Candy Dish Blog

Today's entry in the Candy Memory contest comes from our very own Candy Dish Blogger, Susan S. Here she relates her experience in sharing the unique origins of cocoa and chocolate with her daughter.

My favorite candy memories start at the very beginning of the chocolate process. I've had the wonderful opportunity to visit communities where cocoa is grown in Trinidad, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana.  It doesn't take long to begin to understand the difficulties as well as the rewards of growing and harvesting the most basic ingredient in a chocolate bar.  

Heat, humidity, tropical rains, impassable roads, poisonous snakes, mosquitoes, power outages and civil unrest have all been a part of this experience. But so have fruity cocoa drinks squeezed right from the cocoa pod, fresh coconut and more exotic fruits from the diverse crops grown on small cocoa farms and best of all, meeting cocoa farmers, both men and women, who remind me of the farmers I know back home in Ohio.  

Once, when my daughter Maggie was nearly 12, she accompanied me on a trip to the Talamanca region of Costa Rica where she played soccer with some of the cocoa farmers' kids.  Their one room school house had a dirt floor.  Today, at 22, she's a part of CityYear DC whose Corps members work hard to improve the lives of children in Washington, DC.  I like to think that the trip to Talamanca clinched the deal.

Susan and her daughter, Maggie, both love chocolate - especially dark chocolate. Come to think of it, Susan's mother also loves dark chocolate so it really is a family affair.

So I’ve never been to Vegas (sad, I know), but I can say that when I think of “fabulous Las Vegas,” I think of lights, casinos, the strip, parties, and monstrous hotels...just to name a few things. I certainly don't think: candy (don’t tell my boss!).

But M&M’s are bringing sweets to the forefront at their M&M’s World store in Sin City, with their brand new in-store personalization feature.

How cool is that?

While you can personalize M&M’s online already, this is the only place in the world that you can walk in, push a few buttons, and have candies pop out of a machine that are created to your specific liking – color, design, and text. What’s even more novel about this idea…the designs are all “Vegas” themed. So whether you want to put some spades on those red M&M’s to commemorate all that money you lost…err saved, at the tables – or you want to put some wedding bells on some light purple M&M’s to celebrate that quickie…I mean planned out, wedding that you just took part in, you can find it all at M&M world.

Naturally, this new personalization feature had to debut in a flashy, sensational fashion – it is Vegas we’re talking about here. Some guy spent around 150 hours gluing 50,000 M&M’s together to replicate the “Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas” sign. Check it out. And be sure, as I will when I one day get there, to make this a sweet stop during your stay in Sin City.

Welcome to Las Vegas Sign by Roadsidepictures

As you have no doubt heard us say in a variety of ways, candy is little pleasure that can be included in a healthy lifestyle. Generally, when my friends who have kids ask me how incorporate candy, I tell them not to use food as a reward. BUT, I know people do it, and as long as they are encouraging their kids to make smart choices and balance their caloric intake with activity, it's probably OK from time to time. Take John's parents, for example, who let him pick out a treat for good behavior, but didn't let their five-year old go overboard.

Parents are always trying to incentivize their kids to do behave at school.  What better way is there to motivate than with candy? In kindergarten, we had a train track board; if you were good, your train stayed on the track. If you were bad, your train came off the track. Each day your train stayed on the track, you were given a cutout of a train. My parents decided that every time I brought home five trains, I should get to pick out something at the supermarket.

Being a good little boy, most weeks I hit my quota and proudly marched up to the checkout aisle knowing my reward was close. I wasn't allowed to choose king-size bars - only the candy on the top of the rack, usually smaller stuff (gum,York patties, Starbursts, Twizzlers, etc.). To this day, some people get perplexed when I say I prefer fruit-flavored candy to chocolate, but I guess I've just been hard-wired for those chewy, juicy candies. Give me the option and I'll go for a pack of Skittles anytime and recall how my parents went out of their way to indulge my sweet tooth.

John lives in a DC apartment with his two chocolate-loving roommates, so there's always plenty of Twizzlers left over for him.

I think John's parents hit the sweet spot - allowing him a small treat on occasion. What do you think?

