American Baker in Germany

 This is a pretty simple recipe for homemade hard candy. Hard Candy: 4 cups (800g) sugar 2 cups (500mL) water food coloring or flavoring as desired Prepare a surface with aluminum foil dusted with powdered sugar. Or you can use wax paper or baking paper. If you want to use flavors or colors, prepare them beforehand. Mugs work great for this. Then, in a saucepan, combine water and sugar. Heat over high heat and allow to boil until sugar syrup reaches hard crack. Keep a cup of cold water next to it to test the sugar syrup with. Stir at the beginning to combine the sugar and water, but do not stir after the syrup begins to boil. When you reach the right stage, remove from heat. Pour in prepared cups with colors or flavors or simply pour over prepared surfaces. Allow to cool completely. It should be easy to pick up. Break in pieces. These are easy to color and don't need much flavorings either. Watch us make this simple recipe on our YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/EnELgMdTepM S...

 I will admit that I've tried to make fudge several times, but it hasn't always worked for me. This time, I phoned a friend and was recommended to make marshmallow fudge instead of regular fudge to see if it works better for me. Marshmallow Fudge: 3 cups (600g) sugar 1 1/2 cups (100g) mini marshmallows 2/3 cup (170g) evaporated milk 1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 tbsp vanilla sugar 1 3/4 cups (400g) semi-sweet chocolate 2 cups (200g) chopped walnuts or other nuts (optional) 3/4 cup (170g) butter In a heavy saucepan, combine sugar, butter and evaporated milk. Mix it together. I used a spoon to break up the butter.  Heat over high heat, stirring frequently. Once the mixture comes to a good, rolling boil, set a timer and boil for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.  It should eventually look something like this.  Remove from the heat. Add chocolate and marshmallows as well as vanilla and stir until everything melts together into one consistency. I would also recommend using...

 I decided I needed a jello recipe that would set up at room temperature, so I realized that would be thicker more like gummy bears. So, here's my homemade gummy bear recipe. Keep in mind that I will be using gelatin. If you don't want to use it, use a different recipe. Homemade Gummy Bears: 1/4 cup (50g) sugar 1 large or 3 small packages (27g) of unflavored gelatin powder about 1/2 tsp powdered citric acid (optional) 1/3 cup (85g) corn syrup, rice syrup or glucose 1/4 cup (70g) water or juice 2 tsp artificial flavoring (optional) food coloring (optional) Lots of optional ingredients, which depends on taste. Use the flavor you want to use, whether that comes from juice or artificial flavoring. Citric acid will add a sour top note. And food coloring depending on whether you want your gummies to be colorful or not. However, because most of the ingredients are clear, you won't need much coloring, if you decide to use it. Combine water, sugar and gelatin to a bowl and allow to ...

 You can't buy butterfinger candy bars in Germany at the time of writing this blog. I was told it's because butterfinger candy bars are made with corn syrup from genetically modified corn, effectively banning them from the EU.  But I am a huge peanut butter fan. I miss butterfinger candy bars. Luckily, my dear mother had a copycat recipe that really works. Here we go. Butterfinger Candy Bars (Copycat): 2 cups (400g) sugar 1 cup (225mL) water 3/4 cup (180mL) corn or rice syrup 2 cups (480g) peanut butter 1 tsp baking soda Combine sugar, water and corn syrup in a small pot and heat it over the stove until it reaches hard crack stage. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or butter it really well while the sugar syrup is cooking. Once the syrup has reach hard crack, remove from heat. Add baking soda and peanut butter. Stir until combined. Pour into the lined baking sheet and spread it around. While the candy is still hot, use a knife to cut it into pieces. Allow to cool comple...