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Field Guide to Candy: How To Identify and Make Virtually Every Candy Imaginable
At last, a field guide to making and identifying virtually every candy imaginable, from peanut-butter cups to mint meltaways!
Field Guide to Candy is the definitive guide to candies from around the world, with more than 100 recipes and variations on such tried-and-true classics as caramel apples, rocky road, and lollipops as well as traditional international favorites like Turkish delight, truffles, and French pralines.
This delectable guide introduces readers to the best techniques for creating chocolates; sugary sweets; creamy, sticky, chewy candies; nutty treats; and fun and simple classics. Every candy is photographed in glorious full color, with step-by-step instructions on how to prepare, make, and store your creations. Entries include fascinating historical background, helpful baking notes, and serving suggestions for each delicious variety.
Whether you’re a candy-making novice or veteran pastry chef, mouth-watering homemade confections are minutes away with Field Guide to Candy!
Field Guide to Candy is the definitive guide to candies from around the world, with more than 100 recipes and variations on such tried-and-true classics as caramel apples, rocky road, and lollipops as well as traditional international favorites like Turkish delight, truffles, and French pralines.
This delectable guide introduces readers to the best techniques for creating chocolates; sugary sweets; creamy, sticky, chewy candies; nutty treats; and fun and simple classics. Every candy is photographed in glorious full color, with step-by-step instructions on how to prepare, make, and store your creations. Entries include fascinating historical background, helpful baking notes, and serving suggestions for each delicious variety.
Whether you’re a candy-making novice or veteran pastry chef, mouth-watering homemade confections are minutes away with Field Guide to Candy!
352 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2009
16 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 31, 2010
i love candy.
you can tell by my awesome bracelet in this oddly gothy photo:
(it is harder than it looks to take a picture of a bracelet you are wearing that has writing on it that might get flash-shiny due to its luxe plastic coating)
but, really, i love candy. and despite all my trying to be healthier lately and trying not to just eat fistfuls of peanut butter and nutella and calling it dinner, i can't help it... candy calls to me.
i even hoard candy, mostly easter candy. i have candy deposits all around my house for when i need a cadbury egg in the middle of november. i have reese's eggs concealed in this faux bird's nest here on my desk that is using a teddy bear as a stopper/candy hider because they are better than the regular peanut butter cups sold during the other nine months of the year. i have a hoard of dots and i don't even really like dots but someday i am going to be studying for a midterm and really really need some jaw-adhering sugary dealie and i will know that they are in my olivia jewelry box. i am claudia kishi.
and so i find this book and it is like a revelation.
did you know you can actually make gummy bears?? like, in your house?? and not only if you happen to live in a candy factory. you could just be lounging around your pad one night, watching persons unknown and think - i could really go for some gummy bears. but the stores are all closed!! what shall i do???
and you could just totally make them.
this book is awesome.
first of all - the size is almost like candy. like if two regular-sized peppermint patties were humping, they would be the size of this book. and that is just perfect.
second - the photos!! chocolate easter eggs filled with jelly beans!! filled chocolate bars!! ganache, for heaven's sake!! things i have never even heard of, like potato pinwheels and martha washington candy! things i have heard of but never eaten like rum balls and divinity!! candies from around the world: chinese milk candy, marron glacés, beijnhos de coco, almond burfi!!
do you even understand?? i can make all this now!! and there is more value-added material - histories of the various candies - tips on dealing with temperature when handling chocolate and sugar - what to do if you don't have buttermilk or honey...
and marzipan!!! when i was about nine, i had a crush on mozart, and i made my mom buy me these:
my nine-year-old palate did not care for them, but i saved the wrapper and made little kissy faces to it all the time. but now i am all grown up and i am ready to make my own marzipan and only make kissy faces at my creations.
candy is something the origins of which i never stopped to consider. for all i knew, hard candies were just the poops of the gods. but, evidently, you can make lemon drops IN YOUR KITCHEN!! and candy corn!! and jordan freaking almonds! it is too good to be true!
during the holiday season, i will usually make something cake-y to bring into work, but this year, i am very excited to try my hand at something different. something that involves a candy thermometer and some gelatin. let's enable my habit, shall we??
and now i have a whole new aisle to visit when i go to michael's!!
economy, i fix you.
you can tell by my awesome bracelet in this oddly gothy photo:
(it is harder than it looks to take a picture of a bracelet you are wearing that has writing on it that might get flash-shiny due to its luxe plastic coating)
but, really, i love candy. and despite all my trying to be healthier lately and trying not to just eat fistfuls of peanut butter and nutella and calling it dinner, i can't help it... candy calls to me.
i even hoard candy, mostly easter candy. i have candy deposits all around my house for when i need a cadbury egg in the middle of november. i have reese's eggs concealed in this faux bird's nest here on my desk that is using a teddy bear as a stopper/candy hider because they are better than the regular peanut butter cups sold during the other nine months of the year. i have a hoard of dots and i don't even really like dots but someday i am going to be studying for a midterm and really really need some jaw-adhering sugary dealie and i will know that they are in my olivia jewelry box. i am claudia kishi.
and so i find this book and it is like a revelation.
did you know you can actually make gummy bears?? like, in your house?? and not only if you happen to live in a candy factory. you could just be lounging around your pad one night, watching persons unknown and think - i could really go for some gummy bears. but the stores are all closed!! what shall i do???
and you could just totally make them.
this book is awesome.