Do you have a favorite candy memory? Read our contest rules and sent it my way.

Color Test by boutmuet

Here's another entry into the Candy Memory Contest. What I was suprised by the most in this post was not the fact that the fundraising activity that pushed Jenn over the top was selling candy, but that Jenn was a four-year member of her school's French Club. Parlez-vous encore français, Jenn?  I love learning new things about my co-workers and friends!

My favorite experience involving candy happened my senior year in high school. As a four-year member of the French club, I was invited on a two-week tour of France and Spain right after graduation. What a dream come true! The only bad news was that it came with a very expensive price tag. 

One of the ways the club members raised money for the trip was by selling candy.  By early spring my funds were low and most likely I was not going to get to go to Europe. I had one last chance before the trip deadline - selling Easter candy. I needed to raise about $600.  The thought "no way" never entered my mind; I had to be as positive and industrious as possible to reach the goal.  Plus, the candy we were selling was Sarris chocolate and it had one of the best and tastiest reputations in the area. 

Four weeks into the selling season, I was able to book my trip to Europe thanks to the money I made from selling Sarris candy.  I was not only ecstatic but also more confident in myself since I was able to overcome a near impossible challenge.  The sweetest part of my memory, however, came Easter morning when the $100+ worth of candy my parents generously bought from me was ready to be eaten by our family!

Jenn Ellek has lived in the Washington DC area for more than ten years and keeps busy going to the gym, taking adventure trips with her friends and chasing her two year old daughter around.

That Sarris candy sounds like it was your golden ticket, Jenn. I checked out their website and they have some really great items - especially for Steelers fans (which I happen to know describes Jenn!).

Did you try any French chocolates while you were exploring the country?

Okay, readers - it's your turn now. Submit YOUR favorite candy memory to me tout de suite! 

Truffles and chocolate Eiffel Tower by atduskgreg

People of the world, rejoice! It's National Toasted Marshmallow Day.

Naturally, I suggest making S'mores. Turns out, there are people in this world far more creative than I am. From the brilliant minds at Real Simple magazine, I give you toasted marshmallows as cupcake frosting. 

Here's another entry in the Candy Memory Contest. I have to admit, as an Ocean City, MD native (one with considerable knowledge of Candy Kitchen), this entry tugged at my heart strings.

Every year my cousins and I spend a week in Bethany Beach, DE. When we were younger, it was home to our heaven - Candy Kitchen. We always saved up our allowances to spend on cola bottle candy, Swedish fish, swizzle sticks and more.

When I was about 9 or 10, the most amazing thing happened. My cousin bought his annual package of red licorice rope and got a star on the back of his receipt which earned him a free pound of fudge! We basically felt like rockstars picking out four different types of fudge and devouring it on our way back to the house. Once we shared our good news (and whatever was left of the fudge), we decided to try our luck at another Candy Kitchen. Somehow we convinced the dads to drive us to every Candy Kitchen between Bethany and 11^th Street in Ocean City, buying red licorice rope and hoping for a star. [ed. note - That's a fairly significant number of stores as you can see on this map].

We didn't find another one that day, and haven't gotten one since, but that has never stopped us from buying red rope licorice on our first beach day every year and waiting for that star on our receipts.

Kiki Janssens lives in Washington, D.C. except for one week every year when she visits Bethany to relax, swim and hunt down the elusive free pound of fudge with her family.

Have you ever been to a Candy Kitchen or vacationed on the Delmarva Peninsula? If so, you probably know this catchy jingle. It's been in my head since Kiki submitted her entry on Tuesday.

Before I officially announced the Favorite Candy Memory contest on the blog earlier this week, I told my co-workers about it and asked them to help me populate the entries by writing their own submissions and telling their friends. My co-worker Ali was the first to step up to the plate with this sweet little story about the day she became engaged to her darling husband (maker of excellent margaritas and all-around great guy!).

My Favorite Candy Memory
by Alison B.

