Peppermint Patties

How appropriate for our last recipe of the year- peppermint patties. Seasonally relevant and great stocking stuffers. A creamy, minty filling enrobed in dark chocolate, simple and elegant and so delicious! After sourcing a few hard to find ingredients, these are a breeze to make. Quite a nice send off before we tackle the next chapter in the new year, puff pastry and croissants. I hope you'll all join us as we continue to bake through the book!

Tania

I absolutely love peppermint patties! The dark chocolate and mint flavor combo is superb. This recipe seemed a bit intimidating at first, but it was really only a matter of procuring the correct ingredients. The process itself wasn't complicated. The optional ingredients I omitted, since I couldn't find them anyways. I decided to make my own pouring fondant, there were lots of recipes online. So first I made that, then stared on the peppermint centers.

I followed the instructions properly, took the sugar to the correct temp and added all the ingredients. But the mixture never got to be opaque white, it was still clear-ish. I thought it might change as it set up, but no. Instead of using a piping bag, I just poured the hot sugar into a glass measuring cup with a spout, and poured it into the individual silicone molds. I re-used the cupcake liners from the last recipe. The book says they should solidify in about 15 minutes, but I found it look much longer. Just to be safe, I let them set up overnight. I think the pouring fondant I made wasn't correct, because they never got a creamy texture. You could still see the grains of sugar in the patties. The taste was ok, but the texture wasn't as nice.

I used the pouring method to enrobe them in dark chocolate. I dipped the bottoms, let them set up, then poured the chocolate over the tops. I find you use more chocolate this way, and there's more wasted, but it does work. Again, the tempering was an issue, so it took a long time for them to harden properly. But overall, I'm pleased with the result. It's hard to believe that you can make a store-bought treat like this at home, but with the proper ingredients, it's not hard at all!

Fugeddaboudits

What a fun name for a sweet treat! This recipe is guaranteed to please sweet lovers of all ages. Although the name is playful and the ingredients are simple, the team at Bouchon still presents it in a sophisticated and elegant manner. Instead of a bar shape, these are individual rounds, much better for munching. A sprinkling of fleur de sel on top lets you know, these are grown-up versions of a childhood favorite.

Pâte de fruit: two flavors

Pâte de fruit is a sophisticated holiday treat made from pure fruit puree. Its translation means fruit paste, but it more resembles a jelly candy. The process is much like making jam, but with a stronger gelling agent. Most high-end chocolatiers and confiseries carry this sweet treat, which can be quite pricey. They are best eaten right away, which is usually not a problem; they get gobbled up immediately. They can be made with any flavor of fruit, but berries tend to be popular, both due to their distinctive flavors and bright hues. Although some of the ingredients in this recipe are hard to find, it's worth searching them out to achieve the proper results.

Nougat

Nougat, this week's recipe, is a common Christmastime treat is southern Europe. It is made from egg whites, honey, nuts, and sometimes dried fruit. It's a popular sweet in France, Italy (torrone), Spain (turron), Greece (mandolato), and Malta (qubbajd). It is also used in many candy bars, including the duty-free airport favorite Toblerone, which this recipe tells you how to make with the scraps. It keeps for about a month, so it makes the perfect holiday gift to make in advance and ship to friends and family who can't be together this time of year. 

Marshmallows: Vanilla, Lemon and Raspberry

Marshmallows. Fluffy, light as air treats that can take on many shapes and flavors. Magically made from egg whites, gelatin, and sugar syrup, homemade marshmallows are light years better than the puffs you can buy at the grocery store. Although they may be intimidating to make at home, once tasted, they will convert you forever. It would be a sin to toast these over a roaring fire, they are so divine. This week we take on layered marshmallows: vanilla, raspberry and lemon, with the option to coat them in chocolate. You could easily make these whatever flavors you like, but this particular combination is very nice.

Caramels and Lemon Caramels

Continuing in the confections chapter, this week we have two variations of caramels: classic and lemon. Although the lemon caramels aren't caramels at all, but rather chocolate candies made with a specific type of caramel flavored chocolate, Valrhona Caramelia. This particular chocolate is essential is producing the caramel flavor of these candies. As with the other recipes in this chapter, timing and preparation are key to success. Either of these treats would make lovely holiday gifts for friends or family.

Toffee

Toffee is another form of cooked sugar, similar to caramel. It is cooked to a higher temperature and nuts are added, usually almonds. This version is similar to English Toffee, which is made with butter and coated in chocolate. This would make a lovely holiday gift for parties or neighbors, wrapped up in cellophane bags and tied with a bow. 

Caramel Apples and Caramel Corn

For Halloween week we celebrated by making caramel apples and caramel corn. The method for making caramel is different in each recipe, but both delicious!

Witch Hats

Skipping around a bit in the book, we're tackling a very season-appropriate recipe this week: witches' hats! The Bouchon version consists of a speculoos cookie base, topped with a peak of fluffy white marshmallow, and covered in dark chocolate. So tasty and cute for Halloween!

Marshmallow Eggs

Happy Easter! To celebrate we've hopped over to the Confections chapter at the end of the book to make these Marshmallow Eggs. Instead of Peeps, we have homemade marshmallows molded into egg shapes and coated in colorful sanding sugar. The process is a bit messy and sticky but when it comes to opening the eggs to reveal perfectly oval marshmallows, it is like a grown up's version of a reward at the end of an egg hunt. 

Thomas Keller did an Easter feature for NPR that includes this recipe