i think it's clear that i enjoy eating chocolates, but i've never spent a significant amount of time trying to make my own. it always seemed like such a hassle (and besides, what if the chocolates i like most are things i can't easily recreate in a home kitchen?)

nevertheless, i spent some quality time in the test kitchen this weekend, attempting to gauge the practicality of chocolate making. i invested a few bucks in some chocolate (just a bar of TJ's bittersweet, not fancy couverture or anything) and some candy molds. for the choco innards, i used leftover banana caramel (i'd made this to put on top of panna cotta, but still had a ton) and a kind of mint fondant, which turned out to be rather delicious despite the recipe being all kinds of funky.

so, how easy was it? actually, it was really easy and the results were not only pretty (god, i need to bring a camera with me) but tasty as @#($(. but there are a few things to note:
(1) chocolate making can be messy, especially if you are using makeshift equipment. the kitchen looked like the aftermath of an easter bunny massacre
(2) tempering chocolate is CRITICAL to making chocolates you can actually handle, and figuring out how to temper chocolate is not easy for me
(3) one should probably make sure there are guests willing to take home bunches of chocolate, because i could've eaten a few dozen of these on my own

all in all, it was a fun experience and i think there will be a lot more experimenting in the future. imagine all the crazy things you can wrap inside a yummy chocolate shell!

new developments in the exciting world of japanese candy!



i went to the zoo this weekend and rather than pay those crazy prices for subpar zoo food, i stopped at Mitsuwa and bought some junk food instead.

first, i picked up perennial otaku favorite Pocky in "brazilian pudding" flavor. what exactly is brazilian pudding, you ask? i haven't a clue. a quick google search turned up this recipe, which sounds like a very basic milk-flavored concoction. the Pocky themselves were pretty tasty, although i find myself at a loss to describe the flavor. i guess it could be milk-ish, but i noted a subtle hint of coconut. i guess that makes it more tropical? anyway, two enthusiastic thumbs up on the taste and addictiveness, if not exactly hunger-satiating.

i also got my latest delivery of japanese kit kats over the weekend, including watermelon and brown sugar. i thought the watermelon was only so-so, basically because i couldn't actually identify the flavor as being watermelon. there was a faint aftertaste of something melon-y, but it was barely there. my friend found them much more enjoyable.

the brown sugar one... well... maybe i'm misunderstanding the description, because i love brown sugar but these were kind of rank. it could be a strong molasses flavor, but really they just... they're... uh... they really don't taste right at all. and i have a whole bag of them. d'oh. still, an interesting addition to my ridiculously huge assortment of kit kats from around the globe...

so while it's not a particularly great deal, i finally broke down and purchased some M&Ms Premiums at the low, low price of $3.50 per 6oz package. since i only bought one (see, i am cheap!) i went for the mint variety (not pictured). normally i'd go ahead and type up the crazy marketing copy off the box, but that's already in the trash (why do i keep putting things in parentheses? hmm.)

anyway, these consist of solid white chocolate on the inside, covered in a thin layer of dark chocolate, and then painted a splotchy (slightly metallic?) green. the real thing to note here is that these are IMPOSTOR M&Ms. they don't have a candy shell. how can you call something an M&M if it doesn't have the candy shell to help prevent it from melting in your mouth, but not in your hand?

there's still some kind of coating on the outside, something waxy and very vaguely unpleasant. after the first one, i was kind of disappointed-- i think it was the shock of not having a shell. because then i got down to serious snacking and i found these to be pretty tasty after all: they have a very smooth melt, a pleasant buttery aftertaste, and just enough mint to make you stand up (or sit down) and take notice.

would i buy these again? probably not when you can still get a big bag of mint crisp M&Ms for the same price as 6oz of these. and really, i think i'd prefer it if these had a shell; i just find the whole M&Ms branding to be sort of loosely applied here. but they are tasty, and if someone else decided to foot the bill, i'd be happy to enjoy them again :)

well, it appears i haven't written in a while. i have excuses, of course: i've been on the road a lot, away from the computer, etc etc. and to be honest i haven't even been eating much in the way of exciting new candy. the closest i've come is a couple flavors of fudge from quaint little Cambria, California, a resort town "gift shop." so, let's talk about fudge.

i really like fudge, but it can't be too soft or moist. i prefer it when the fudge is hard with a little bit of a crumble, but readily melts into the sweet essence of heaven on your tongue. i have no problem with cheater's fudge, although this recipe is not as amenable to wacky variations as a standard recipe is. the taste and texture is still fantastic, and the recipe really could not be easier.