One winter day about 12 years ago I was skiing in California with my boyfriend at Heavenly. We were skiing Ridge Run, which has gorgeous views overlooking Lake Tahoe. My boyfriend stopped halfway down the run to take a rest and we trekked into the trees to sit on a rock and admire the view. He told me to close my eyes and hold out my hand to receive a special chocolate he'd brought. I willingly obliged. When I opened my eyes, instead of chocolate, an engagement ring was in my hand! My first thought was, "Where's my chocolate?"!  

That boyfriend is now my husband.

Alison Bodor lives in Arlington, VA with her husband and two children. The whole family enjoys skiing and Alison makes sure she always has a few chocolate bars in her ski coat to share and enjoy on the slopes!  

Now it's your turn to share a favorite candy memory. Refresh your recollection of what we're looking for and send it in right away.

Snowy Love Bugs by NutMeg66

 

Spangler Candy Company has been an institution in the small town of Bryan, Ohio, population, about 10,000, since 1908 when the first candy rolled off its production lines. As a little girl I can remember going into Bryan, Ohio, the county seat, and picking my favorite Dum-Dum from the Dum-Dum tree when my parents conducted business at  the Bryan Savings and Loan.  Butterscotch was my favorite then and now.  Bryan was the big town as I lived on a farm on US Highway 127, about 8 miles outside of Bryan and went to school in West Unity, population 1200.

The Spangler Candy Company and the Spangler family have long held a place in the heart of my sister-in-law and her family, too. Sue Six Snyder's grandmother worked for the Spangler family and her mother was employed at the Spangler factory helping to produce Dum-Dums.  Sue continued the family tradition working at Spangler as a teenager.  Spangler encouraged customers to collect Dum-Dum wrappers and send them to the company where they could be exchanged for coupons and prizes. Sue left Bryan when she married my brother and spent several years  raising a family in New York City and Dallas, Texas.  But when her husband, my brother, died she couldn't think of anyplace she'd rather be than Bryan.  Sue's life is now filled volunteering for worthy causes and entertaining a five-year old grandniece.  What do you think one of their favorite activities is?  That's right; riding the Spangler Candy Company "train" that takes you on a little tour of the factory.

For over 100 years Spangler has been a wonderful part of the experience of living in Bryan, Ohio.  And it's not unique.  There remain candy companies all over the United States that share similar histories within their communities.  I just happen to have a special knowledge with Spangler.  How about you?  What candy company speaks to your childhood memories?

Dum-Dums by lePhotography

We're having a contest. You won't get candy this time but you will get a shot at fame and glory on the Candy Dish Blog.

Here's how to enter:

1. Write a blog post of 100 - 200 words discussing your favorite candy or chocolate memory. Maybe you remember with fondness how your next door neighbor always kept a bowl of red jelly beans on the coffee table for you. Maybe you loved cotton candy at the summer fair. Maybe your husband proposed by spelling out "Marry Me?" in chocolate sauce on your dessert plate. Whatever it is, we want to hear it and we might even want to share it.
2. Send me your blog post along with your full name, city, state and e-mail address. We'll only publish your name, but I need the rest of that stuff for our records. Please let me know if you only want your first name and last initial published.
3. If you have some awesome online forum (your blog, your flickr account, your twitter feed, etc.) that you want us to hyperlink your name to, please send that to me as well. I can't promise that I'll be able to link to it because we'll have to make sure it has content appropriate for a wide variety of ages, but I'll at least consider it.
4. Finally, in your e-mail to me please include a one or two sentence, VERY SHORT, bio that ties into your post. For example, if I were entering this contest, I might write about the time our family schnauzer got her head stuck in my Halloween candy pumpkin. Then my bio would read:
   Susan and her husband, Don, live in Arlington, Va. If they ever have children of their own, they will encourage the use of pillowcases for collecting trick-or-treat candy over those dangerous plastic pumpkins.

That's it. Pretty simple. I'll send you an e-mail if we're going to use your blog post and let you know when it will run. We'll also tweet about it and do what we can to help you get your 15 minutes of candy fame.

