The C-word

Now that I've been doing these little candy paintings, I've encountered a problem: so many candies begin with "C". I've already done Caramels and Candy Corn, but then there's also Circus Peanuts, Crows, Cordial Cherries, Candy Cigarettes and Cigars, Coconut Clusters ... not to mention everything that begins with "Candy" or "Chocolate." And then there are the trickier letters like "E" and "U" which only have one or two possibilities.

New Feature: Candy Horoscope!

I sometimes play a fun game with people when the mood strikes me: Tell me your favorite candy, and I'll tell you about yourself. I'd say I'm about 92 percent accurate, although I sometimes get thrown off by unusual things like Snaps or Squirrel Nut Caramels. Anyhow, along the same lines, I've decided to combine two of my talents: fortune telling and candy obsessing (that's a talent, right?) to create a monthly candy horoscope (see sidebar). It's easy: just pick your favorite candy out of the 12 listed, and you're all set to plan for the upcoming month!

Time to Floss!

As we've already established, I love almonds. So when a package arrived the other day with a bag of Dove Milk Chocolate with Almonds, I was giddy. Dove is the ultimate P.M.S. chocolate-- it's so rich and luxurious and satisfying that it's a good cure for an extreme chocolate jones. Naturally I thought that the inclusion of almonds would make it even better, but I was wrong. The problem is not with the chocolate, but with the almonds which, in this case, are chopped up into itsy-bitsy, teeny-tiny shards of nut. One of the beautiful things about almonds is their dense crunchiness, which gets totally lost when you downsize them. It almost feels as if you're in danger of getting little rogue almond slivers caught in your teeth. I was very disappointed. But then again, that's just my opinion. Cybele at Candy Blog gave them an 8 out of 10, so it's up to you to decide!

Smartie Pants

As I mentioned in a previous post, I bought a bag of "Smarties Parties" because they contained not only regular Smarties, but some other fancy types as well. The tropical taste really similar to the regular. So similar, in fact, that I wouldn't be able to tell the difference if you mixed them all together. The X-treme Sour were really good, just what you'd imagine: sour Smarties. The candy money was fun. They're bigger in size and not as chalky. But the real surprise was the Smarties Bubble Gum. I thought they were bubble gum-flavored candy, but no, they're actually gum! And they look just like Smarties! Fun! I really got a kick out of those. I don't know if they sell these individually or just in the mixed packages. I suppose I could check it out at their website, even though it totally creeps me out.
(Editor's note: I did go to the creepy website, and they do sell Smarties Bubble Gum on its own.)

The Birthday Haul

Here it is, the great Birthday Haul 2007. Up in the left-hand corner is some Penotti White Chocolate spread from Alex. Very intriguing. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it, but I'm sure it'll be tasty. Then there's the candy cigarettes, which I've been told are for Henri. The cute pumpkin bag filled with M&Ms is long gone, as is the Green & Black's dark chocolate with orange. I also got a box of Godiva Chocoiste Dark Chocolate Raspberries that are really yummy.

The Present

I figured I'd better write about my exciting birthday present now since Alexandra just called me in a panic wanting to know if I got a baby Basset hound. No, no, that would be more of a stress-inducing gift. I was going to wait until I took a picture, but my camera/Internet connection is a bit bockety at the moment, so just use your imagination.

I returned home from a day at the spa (oh, what a life I lead!) (actually, I got a gift certificate last year and I had to use it before it expired) and there was a big, white box on my doorstep with a Halloween plate on top. I lifted the box up and got a whiff. No. It couldn't be, could it? It was! It was THE Chocolate Cake!

Sweet, wonderful June baked me a miniature version of the cake and left it for me. It even has Indian corn on top! How awesome is that? I'm going to go cut a piece in exactly eight minutes.

While I was on the phone with Alexandra, she asked if it was Indian corn or American corn on top. American corn! Hee hee. That led me to ponder out loud why they call it "corn"-- it doesn't look like corn at all. And then all of a sudden, for the first time in my entire life, I realized that it's supposed to be a corn kernel with the pointy end sticking into the cob and the round end being the actual corn. Wow. I never knew.

And speaking of candy corn, the Baron finally reared his head today after a long silence. He had this very poignant story to tell:

Candy Corns are sacred in my house. It is really the only candy that brings a smile to my face. I remember being really young and Mom telling me if you want good luck you have to bite exactly between the two color lines. If you get one color on both sides of the bite, you win great luck for the day. I have tried this for 38 years and not one successful bite. But I will keep trying until my high sugar kicks in and I stroke out.

