Candy News

In 20 years, will we be eating the same amount and the same quality of chocolate?

I can't say that I've ever been in a store that specializes in Mexican candy before, but I'd like to.

New custom Ring Pops sound really great, if only I could propose to my wife again.

With the price of cocoa going up, chocolate makers are starting to change their recipes to keep prices down.

If you happen to visiting Chicago, you might want to sample some of their fine caramels.

When your box of chocolates says "Belgian Chocolate", it might not have actually been made in Belgium.  But that's going to change.

Watching candy getting made is a thrill, watching donuts getting made is the best way to start your day... assuming you have a donut in hand to deal with the serious craving you will have.

To dunk or not to dunk, according to science you'd better dunk.

If you've managed to avoid eating all of your Easter chocolate, here's a great guide to keeping your chocolate fresh.

If you want to keep up with all of the daily candy news that we come across as it happens, follow us on Twitter.

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Baking Today - Last Minute Churros

I had grand plans to cut back on the baking until I finished with my holiday adventure extravaganza (more on that later), and then a last minute lunch event came up.  More importantly a theme for a lunch event came up (Mexican) and I felt that this was a great time to flex my new adventurous baking spirit and try to make a Mexican dessert.  The only dessert I could think of that seemed attainable was churros.

I've never made churros before, and frankly I had no idea what I was getting myself into.  I did a little research on the internet and the first thing I discovered is that they appear to be very quick to make.  Most recipes said that it was a 20 to 30 minute recipe.  That is very true, but you will be working hard for that 20 to 30 minutes.  First of all the dough for the churros is really thick (kind of like play-dough) , and really difficult to pipe through a bag.

Secondly if you make your churros too small they explode... not violently or anything, but they fall apart in the deep fry oil.  My 20 to 30 minutes turned into an hour or so, mostly due to the learning curve and the few omissions from the recipes I looked up.

But in the end I think I had a churro success story.  I had to roll them by hand instead of using a piping bag, but that was actually kind of fun.  Sure they looked kind of funny, but I think if I took my time rolling them, instead of doing it in a rush because my guests were waiting for dessert, they would have looked a lot better.  Either way I was happy, my guests seemed happy, and I think they tasted great.

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Thursday's Candy Links

Hey all you Canadian Pizza fanatics, Pizza Hut has made the perfect cologne for you.

Mexico is thinking of a 50% gum tax, you'd think that wouldn't mean much until you learn that Mexicans are the 2nd largest consumers of gum in the world.

An eighth grade girl is asking Hasbro to create an Easy-Bake Oven that her brother will feel comfortable using.  Gordon Ramsay might want to look into some kind of cross promotion on this one.

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Spreads - Salsa

I just finished an art piece for bewarethecheese.com's fine art gallery "Senses". For this piece I had to photograph, and eventually eat more than 40 different spreads.  I've decided to post a little something about each spread that I sampled.

I think Jerry Seinfeld knows the most about salsa:

George: Why don't they have salsa on the table?
Jerry: What do you need salsa for?
George: Salsa is now the number one condiment in America.
Jerry: You know why? Because people like to say "salsa." "Excuse me, do you have any salsa?" We need more salsa." "Where's the salsa? No salsa?"
George: You know, it must be impossible for a Spanish person to order seltzer and not get salsa. "I wanted seltzer, not salsa!"
Jerry: "Don't you know the difference between seltzer and salsa?! You have the seltzer after the salsa!"

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Spreads - Guacamole

I just finished an art piece for bewarethecheese.com's fine art gallery "Senses". For this piece I had to photograph, and eventually eat more than 40 different spreads.  I've decided to post a little something about each spread that I sampled.

Is an avocado a fruit?  It seems like it should be a fruit, however it really isn't like any other fruit I know.  It might be a vegetable, but then it's applications seem more fruit like.  It's not sweet, and in fact it's very oily.  This is a real mystery.

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Candy Art - Cookie Recipe

I don't normally link to recipes on this site, particularly when I'm talking about art, but I just couldn't resist this post.

These cookies look great, and the recipe is fairly simple.  It's also perfect for the upcoming Cinco de Mayo.

Click here to check out the recipe.

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Ice Cream Tex-Mex

Food that looks like other food.  It's a pretty cool thing, particularly in the candy world.  Today's ice cream review in our National Ice Cream Month ice cream review-a-thon, we're examining just such a treat.  Is it tex-mex, or is it a cool treat?  Speaking of great tex-mex cool treats, if you ever happen to have the opportunity to try some Mexican fried ice cream I highly recommend it.

Click here to read the latest ice cream review.

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Church Offers Chocolate Fest, Including Chocolate Chili

In Rock Hill a local church had it's annual chocolate fest for charity and one of their most popular dishes was chocolate chili.  Apparently people line up early on to make sure they get a bowl of this cocoa delight.  I can see it working as well.  Many Mexican dishes traditionally had (and in some cases still have) chocolate in them.  Apparently a chocolate guacamole is something we all must try, according to some Spanish friends of mine.

Click here to read about the church event and the chocolate chili.

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Politics and Candy

In the past I never really gave much thought into the amount of politics that goes into candy. When I say politics I mean the amount that candy companies have to deal with government policies and taxes in order to stay in business. The few times I've had to send candy over borders and the many times I've received candy over borders has shown me what can really happen to people just trying to do business.

Click here to learn about a problem shipping candy to Mexico.

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History Of Chocolate In Mexico

You'll be pretty surprised at the kind of history Mexico has with chocolate if you don't know much about it already.

Click here, learn, be educated.

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