Sugar Baby (preview)

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sugarbaby

the

SUGAR, BABY! Cross a rock hard candy with a caramel and you’ve got the non plus ultra, in my humble opinion, of candy.

If you need a comparable treat to wrap your head around this deliciousness, think of a Sugar Daddy. There’s nothing like that chewy sugar lock-jaw, that filling-extracting, unintentional-drool-producing goodness. Don’t even think about biting down on this when it’s first introduced into your mouth—just let it ride around a bit until it relents just enough for you to get your chew on. The beauty of this treat is that it works just as well as a lollipop as it does a single wrap candy. And with flavor options, you can mix it up with an array of delightful infusions for you to enjoy while your teeth are fused together by that delightful fixative that is The Sugar, Baby! |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Makes 18 candies

sugar

2 cups

xx oz

corn syrup

1 cup

xx oz

unsalted butter

1½ sticks or 12 tablespoons

xx g

salt (plus 1 teaspoon large-flake sea salt for sprinkling on finished caramel)

1 teaspoon

xx g

heavy cream

½ cup

xx oz

vanilla bean paste

1 tablespoon

xx g

4 When the sugar syrup reaches 310°F, turn off the heat and add the warm cream. The addition of the cream will cause the caramel to bubble vigorously, so step back until the caramel storm has passed. If the temperature of the mixture has dipped below 275°F, warm the caramel mixture until you reach that temperature and then remove from heat.

5 Add butter, stirring constantly, until the butter is completely melted and has emulsified (i.e., you don’t want any butter floating separately from the rest of the caramel).

1 In a 4-quart saucepan, warm corn syrup and sugar over low heat, stirring, until the sugar has melted.

6 Pour the caramel into a parchment-lined dish and sprinkle with remaining sea salt. Score the caramel while it’s still warm so that you can break it into even pieces when it’s completely cool; alternately, you can cut pieces while the candy is still a little warm and malleable. Allow to set until completely cool, about 1 hour. Snap into 1-inch squares along your score lines and wrap in pieces of parchment. The caramels will keep about 2 weeks.

2 Raise heat to medium-high/high and clip on your candy thermometer. Heat to 310°F. 3 In the meantime, heat the cream and the vanilla bean paste together in a small saucepan until they just begin to simmer. You can also microwave the two in a nuke-safe bowl for a minute. Keep warm.

2

sugarbaby

3

sugarbaby

the

SUGAR, BABY! Cross a rock hard candy with a caramel and you’ve got the non plus ultra, in my humble opinion, of candy.

If you need a comparable treat to wrap your head around this deliciousness, think of a Sugar Daddy. There’s nothing like that chewy sugar lock-jaw, that filling-extracting, unintentional-drool-producing goodness. Don’t even think about biting down on this when it’s first introduced into your mouth—just let it ride around a bit until it relents just enough for you to get your chew on. The beauty of this treat is that it works just as well as a lollipop as it does a single wrap candy. And with flavor options, you can mix it up with an array of delightful infusions for you to enjoy while your teeth are fused together by that delightful fixative that is The Sugar, Baby! |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Makes 18 candies

sugar

2 cups

xx oz

corn syrup

1 cup

xx oz

unsalted butter

1½ sticks or 12 tablespoons

xx g

salt (plus 1 teaspoon large-flake sea salt for sprinkling on finished caramel)

1 teaspoon

xx g

heavy cream

½ cup

xx oz

vanilla bean paste

1 tablespoon

xx g

4 When the sugar syrup reaches 310°F, turn off the heat and add the warm cream. The addition of the cream will cause the caramel to bubble vigorously, so step back until the caramel storm has passed. If the temperature of the mixture has dipped below 275°F, warm the caramel mixture until you reach that temperature and then remove from heat.

5 Add butter, stirring constantly, until the butter is completely melted and has emulsified (i.e., you don’t want any butter floating separately from the rest of the caramel).

1 In a 4-quart saucepan, warm corn syrup and sugar over low heat, stirring, until the sugar has melted.

6 Pour the caramel into a parchment-lined dish and sprinkle with remaining sea salt. Score the caramel while it’s still warm so that you can break it into even pieces when it’s completely cool; alternately, you can cut pieces while the candy is still a little warm and malleable. Allow to set until completely cool, about 1 hour. Snap into 1-inch squares along your score lines and wrap in pieces of parchment. The caramels will keep about 2 weeks.