Remember, I need all the items outlined in steps 1 - 4 above sent to me via e-mail. By sending me that e-mail you agree that I can use your story on our blog, edit it for length and grammar if necessary (not that you won't all have a perfect grasp of the language) and that we can use the post or excerpts from it in promotion. If you send me anything not relevant to candy, or anything that's promotional in a way we find unacceptable, you'll have no chance of seeing it published - so please save us both the time and keep those posts to yourself.

Now - start writing! The contest is on-going, but I'm excited about it ... so send in your entry right away please.

On August 13, 2004 the world lost a culinary master, Julia Child. Her death came just two days before what would have been her 92nd birthday. NCA had a special connection with Julia. You see, on her 85th birthday we made her birthday cake. We didn't actually make it ourselves, but we supplied the recipe and one of our members (Guittard Chocolate) donated the chocolate. The cake itself was prepared by Chef Marcel DeSaulniers, chef and part owner of Trellis Restaurantin Williamsburg, Va.

You've heard of the cookbook Death by Chocolate, right? Chef DeSaulniers wrote it. That's right, he literally wrote the book on chocolate. He was a good friend of Julia's and often appeared on her show. If you really want to torture yourself, check out the dessert menu at Trellis. I'll take TWO of the dark chocolate and caramel tortes, please.

Anyway, back to this cake. Julia turned 85 in 1997 - the year BEFORE I started working at NCA so I didn't get to sample the cake, attend her party or meet Julia. *sigh* But Susan S. was here then. Actually, she and Julia share the same birthday so Susan probably imagined that the whole event was planned for her. That's what I would have done anyway!

So this cake? Sounds unreal. It's called an Old Fashioned Chocolate Layer Cake. The recipe and some details about the preparation and Julia's reaction are on our website. But for your convenience, the recipe itself is printed below. Try it out and let us know what you think.

Old Fashioned Chocolate Layer Cake 

Speckled Chocolate Cake:

• ½ pound unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
• 8 egg yolks
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 6 egg whites
• 1 ½ cups cake flour, sifted
• 10 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely grated

Chocolate Icing:

• ½ pound unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/3 cup half-and-half
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

• Lightly coat insides of two 9 x 1 ½ inch cake pans with melted butter. Line each pan with parchment paper, then lightly coat parchment with more melted butter. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Heat 1 inch of water in the bottom half of a double boiler over medium heat. Place ½ pound of butter in top half of double boiler. Heat butter slowly, stirring continuously until it is melted but not separated. Remove from heat.
• Place egg yolks and 3/4 cup of granulated sugar in bowl of electric mixer fitted with balloon whip. Whisk on high until slightly thickened and lemon-colored, about 1 minute. Adjust mixer speed to low and continue to mix while whisking egg whites.
• Whisk egg whites in a large stainless bowl until soft peaks form, about 3 minutes. Add remaining ½ cup sugar and continue to whisk until stiff but not dry, about 2 to 3 minutes.
• Gradually add flour to egg yolks while mixing on low. Add melted butter and continue to mix on low for 10 seconds. Increase speed to medium and mix for 5 seconds. Remove bowl from mixer and use rubber spatula to thoroughly combine ingredients. Add a third of beaten egg whites and stir to incorporated, gently fold in remaining egg white and 8 ounces grated chocolate.
• Divide batter between prepared pans, spreading evenly, and bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove cakes and cool in pans for 20 minutes. Invert cakes onto cake circles; cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes. Remove parchment and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

To prepare icing:

Place ½ pound butter, cocoa, and salt in bowl of electric mixer fitted with a paddle. Cream mixture on low until thoroughly combined, about 3 minutes. Add confectioners' sugar, half-and-half, and vanilla. Combine on low for 10 seconds. Readjust speed to high and beat until icing is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Remove from mixer and keep at room temperature until needed.
To assemble cake

Slice each cake horizontally into 2 layers of equal size. Place one tablespoon icing in center of cake circle. Place a layer of cake onto dab of icing and gently press in place. Evenly spread 3/4 cup of icing over cake layer. Repeat steps for remaining three cake layers. After fourth (top) cake layer is placed, evenly spread remaining icing over top and sides of cake. Press reserved 2 ounces of grated chocolate into icing on sides of cakes, coating evenly.

Serves 12.