but the fudge in Cambria was the real deal, butter and sugar and cream in a big ol cauldron. we picked up two varieties, Chocolate Mint and English Toffee.

the Chocolate Mint was an appealing chunk of deep, rich, chocolatey fudge with a thick swirl of green throughout. the mint flavoring was not confined to the green fudge, though-- that was apparently for aesthetics only. nonetheless, this stuff was delicious if not a bit too soft for my liking (it was better after spending a little quality time in the fridge...)

the English Toffee was a creamy white fudge with chunks of heathbar sprinkled throughout. now this stuff was AWESOME. the texture was thicker and more crumbly (still, this was also better after being refrigerated) and the little crunchy bits of toffee helped give some contrast. my friend thought this fudge was too sweet (duh! it's fudge!) but i really, really liked it and will have to figure out how to recreate in my home kitchen.

anyway, that's all i've got for the moment. i'm still holding out for a sale on Premium M&M's... :)

hey, bargain shoppers: your friendly neighborhood target store may have just put a bunch of pretty decent chocolate on clearance! this weekend i picked up a handful of chocolate bars from Frey, which is notable mostly for the fact that they produce some really f'in unusual combinations (especially for a mass-market retailer).



i picked up the Japonais, a milk chocolate bar with hazelnut and meringue filling, as well as the White Chocolate with Lemon and Lime Zest. each was $1.28 per 3.5oz bar. they also had White Chocolate with Blood Orange and Cinnamon (not too sure about that combo) and White Chocolate with Blueberry.

so far i've only tasted the White Chocolate with Lemon and Lime, and it is exceptionally tasty. the chocolate has a nice snap and melts readily, but the real star is the zest, which is very bright and... well... zesty! the texture is a little unexpected, somewhat crispy like toasted coconut, as if the peel had been freeze-dried before mixing with the chocolate. totally yummy.

anyway, just a heads up for you bargain shoppers... good luck!

BREAKING NEWS ALERT: the reason it doesn't have the texture of zest is that it is, in fact, not zest at all. instead, the chocolate contains little crunchies made of lemon or lime "powder." so, probably not all natural, but it doesn't change the fact that i thought this bar was delicious.

my canadian friend also brought with her an assortment of local candy, since she knows what a weirdo i am. so far, most of it has remained untouched (!) but i did try these:



the caramilk deluxe comes in individual portions, like a mass-market truffle or bonbon. each is filled with smooth, flowy caramel (right up my alley!) and a curious darker chocolate filling that has a bit of chew to it. the flavors all come together so you can't really tell any one ingredient from anything else except by texture. overall, i wish the caramel had a little more OOMPH, either from burnt sugar or perhaps salt. still, i enjoyed it and ate 'em all.



assorted walker's toffees... i only tried "nutty brazil," which is a soft chewy toffee with shards of brazil nuts mixed in, and "nonsuch liquorice," which is (as the name suggests) a black licorice toffee. the normal walker's toffees are good, enough chew to provide some substance but not dangerous to dental work. unfortunately i LOATHE the flavor of black licorice so i threw this one out after just a bite, but i'm sure someone somewhere would enjoy these :)

i bake all sorts of stuff depending on my mood, but it seems like i'm always coming back to cheesecakes. the base recipe is relatively simple, but lends itself well to countless modifications. and even though i have a tendency to try somewhat bizarre varieties, i'm kind of a cheesecake purist at heart: i really prefer to leave the cheesecake filling alone. you can put chunks of stuff in it, sure, but i don't care for "flavored" cheesecake batter, even chocolate, and i don't like to mess with the fat content.

that said, one of my friends from canada is visiting this week and she has lost an enormous amount of weight. i had no idea what to expect, to be honest, but she looks FAN-freakin'-TASTIC. and she's kind of wearing the clothes that say, yeah, i know i look good! but that's a subject for a different blog :)

so in her honor, i wanted to try my hand at a low-fat cheesecake. hmm, perhaps "low-fat" is a misnomer; how about "lower fat?" i used reduced fat cream cheese, reduced fat sour cream, and replaced most of the sugar with splenda. i was a little concerned that the batter really did look different than my normal cheesecake batter-- a little grainier, a little more wet. i ended up making this into a black forest cheesecake, thinking that perhaps the chocolate would mask a bit of the "diet" flavor.

the result? i like it. it actually turned out very creamy and the flavor is pretty good. i can definitely taste the splenda. and the cheesecake might (MIGHT) actually not be sweet enough, but i dunno. it seemed to go over pretty well. so it turned out to be a fun challenge! nonetheless, i think i'll be back to my ridiculously high fat cookery in the near future :)