2 Raise heat to medium-high/high and clip on your candy thermometer. Heat to 310°F. 3 In the meantime, heat the cream and the vanilla bean paste together in a small saucepan until they just begin to simmer. You can also microwave the two in a nuke-safe bowl for a minute. Keep warm.

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sugarbaby

3

sugarbaby

florentiner a la

MAMA There’s a famous café in Bavaria, Café Reber. Just thinking of it makes me all verklempt. I went with my mother when I was a kid. It’s in a beautiful town, Bad Reichenhall, nestled at the foot of the Alps, around the corner from my family in Bergen. It’s the home of the famous Mozart Kugel. That would be enough to land this lovely sugar-filled boîte on my all-time-favorite list. But it’s also where you can get bags of Florentiner bruch (broken pieces of Florentine). Oh goodness gracious me, you could be selling these out of BP headquarters and I’d still go and buy them up (I’d be full of righteous anger and I’d be carrying a picket sign, of course).

The Florentine cookie is Italian in background but is imagined spectacularly by Austrian and Bavarian

bakers. My mother, healthy and strict woman that she was, would scarf a bag of Florentiner bruch faster than you could say “bulgur wheat and kale.” |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Makes 44 cookies

1 Grind together the sliced almonds, flour, and salt in a food processor. You do not want to pulverize the almonds into a flour: there should be some nice bits of almond still visible.

2 In a saucepan, combine sugar, honey, cream, and butter over low heat. Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved.

3 Raise heat to medium high/high and clip on candy thermometer. Heat to 234°F. 4 Remove from heat and immediately stir in the almond/flour mixture. Wait a few minutes, and then stir in the almond extract.

5 While the batter is still warm and pliable, scoop the batter onto a parchment-lined sheetpan. I use a teaspoon scoop. Space the cookies a few inches apart; they’ll spread as they bake.

4

2 cups

xx oz

flour

4 tablespoons

xx g

salt

1 teaspoon

xx g

sugar

1 cup

xx oz

heavy cream

3 tablespoons

xx g

honey

1⁄8 cup

xx oz

unsalted butter

1 stick (8 tablespoons)

xx g

almond extract

1 teaspoon

xx g

bittersweet chocolate

4 ounces

xx oz

7 While the cookies cool, microwave the chocolate in 30-second bursts in a microwave-safe bowl.

Continue until completely melted, stirring the chocolate between each session.

6 Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes.

sugarbaby

sliced, blanched almonds

8 Drizzle chocolate over cooled Florentiner.

5

sugarbaby

florentiner a la

MAMA There’s a famous café in Bavaria, Café Reber. Just thinking of it makes me all verklempt. I went with my mother when I was a kid. It’s in a beautiful town, Bad Reichenhall, nestled at the foot of the Alps, around the corner from my family in Bergen. It’s the home of the famous Mozart Kugel. That would be enough to land this lovely sugar-filled boîte on my all-time-favorite list. But it’s also where you can get bags of Florentiner bruch (broken pieces of Florentine). Oh goodness gracious me, you could be selling these out of BP headquarters and I’d still go and buy them up (I’d be full of righteous anger and I’d be carrying a picket sign, of course).

The Florentine cookie is Italian in background but is imagined spectacularly by Austrian and Bavarian

bakers. My mother, healthy and strict woman that she was, would scarf a bag of Florentiner bruch faster than you could say “bulgur wheat and kale.” |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Makes 44 cookies

1 Grind together the sliced almonds, flour, and salt in a food processor. You do not want to pulverize the almonds into a flour: there should be some nice bits of almond still visible.

2 In a saucepan, combine sugar, honey, cream, and butter over low heat. Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved.

3 Raise heat to medium high/high and clip on candy thermometer. Heat to 234°F. 4 Remove from heat and immediately stir in the almond/flour mixture. Wait a few minutes, and then stir in the almond extract.

5 While the batter is still warm and pliable, scoop the batter onto a parchment-lined sheetpan. I use a teaspoon scoop. Space the cookies a few inches apart; they’ll spread as they bake.

4

2 cups

xx oz

flour

4 tablespoons

xx g

salt

1 teaspoon

xx g

sugar

1 cup

xx oz

heavy cream

3 tablespoons

xx g

honey

1⁄8 cup

xx oz

unsalted butter

1 stick (8 tablespoons)

xx g

almond extract

1 teaspoon

xx g

bittersweet chocolate

4 ounces

xx oz

7 While the cookies cool, microwave the chocolate in 30-second bursts in a microwave-safe bowl.

Continue until completely melted, stirring the chocolate between each session.

