Time To Mound On Some Science

 I'm not a huge fan of Mounds bars, but I thought that maybe I could improve them by adjusting their temperature. Turns out I was right.

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While you're at it, check out my book called Treats and Beasts, it'll make you happy I'm sure.

Candy In The Media - A Unique Way To Microwave Chocolate

I know this is a video demonstrating what would happen if you took the door off your microwave, but I appreciate that they use chocolate to test their theory.

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Amazing Candy/Junk Food Things That You Should Buy - Microwave Grilled Cheese

This one device can pretty much solve every problem I've ever had between 11 am and 2 pm.

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Candy In The Media

When I was a little kid, I was convinced that Orville Redenbacher was a fictional character, and the guy on TV was just an actor.  I learned later that this was in fact the man, and that he started his popcorn empire when he was only 12 years old.  This man changed the way we snack on foods, and he rocked a bow tie like no one else could.

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Orville You Amaze Me

A few months ago I made a special order of fun treats from home.  Every once in a while I crave some treats and foods that I can only get in Canada, things like Shreddies and Kraft Dinner just remind me of home and make me feel warm inside.  One of the things I ordered on this round was microwave popcorn.  Now you may be wondering why I would have microwave popcorn from so far away when you can pretty much buy the stuff all over the world.  This first reason is Mr Redenbacher, that man makes some mean popcorn.  It puffs up nicely, leaves very few un-popped kernels, and the fake butter flavour is stupendous.

 The other reason I placed this order was to try out their new microwave bowl technology.  Orville Redenbacher found a way to change their microwave bag into a bowl.  I have to admit that I was skeptical of this, and I figured I would just end up with the same floppy bag that I always get, only it would have an opening on the side.  As it turns out it not only works, it brings more entertainment to the popcorn popping experience.  While the bag is popping both sides of the bag are made from a red transparent plastic.  That means that for the first time ever, you can watch your microwave popcorn pop.  It seems like a trivial thing, but I assure you that if you buy this you'll watch at least one bag pop.

 As far as the bowl itself, it was really easy to open up.  You still have to be careful of the steam, and if you're like me you'll burn yourself at least once because you'll rush trying to open it.  The only fault I found with this design is that the red plastic doesn't seem to come off as easily as they say it would in the instructions.  I find that I have to work one end till I get to the middle, then I have to start on the other end. The instructions imply that it comes off in one easy tug.  This is only a problem because this is also the time you're most likely to get a steam burn.

Once the plastic is off, the bowl works perfectly.  I enjoyed a few bags of this wonderful treat watching movies at my house and the bowl sat nicely on my lap and on the table.  As always the popcorn popped very well, and the butter flavour was very well distributed.  I think that this might be the next great step in microwave popcorn technology.

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Candy News

Here's a fun game to play, how many of these UK chocolate bars have you sampled?

A few weeks back I had a debate over weather or not you "have" to toast Pop Tarts.  Apparently toasting isn't the only option.

American's will soon be celebrating Thanksgiving, and here's a few strange dessert ideas to serve with dinner.

Apparently there are rules about how children are allowed to consume candy, crushing up their Smarties (the American kind) and snorting them is apparently not cool.

The fact that I'm a visual artist and a candy food writer makes these sketchbooks made of cocoa the perfect Christmas gift.

Good idea: Enjoying your sweet treats fresh out of the package.  Bad idea: Microwaving them first.

Have you ever wondered who invented the cupcake, or when the jawbreakers first hit the scene?  Well wonder no more.

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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Chocolate Cake Experiments - The Microwave Cake

So far this week I've answered the question, can you make a cake too small, as well as can you fry a cake like a pancake.  Today I'm looking into a baking method that I've seen and heard of a few times, but I've always had my doubts about how well it would work.  Today I'm examining the microwaved cake.

When I researched this idea, I found many recipes involve mixing the batter in your mug.  I, to be more neutral, decided that I would just take my classic and simple chocolate cake recipe (courtesy of my mother in law) pour it into a mug, and microwave it.  My biggest worry was that these recipes might have some kind of quick leavening agent or liquid that would make my cake a total failure in the microwave.  I was also worried because I didn't really know how much batter to put into the mug.

I decided to follow the cooking time of most of the recipes, about 4 minutes at 750 watts.  It seemed like a really long time in a microwave, but it also seemed like too short a time to bake a cake.  Many of the recipes that I found said not to worry if you see your cake popping out of your mug, like the photo above, but I was worried because I wasn't really following the recipe exactly and I only guest the quantity.  It did drip over the sides a bit, but as it turns out it wasn't too hard to clean up afterwards.

When all was said and done, the cake did settle down to the bottom of the mug.  I thought that the best first test I could perform would be the toothpick test.  It's the same thing I would do if I was baking a cake regularly, and it seemed like a good way to check to see if my cake would be a gooey mess when I tried to take it out of the mug.  The toothpick came out clean, so I decided that it would probably be OK to flip out of the mug.

When I flipped it out of the mug I was shocked... it worked.  I had a mug of cake, or one might even say I had a cup cake.  It seemed pretty solid all the way down, and when I broke it in half it was solid all the way through.  I could tell, when I broke it in half, that it was a little more rubbery than my other cakes I've made with this recipe, but considering it was out of a microwave, it was pretty good.  When I tasted it, I found it to be fairly dry, much dryer than this recipe normally is in the oven.

Most of the websites suggest mixing things like chocolate chips into the cake mix before you microwave it.  That would probably go really far towards making the batter much moister.  A layer or two of icing might also help out with that as well.  While I wouldn't make this cake for anybody for a special event, it is a really fun parlour trick, and it's really impressive to watch it pulsate in the microwave.

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Friday's Candy Links

If you happen to find yourself in Chicago between November 16th and the 18th you might want to check out  the National Chocolate Show. (sadly you have to be in the candy business to attend)

Haribo gets fined 2.9 million for "for improperly sharing information on sales negotiations with three rivals".  That's a lot of gummy bears.

According to a new study, microwave popcorn may cause Alzheimer.

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Don't Put Gummy Bears in The Microwave Oven

Not only is it cruel, but it also makes a big mess.  Instead, you can watch this video of other people being cruel and making a big mess instead.

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Microwave Popcorn Test

The folks at Cockeyed decided, randomly, to find out if a bag of microwave popcorn weighs the same after it's popped.  The answer is both obvious and interesting.

Click here to read more.

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Microwave Popcorn's Got Me Down

I really don't understand the true science behind microwaves. I've taken a food science class and I understand the principle to the point that the microwave excites molecules causing them to move faster thus generating heat. I also understand that popcorn is basically a kernel of dry popcorn with a drop of moisture in the middle that explodes when the moisture is heated up.

What I don't understand is how my microwave stopped being able to pop popcorn. Are the molecules not moving so much, is there some kind of leak? Should I be worried about my health? I thought that maybe it had something to do with me being "thrifty" with my choice of popcorn, but Redenbacher has failed me now too. I have three more bags and no new microwave in sight for the near future, dare I try again?

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