CANDY MAKING FOR BEGINNERS

Making candy seems difficult but in fact there some basic things that you need to know and you are on your way. Whether you’re a novice in the kitchen or an experienced cook wanting to try your hand at candy making, these tips and instructions will provide all the information you need to get started. 

Common Candy Ingredients

Almost all candies have basically two common ingredients and these are sugar and chocolate. If you know how to work with sugar and chocolate, you can make almost any type of candy.There are also two main factors that affect the taste of your candy: the quality of the ingredients and the procedure that is followed.  By learning more about common candy ingredients such as chocolate and sugar, and by selecting the best ingredients you can find, your success is assured.

Vanilla Fufdge

Working With Sugar

 

There is nothing terribly mysterious or complicated about making candy, but if you are new to the world of confectionery, you might find some of the recipe instructions confusing. Candies that are based on a sugar syrup—sugar and water boiled together—often give instructions to boil the syrup to a specific temperature. To make these recipes, you will either need a candy thermometer, or will need to be familiar with the “cold-water method” of temperature checking. The chart and details of how to use a candy thermometer can be viewed in the post "How to use a candy thermometer".

Working With Chocolate

Working with chocolate requires a skill to melt the chocolate. You will need some experience to do this, but once acquired, there are many possibilities for working with chocolate

There are some tricks to successfully melting chocolate. Whether you are working with dark, semisweet, milk, or white chocolate, here are some tips to follow.

·         Never allow any water to come in contact with the melting chocolate, unless the chocolate is being melted in a large amount of water (2 tablespoons water per ounce of chocolate is the minimum amount). Just a drop or two of water can make the chocolate seize up, or become hard and lumpy. Even the steam from the bottom of a double boiler can cause this problem. Make sure to keep the chocolate dry as it melts. If it does seize, you can blend in a teaspoon of vegetable oil (NOT butter or margarine) and the chocolate should smooth out.

·         Chocolate should only be melted over low heat. The microwave is a good appliance to use because the cooking time is so controlled. If you stand there at the stove and stir constantly, you can melt chocolate in a pan set over very low heat. A double boiler (watch out for condensation) is a good method; make sure the water in the bottom is barely simmering.

·         White chocolate or vanilla milk chips are the most difficult to melt. Too much heat will make this type of chocolate seize.

·         To melt chocolate bars in a microwave, first coarsely chop the chocolate. Place in a microwave safe bowl and heat on 50% power for 1 minute. Remove from the microwave and stir. Continue this process until the chocolate is almost melted. Then stir until the chocolate is smooth.

·         Melt chocolate chips just like chopped bars. To make a dipping chocolate for coating candies, when the chocolate is almost melted add 1/4 cup more chips and stir constantly until the mixture is smooth. This will help set up sugar crystals so the chocolate stays firm at room temperature.

Equipment for Making Candy

In general, candy making does not require much in the way of specialized equipment. Many candies can be made using basic kitchen tools that most people already possess. But there are a few tools that reappear in recipes over and over again, like a candy thermometer, and if you anticipate making candy on a regular basis, it will be helpful to familiarize yourself with the most commonly used candy and chocolate equipment.

·         Candy thermometer

·         Candy moulds

·         Piping bag with attachments

·         Lollipop moulds

·         Scraper

 Getting Help

To get useful tips and advice on making candy, you can get more information from "Baking for Profit - start a home business"

BUSINESS PLAN FOR A HOME BUSINESS

One of the best things you can do for yourself before you start your business is to sit down and write your business plan.

Many people who want to start a home business ask if they really NEED a business plan, to which I ask if they really NEED to start a home business.

Writing a business plan for your home based business should be considered essential for many reasons, the most obvious of which is that a business plan is required if you are going to seek funding.

A business plan will also help you gain focus and think through each aspect of your business. It will also help you remain focused when you get discouraged or feel overwhelmed. You can figure out how to deal with possible problems before they occur.

Business plans will vary widely, depending upon what type of business you have, so what may work well for one business may not be suitable for another.

Your business plan doesn't have to be very long, but does have to present you and your business, goals - both short and long term, intentions, and detailed information about your business, in the very best possible light.

Elements of a Business Plan Include:

Objectives

Answer the following questions:

What exactly do you want to accomplish? What are your goals for your business?

Describe your business

 

 What is it that you want to do? What products will you produce? What is your business philosophy?

Define your market

 

What market/s will you focus on? Is there a need for your product or service? Who are you selling to? Why will your business have a competitive edge over other businesses? Do you have a niche?

Draw up a plan of action

 

Explain how you intend to meet your goals. How will you produce the product/service? How will your customers receive your goods?

Define your staff, or suppliers, if any.

Make a time table. Do you expect to reach a certain goal in a specific amount of time?

Calculate your financial requirements

 

Capital costs. How much capital will you need to start-up? Give detailed information about how the capital will be spent on items such as equipment, furniture, appliances etc.

Other monthly costs such as license fees, electricity, transport, packaging, labor, etc.

Sales forecast. How much do you estimate your monthly income to be over the next 12 months? What profit will you make?

Sales and marketing strategy. How and to whom will you market your product?

Pricing. Is your pricing realistic? Is it competitive enough to attract buyers? Is it sustainable and will it yield a profit?

HOW TO USE A CANDY THERMOMETER AND COLD WATER TEST

Making candy requires a special touch. The following are a number of basic guidelines to help you be a successful candy maker.

Using a candy thermometer

If you use a thermometer it must measure up to 180 ˚C (350 ˚F). Test the thermometer before use by placing it in water and then bring the water to boil. The temperature of the water should be 100 ˚C or 212 ˚F at the coast. Make the necessary adjustments for places above sea level which should be a lower boiling point. The boiling point of water drops about 1 ˚C (2˚F) for every 300 m above sea level.

To prevent the glass of the thermometer to crack, first submerge into a glass of boiling water before putting it into boiling sugar syrup. After removing from the boiling syrup, place the thermometer back into the glass with hot water to cool down.

To get the best results, a candy thermometer is essential. However, if you don’t have one, don’t worry, the recipes that you will use are very simple and you can get away without using a thermometer by doing the cold water test. 

Cold water test

The cold water test can be performed to test the temperature of the mixture. Take a teaspoon full of boiling syrup and drop it into a bowl of very cold water. Put your hand in the water and make the drop into a ball. The degree of stiffness of the ball will give an indication of the temperature of the mixture.

Note of Caution: Please be careful when working with boiling sugar. It is extremely hot and care should be taken to avoid spilling and burning yourself.

The candy temperature chart (table 1) gives the different stages of sugar syrup and there uses in making different types of candy.

Table 1 - Temperature Chart (Sugar)

Stage		Temp	Description			Application
Thread	110˚C – 112˚C		The syrup drips from spoon, forms thin threads in water			Glace and candied fruits
Soft ball	11 ˚C -115˚C		Syrup forms ball while in water, but flattens when removed.			Fudge and Fondant
Firm ball	118 C – 120˚C		Syrup forms into firm ball but loses shape once pressed.			Caramels
Hard ball		121˚C – 130˚C		Syrup holds its ball shape, but remains sticky.	Divinity and marshmallows
Soft crack		132 ˚C –143˚C		Syrup will form firm but pliable threads	Nougat
Hard crack		149 ˚C –154˚C		The syrup will crack if you try to form it.	Brittles and lollipops
Caramel		154˚ C –170˚C		The syrup will turn golden brown.	Pralines