6 Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes.

sugarbaby

sliced, blanched almonds

8 Drizzle chocolate over cooled Florentiner.

5

sugarbaby

this is not

Your Grandmother’s Mail-Order

NUT LOG

The holiday season! That festive time replete with joyful singing, copious amounts of alcohol, and hour-long hunts through the trash for missing gift receipts. How would we cope with such a divinely stressful time without processed mystery food available only from November 12th to January 2nd but with an unnatural shelf life longer than a fossilized trilobite?

The fruit cakes, the soft, processed cheez-food ball, and the amorphous nut log, to name just a few, are

foods most humans would ordinarily shun, like that boot on the porch with the superior traction waffle sole that’s now ruthlessly encrusted with canine caca. Yet during the times that are most merry, we will invest precious high-quality family bonding hours devoted to sitting in a dark corner vanquishing indestructible holiday fodder. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Makes 18 candies

For the maple fondant granulated sugar

1½ cups

xx oz

maple syrup

½ cup

xx oz

water

½ cup

xx oz

egg whites

2

room temperature unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

4 tablespoons (½ stick)

xx g

salt

½ teaspoon

xx g

cornstarch

2 tablespoons

xx g

For the Super Crunchy, Salty Nuts sugar

3 cups

xx oz

water

½ cup

xx oz

salt

1 teaspoon

xx g

lemon juice

½ teaspoon

xx g

baking soda

1 tablespoon

xx g

mixed, roasted, and salted nuts

3 cups

xx oz

MAKE THE MAPLE FONDANT

1 In a large saucepan, combine sugar, maple syrup, and water over medium heat, stirring until the sugar has completely dissolved.

2 Brush down the saucepan sides with a damp pastry brush, clip on the candy thermometer, and heat to 245°F. 3 While the sugar/maple syrup is heating, whisk the egg whites in a stand mixer with the salt until they are foamy. When the syrup comes to temperature, carefully pour it down the side of the bowl and into the beaten egg whites.

Increase the mixer speed to high and whip for two minutes.

4 Switch the whisk attachment with the paddle attachment and with the mixer on medium speed, slowly add the butter and the two tablespoons of cornstarch. Increase the speed to high and beat the fondant until the bowl is cool and the fondant thickens. You’ll notice that the mixture will rise and then fall with the addition of the butter. This is normal.

6

sugarbaby

7

sugarbaby

this is not

Your Grandmother’s Mail-Order

NUT LOG

The holiday season! That festive time replete with joyful singing, copious amounts of alcohol, and hour-long hunts through the trash for missing gift receipts. How would we cope with such a divinely stressful time without processed mystery food available only from November 12th to January 2nd but with an unnatural shelf life longer than a fossilized trilobite?

The fruit cakes, the soft, processed cheez-food ball, and the amorphous nut log, to name just a few, are

foods most humans would ordinarily shun, like that boot on the porch with the superior traction waffle sole that’s now ruthlessly encrusted with canine caca. Yet during the times that are most merry, we will invest precious high-quality family bonding hours devoted to sitting in a dark corner vanquishing indestructible holiday fodder. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Makes 18 candies

For the maple fondant granulated sugar

1½ cups

xx oz

maple syrup

½ cup

xx oz

water

½ cup

xx oz

egg whites

2

room temperature unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

4 tablespoons (½ stick)

xx g

salt

½ teaspoon

xx g

cornstarch

2 tablespoons

xx g

For the Super Crunchy, Salty Nuts sugar

3 cups

xx oz

water

½ cup

xx oz

salt

1 teaspoon

xx g

lemon juice

½ teaspoon

xx g

baking soda

1 tablespoon

xx g

mixed, roasted, and salted nuts

3 cups

xx oz

MAKE THE MAPLE FONDANT

1 In a large saucepan, combine sugar, maple syrup, and water over medium heat, stirring until the sugar has completely dissolved.

2 Brush down the saucepan sides with a damp pastry brush, clip on the candy thermometer, and heat to 245°F. 3 While the sugar/maple syrup is heating, whisk the egg whites in a stand mixer with the salt until they are foamy. When the syrup comes to temperature, carefully pour it down the side of the bowl and into the beaten egg whites.

Increase the mixer speed to high and whip for two minutes.

4 Switch the whisk attachment with the paddle attachment and with the mixer on medium speed, slowly add the butter and the two tablespoons of cornstarch. Increase the speed to high and beat the fondant until the bowl is cool and the fondant thickens. You’ll notice that the mixture will rise and then fall with the addition of the butter. This is normal.

6

sugarbaby

7

sugarbaby