Isn't that sweet? Although don't believe him: wave some salted licorice fish in front of his face and you're sure to get a grin.

Candy Corn Kisses Mania!

I've been getting lots of e-mails from Candy Yum Yum readers saying that the Targets in their neighborhoods are selling out of the Candy Corn Kisses. This has got to be one of the most exciting things Hershey's has done in a long time. I wonder if they'll bring them back every year? And maybe in other stores?

On another note, please stand by as I'm experiencing some technical difficulties. I have LOTS to report, though, including pictures of my birthday candy haul, my most recent paintings and one very, very exciting present.

Bad Mommy, Part II

Everyday Henri picks an item that he will fixate on and hold for several hours whether he's crawling, going for a walk or going with me to do errands. It's rarely a toy of course. When we went to the aquarium, it was a small plastic packet of butter that he stole from the bread basket at lunch. He held onto it past the shark tank, the touch tank and even the kids' play area. He only decided to relinquish it during the seal feeding, when apparently he thought JoJo would like some butter with his raw, frozen fish.

So the other day, I thought nothing when he grabbed my little bottle of Michel Cluizel chocolate nibs. He liked to shake it and hear the rattle. He held onto it in the car and wouldn't let it go when I put him in his stroller. It was only when I was in the shoe store getting dirty looks that I realized how peculiar this looked, because the container is designed to look exactly like a prescription bottle.

"That's not medicine, it's chocolate," I found myself telling complete strangers. Still, I could feel the glare of other moms as I strolled past them and Henri gleefully shook the bottle of Mommy's Little Helper. I know, I know: Bad Mommy!

I think I need to start a candy corn collection

I'm addicted to a website called Cuteable. Everyday I check it and everyday I find something I want to buy. Today it was these candy corn plushies. So cute!

Believe it or not, we weren't even drinking!

Welcome to Mme. Alex's House of Chocolate and Ill Repute!

Today's special: Chocolate Gateau with a pot of whiskey.

A Day of Chocolate Culture, and Why I'm a Bad Mommy, Part I

Alexandra and I decided to take a field trip the other day, so we brought the boys to the Bruce Museum to see their exhibit on the history of chocolate and chocolate in advertising. One room had a recreation of a cacao tree, an exhibit where you could test your nose on various aromas, and even a pretend chocolate shop where kids (or Alexandra, see above) could dress up in aprons and hats and pretend to sell chocolate. The ads from the 1800s were particularly humorous. Here's what they had to say:

• The special "automatic machinery" that Cadbury used, "obviates the necessity of its being once touched by the human hand." Wow, what a difference from today when we place such high value on "hand-crafted" chocolates!
  


• Cadbury Hot Chocolate is "specially rich in flesh-forming and strength sustaining principles." Uh, flesh-forming? Ewww.
  


• Also, "It is a gentle stimulant, and sustains against hunger and bodily fatigue." Take that, Power Bar!

Here are some other tidbits from the exhibit:

• A Spanish proverb: "Ideas should be clear and chocolate thick." Hear, hear! (Or is it Here! Here! I can never remember.)



• In 1894, big tin vending machines shaped like animals and people were used to allow customers to sample the quality of chocolate from particular shops. The demand for vending machines became so overwhelming that it led to the formation of the Deutsche Automatengesellschaft Stollwerk, or the German vending machine association.
  
  

After browsing the rest of the exhibits (including a sheep in formaldehyde, which apparently represents a "glance at the past, a look at the future," or some such drivel ... all I see is a gnarly dead sheep in a glass case, and I was an art major!), we attacked the gift shop. The little old ladies didn't see us coming, I assure you.

Between all the yummy chocolate and really cute kids' stuff, we had a field day. Alexandra bought Wilbur Buds: they're dark and milk chocolate drops, bigger than chocolate chips, squatter than Kisses, and veryyyy yummy.

I bought this little box of The Cocoa Room's Eclectic Dragees. Now, as you know, I'm not one for "fancy" chocolates. It's safe to say that I'd take a plain bar of chocolate over a hoity-toity gold-leafed black pepper and mangosteen truffle any day. But there was something about these that spoke to me. They reminded me of both art nouveau and pebbles in a stream. There are big chocolate-covered almonds that look like they're foil-wrapped, but that's really the sugar shell. And then there are teeny-tiny little teal and purple colored drops that I assumed were just chocolate. Which leads me to explain why I am a Bad Mommy.