first of all - the size is almost like candy. like if two regular-sized peppermint patties were humping, they would be the size of this book. and that is just perfect.
second - the photos!! chocolate easter eggs filled with jelly beans!! filled chocolate bars!! ganache, for heaven's sake!! things i have never even heard of, like potato pinwheels and martha washington candy! things i have heard of but never eaten like rum balls and divinity!! candies from around the world: chinese milk candy, marron glacés, beijnhos de coco, almond burfi!!
do you even understand?? i can make all this now!! and there is more value-added material - histories of the various candies - tips on dealing with temperature when handling chocolate and sugar - what to do if you don't have buttermilk or honey...
and marzipan!!! when i was about nine, i had a crush on mozart, and i made my mom buy me these:
my nine-year-old palate did not care for them, but i saved the wrapper and made little kissy faces to it all the time. but now i am all grown up and i am ready to make my own marzipan and only make kissy faces at my creations.
candy is something the origins of which i never stopped to consider. for all i knew, hard candies were just the poops of the gods. but, evidently, you can make lemon drops IN YOUR KITCHEN!! and candy corn!! and jordan freaking almonds! it is too good to be true!
during the holiday season, i will usually make something cake-y to bring into work, but this year, i am very excited to try my hand at something different. something that involves a candy thermometer and some gelatin. let's enable my habit, shall we??
and now i have a whole new aisle to visit when i go to michael's!!
economy, i fix you.
December 15, 2023
Had to knock off a star for lack of photography and slightly awkward size - a bit too small for ease of use while making a recipe.
Excellent instructions - clear and precise without being verbose.
Ranges from chocolate and truffles to candy apples and gumdrops, gummy worms and stuffed dates, lollipops, taffy, candied nuts, etc.
Excellent instructions - clear and precise without being verbose.
Ranges from chocolate and truffles to candy apples and gumdrops, gummy worms and stuffed dates, lollipops, taffy, candied nuts, etc.
September 7, 2020
I've owned this book for over a decade now and it still holds one of my favorite recipes for making fudge.
January 21, 2021
All sorts of things I would actually make. Test drove a library copy. This is one I would like to own.
January 11, 2023
Doesn’t have step by step photos but lots of recipes and information.
February 27, 2023
Nice fly by of different candies and how to make them. The recipes lack finesse, but I don't think this book is the place for it anyway.
July 17, 2010
Really good design on this book, like noticeably so. Excellent layout, good use of space, just generally pleasant to flip through and easy on the eyes. Good fonts too. (Why is it that in some books they tell you what font was used and others they don't? I always look for this info; I wish it was standard.)
The book is a fairly comprehensive collection of recipes for candies. It is generally lucid and informative, although I wish it were a bit clearer on some topics. e.g. what's the difference between toffee and caramel and nougat?
candy-related concepts with which I was previously unfamiliar:
the 'cold water test' for cooking sugar syrup, and six stages therein
tempering chocolate
chocolate 'seizing'
nougat is sugar + egg whites, aerated
american candy bar nougat is different
agar for gummies comes from seaweed
candy canes come from church (like a shepard's canes)
sugarplums were candied nuts
It's all pretty interesting
The book is a fairly comprehensive collection of recipes for candies. It is generally lucid and informative, although I wish it were a bit clearer on some topics. e.g. what's the difference between toffee and caramel and nougat?
candy-related concepts with which I was previously unfamiliar:
the 'cold water test' for cooking sugar syrup, and six stages therein
tempering chocolate
chocolate 'seizing'
nougat is sugar + egg whites, aerated
american candy bar nougat is different
agar for gummies comes from seaweed
candy canes come from church (like a shepard's canes)
sugarplums were candied nuts
It's all pretty interesting
August 16, 2018
The sub-title says it all...
Unlike baking, you just mix the ingredients, shove them in an over and walk away until the timer goes off. It takes time, diligence, & a whole lot of practice
I found almost everything here from marzipan to licorice, peanut brittle to marshmallow, dipped chocolates to molded chocolates, truffles to covered fruit, molded chocolate to taffy, gummies to pixi-stix, horehound drops to peppermints, as well as favorites from other countries.
Contents include: Introduction, candy making tools, ingredients, working w/ chocolate, working w/ sugar, & icon key w/ a full section of color photos (which I would have preferred next to the corresponding recipe)
Chapters: ALL Things Chocolate; Fruits & Jellies; Sugary Sweet; Creamy, Sticky, & Chewy; Nutty; and Fun and Simple Classics.
The book is small but it has everything you need/want to know about making candy. I'm amazed, but there is so much work in making candy, I'll let others do it for me or go to See's
July 24, 2012
I was really excited to see that so many of the recipes looked rather simple to make. I have always been intimidated by candy making. However, I just checked Amazon reviews and there are a bunch of reviews that state that the recipes don't work. That is disheartening. Still, I may try the gummi bear/worm recipe and the peanut butter, chocolate balls. Both sound very yummy.
I tried the peanut butter chocolate balls and they were super yummy.
I tried the peanut butter chocolate balls and they were super yummy.
July 3, 2011
This one was so much fun! I want to make peppermint patties right away. And filled chocolate bars. And Turkish Delight! The photographs are delicious-looking, the recipes easy to follow and quite detailed. One could do worse than to make a recipe from this book every week for several years.
August 16, 2016
This cookbook is chock full of recipes for a large variety of candy, both common and on-traditional, that can be made in the home kitchen. The steps for each recipe are easy to read and follow as they are very detailed.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews