn’s repurposes the lid of a food-grade corn syrup bucket to fashion their own heavy-duty scrapers, perfect for scraping the kettle and spread the hot brittle mixture after it’s poured. With the use of a bandsaw, they cut the bucket’s lid in half to achieve the desired shape. The result is a scraper that is thicker, larger and can better withstand high heat. Hopefully these tips will not only help you to identify and correct problem areas with brittle, but also achieve thinner, flavorful brittle with just the right amount of crunch! Crave more?Click here to subscribe and start receiving weekly tips, like this, delivered straight to your email inbox. RCI's blog is just one of the many resources we offer to help candy makers refine their craft and build upon their business and marketing practices. Follow us on Facebook for even more sweet inspiration. Not a member? Click here to learn how RCI can help you build your sweet business.
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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
Updated: Wednesday, April 29, 2020
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Add a little holiday “cheers” to your confections this season. Perfect for holiday parties and gifts, we’ve curated three ideas from RCI members that incorporate beer, wine and spirits into their confections.
Beer Brittle
Joy Lyn’s Candies of Paradise, California partners with a local brewery to create a peanut brittle made with Sierra Nevada’s Pale Ale. Coined as “Beer Brittle,” this popular confection is made in small batches and offers a subtle hint of hops and malt. Given the popularity of the product, Sierra Nevada has allowed Joy Lyn’s to display their logo prominently on the front of the brittle packaging. Joy Lyn’s continues to expand their line of Sierra Nevada flavored products, including a jalapeno beer brittle and a Hop Salt Sout Caramel, as its name suggests, the caramels are sprinkled with salt infused with hops.
Irish Whiskey Truffle Shots
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KakaoChocolatepresented their Irish whiskey truffle shots
toRCI members during Candy Clinic at the 2016
Annual Convention in Indianapolis.
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Kakao Chocolate of St. Louis, Missouri has developed an indulgent Irish Whiskey Truffle Shot, by piping Irish whiskey ganache into recyclable sample cups and topped with cocoa nibs. When making the ganache, they add the whiskey at the end so the alcohol doesn’t cook out. If your store hosts a holiday open house, this would be a fun and unexpected treat for adult guests.
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Elevated Candy Co.sharedtheir black currant brandy-infused truffles
withRCI members during Candy Clinic at the 2016
Fall Conference in Vancouver, BC. |
Black Currant Brandy-Infused Truffles
Elevated Candy Co. of Port Townsend, Washington took the popular pairing of wine and chocolate to create the Black Currant Truffle. This popular confection is made by incorporating a local black currant-infused brandywine into their ganache and finishing the piece with a dash of red Hawaiian alea sea salt.
If you decide to incorporate beer, wine or spirits into your confections, know that regulations vary from state to state. Check with your local liquor control commission and familiarize yourself with regulations put in place by your state, as many prohibit the sale of confections that contain alcohol.
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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Updated: Wednesday, April 29, 2020
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‘Tis the season for experimenting with flavors. Research has shown consumers are more open to trying new products and flavors seasonally. Familiarize yourself with this secret flavor weapon to ensure your flavors offer maximum impact that customers won’t soon forget!
Dating as far back to 350 BC, Aristotle first identified the two most basic tastes, sweet and bitter. Thanks to Aristotle and other inquisitive minds, most of us are familiar with the four basic tastes identified by the human palette; salty, sweet, bitter and sour. It’s only been since 2002 that umami has been identified as the fifth taste.
Umami makes a great partner with chocolate because it can balance the bitterness of cocoa and enhance sweetness. Often described as “savory,” “delicious,” “dimensional” and “mouthwatering,” the characteristics of umami are difficult for most of us to discern and even describe. However understanding how to harness the fifth flavor could unleash a secret weapon for chocolatiers.
At the very basic level, umami shares similar characteristics to salty and savory flavors, which can be found in hard cheeses, pickled vegetables and cured meats. Although even the most daring chocolatiers would have a difficult time incorporating many umami ingredients into a truffle, some ingredients are more versatile than others.
Cheese
Tiramisu and cheesecake are popular desserts made with fresh cheeses, however chocolate and parmesan are not unheard of. Take it from these daring cheese lovers for inspiration on how to make taste buds melt with desire for this flavor combination.
Black Truffles
The more obscure of the two “truffles” in the confectionery industry, the earthy flavor of a black truffle marries quite well with chocolate and nuts. The Mast Brothers of Brooklyn create their own blend of 74% cacao with Oregon black truffles and sea salt for their seasonal Black Truffle Chocolate Bar, available October through May.
Miso
Gearharts Fine Chocolates takes salted caramels to the next level by adding Japanese Miso and toasted sesame seeds to their caramels.
Bacon
The coveted bacon may already be gracing your shelves, but Sir Francis Bacon’s play on sweet and salty peanut brittle with umami-rich bacon is sure to leave bacon lovers drooling for more.
Sake
Sake is another source for umami flavor. It has been said that sake accentuates the taste of chocolate more so than fine wine. Xocolatti incorporates sake distilled from Thai-style rice into their ganache as a pleasantly surprising complement to the dark chocolate.
If incorporating these umami flavors into your product line puts you well beyond your comfort zone, start by simply adding a pinch of kosher salt to one of your current pieces for a little added umami zing. Note how it changes the flavor and share your experience.
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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Updated: Wednesday, April 29, 2020
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As the temperature outside starts to cool, heat things up by adding sweet and spicy treats to your product lineup. Not only are spicy flavors incredibly trendy right now, a little heat from red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper can produce a more dynamic flavor in any confection. As a general rule, spice balances sweet and vice versa. If you have a product that has been described as “too sweet,” try adding a hint of spice to the recipe to better balance the sweetness.
Javier Sanchez, with Savage Bros. Co., took a traditional confection to the next level during his demonstration at last week’s Philadelphia Candy Show. Red Pepper Peanut Brittle is perfect for chilly tailgate parties and bonfires, or as a gift for the heat-seekers among us.
Red Pepper Peanut Brittle
Recipe by Savage Bros. Co.
Ingredients:
4.5 lbs sugar
3 lbs corn syrup
1.5 lbs water
4.5 lbs raw peanuts
1 lb butter
.38 oz vanilla
1.13 oz baking soda
.5 oz salt
2.5 tsp red pepper flakes
Instructions:
Prepare cooling table with warm water flow. Set kettle temperature to 400 degrees. Place sugar, corn syrup and water in kettle and bring to a boil. At 250 degrees, slowly add peanuts so not to decrease temperature. At 280 degrees, add butter.
At 290 degrees, turn off heat and start the water flush for 45 seconds. Add red pepper flakes and mix. Add salt, baking soda and vanilla. This will allow brittle temperature to reach 300 degrees by the time it’s finished mixing.
When ingredients are thoroughly incorporated, pour onto warm table or tray and either shake pan or use a spatula to spread brittle to desired thickness. Slowly start to cool table down.
Tags:
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