We brought our purchases outside and sat at a little table. The boys could sense something was up, so they started getting antsy. Alexandra was prepared and had a fruit snack for Ian. I, on the other hand, thought, "Well, these are just chocolate. I'll give Henri one." So I gave him a little teal drop, which he proceeded to get all over his lips. Then Alexandra and I tried some. "They're like Rice Krispies," she said. "Yeah," I agreed. They were good! It wasn't until I got home and actually dissected one that I realized they were chocolate-covered sunflower seeds! Aaaah! Any mom these days knows that giving your kids nuts or seeds before age 2 is equivalent to Britney Spears driving with her baby on her lap or Michael Jackson dangling his baby over the balcony.

Bad Mommy! Fortunately, he didn't have any sort of reaction. (Except the "I want more and I want it now!" reaction.)

Anyhow, these are not only lovely but really, really yummy. The almonds are crisp and smoky and I surprisingly liked the sunflower seeds. (I've seen chocolate-covered ones before and thought, who would eat those? Well, I guess the answer would be me!)
I went to The Cocoa Room's website to see if I could find out any more about these little beauties, but the website is strangely uninformative. But I'd definitely recommend them as a gift.

A Gift for You!

Tomorrow is my birthday! Yay! Traditionally I've always made my own birthday cake. Wait, no, that's not really true. Traditionally I've always planned to make my own birthday cake, but then something always gets in the way. The same is true this year. I have a recipe for truly the GREATEST CHOCOLATE CAKE EVER. I actually wrote an article about it years ago for the newspaper. Long story short, we went to visit a friend of a friend in Vermont who makes fabulous chocolate cakes for a living. I was anxious to try one, but when we got there he said he ran out of ingredients for his usual cake. Instead, he tried a new recipe, so we were his guinea pigs. (I have no idea where the original recipe came from. I have a feeling it's from a classic like the Joy of Cooking or something, but I don't know.) It was by far the most delicious, chocolatey (but not too sweet) layer cake I've ever had. The funny thing is, it's a light mocha color. You might not even think it's chocolate when you see it. But the taste is phenomenal. I had planned on making it this year for my birthday, but I'm really trying to be health conscious, and if I make the cake, I will certainly eat the whole thing. So I hope one of you will take up the challenge and make this glorious creation. A word of caution: it will take up the better part of a day to make this bad boy, so be prepared. You could divide it up by making the icing a day ahead of time.

THE BEST CHOCOLATE CAKE
1 4 oz. package sweet cooking chocolate
1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup butter, room temp.
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup buttermilk

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2) Melt chocolate in boiling water. Cool. (Editor's note: I always stumble on this step. Are you supposed to actually put the chocolate in the water? Because won't that cause it to seize? So I translate that as "Melt chocolate in a double boiler filled with 1/2 cup water.)
3) Cream butter, add sugar and cream until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating after each addition. Add vanilla and melted chocolate and mix until well blended.
4) Sift flour with soda and salt. Add sifted dry ingredients alternating with buttermilk to butter mix, beating after each addition until batter is smooth.
5) Fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites and pour batter into 3 8- or 9-inch greased layer pans, lined on bottom with wax paper. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool.
6) Frost with Mocha Cream Frosting. (Editor's note: NO substitutes!!)

Mocha Cream Frosting
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup water
2 egg yolks
1 cup soft butter
1 1/2 squares (ounces) unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 TBSP instant coffee


1) Boil together sugar and water to 240 degrees F.
2) Beat egg yolks until fluffy. Add syrup gradually while beating and continue beating until mixture is cool.
3) Add butter, bit by bit, until it has all been beaten in. Beat in chocolate and coffee.

Please, someone try this recipe and get back to me!

Who has the best friends? Me!

The aforementioned June came over last week and not only did she bring lunch, but dessert as well. She reached into her bag and produced a Mr. Goodbar, 3 Musketeers Mint, Limited Edition Tootsie Roll Midgees in vanilla, and white chocolate Reese's. Yum! She e-mailed me after the fact saying that she had made a faux pas; she hadn't read enough of my blog to know that I generally don't like white chocolate. But you know what? Those Reese's were damn good. I mean, really good. It makes me want to give white chocolate another chance.

The Tootsie Rolls tasted like chewy vanilla icing. I've talked about the 3 Musketeers before. Oh well, it can't all be good. And then of course, the Mr. Goodbar. How can you go wrong with peanuts and chocolate?

Taa-Daaa!

Well there you have it. Candy Yum Yum officially has a logo, thanks to my good friend/designer, June. (Friend first, designer second). Please stand by as I tweak the site over the next few days.

C is for Candy Corn