All Hallows Eats - Recap
The Brown family does not give out store-bought treats for All-Hallows Eve. No, each year when the black cats starts to hiss and the goblins... gobble, they break out the ancient codex of All-Hallow's Eve treats and get to cooking. Alton thumbs the pages of the well-used tome, recalling gummy worms (made by an uncle who used actual worms), fire-ant brittle, and dozens of other treats. If it has landed in a plastic pumpkin, it is in Alton's book, every recipe magically mischievous... Good Eats!
In 1869, Alton's great-great-granduncle went to work for the Gurlitz brothers, who had emigrated from Germany to establish a candy shop in Belleville, Illinois. This talented candy making clan invented many forms of candy, including a nearly fat-free form of chewy candy that remains a Halloween classic even now. And Alton has his ancestor's version of it, a candy that's as much fun to make as it is to eat.
Like many of the candy recipes in Alton's family, this one starts with a cooked mixture of water, sugar, and corn syrup. But cooked how? Well, cooked to the thread stage. What does that mean, exactly? At the blackboard, Alton discusses the “old” candy making terms. These terms describe the behavior of syrup cooked to various temperatures when dropped into cold water. Each term refers to a stage with different behavior. The stages are thread, soft ball, hard ball, soft crack, hard crack and caramel, and at each stage, the sugar concentration in the mixture is greater. Softer candies result from cooking to the thread and ball stages (more water), while cooking to the crack and caramel stages produces much harder candies (far less water).
The modern era of reliable candy thermometers offers a new option: temperature. Alton will cook his to about 230° F, equivalent to the thread stage, at which point the candy will contain about twenty percent water, and will still be very soft.
Alton starts with a two quart saucepan. This narrow vessel concentrates the heat, resulting in faster and more even cooking. He adds water, sugar, and corn syrup to the pan and fires up the burner to medium, which will heat the syrup slowly enough to minimize the chance of burning it.
While that cooks, Alton explains that cooking sugar (sucrose) in water can make it crystallize, leaving an end product resembling rocks sitting in a puddle of water. That's certainly not the goal here. Corn syrup, he continues, contains fructose, which has different chemical properties than sucrose. As it gets incorporated into the sugar matrix, it prevents the formation of regular crystals. The resulting syrup incorporates both sugar and water.
Back at the pot, Alton shows (with the help of a handy mirror) that four minutes of medium heat has dissolved all the solids and produced a nice syrup. To this, he adds some butter, which will help give the final product a creamy texture, and will as a bonus offer some further protection against crystallization. Alton clamps an old school analog thermometer to the side of the pot; its large scale will allow him to easily see the temperature reaching the goal, a process that takes about a minute. While that happens, he gathers additional software.
These extra ingredients include powdered (confectioners) sugar, which will add both more sugar and corn starch. Corn starch is a dessicant which will help dry the candy and keep it dry. Finally, powdered milk adds proteins that will help make the product chewy when they coagulate in the presence of the enzymes and acids present (in small quantities) in corn syrup. Alton adds the confectioners sugar, milk and just a touch of kosher salt to his food processor and spins the mixture to break up lumps.
The miracle of television has brought Alton's syrup to the proper temperature so he removes the thermometer and adds a shot of vanilla (it will bubble a little), followed by all of the dry ingredients, stirring them in. He recommends a silicone spatula for this, since this produce will be very sticky! When he has combined all the ingredients, he pours the mixture onto a silicone treated baking mat or piece of parchment, to cool for fifteen minutes. Again, because it is so very stick, Alton recommends parchment (silicone impregnated paper) or a silicone baking mat.
Next, Alton fetches gel food colorings from his cabinet. These are not generally available at food stores but are worth searching out on the web because they homogenize easily into thick mixtures like Alton's candy batter. Alton divides his batter into three parts. He applies some yellow color to one part, folding it over and over (with the silicone baking mat) until the color is even. He then repeats this with some orange dye and a second part of the batter. He leaves the last part of the batter white. He then splits each part in half again, giving him six pieces. Taking a piece of yellow, he rolls it until it is about a half inch in diameter, and about 22 inches long. He repeats this treatment with a piece of orange and a piece of white, then presses these together into a triangle using a metal ruler and his silicone mat. He ends up with a long triangular piece of candy colored orange, yellow, and white. He cuts this into four inch segments, because that is the size of his butter cutter, and then uses that butter cutter to cut each segment into small candies – home made candy corn that almost looks like the store-bought kind!
Alton lets his candies dry and harden for about an hour and a half before bagging them. He assures candy corn haters that the reason they dislike the confection has to do with how commercial candy factories make it. They will, he promises, like the home made kind. It may be prepared as much as a week in advance of when needed. And that particular candy batter has other applications – but that's another show.
Back to his eerie recipe book, Alton discovers a candy treat prepared at a hotter temperature and served with a symbol of the harvest – an apple. He'll be making candy apples, but with a Brown family twist!
This starts with a lot of water in a four quart saucepan over high heat. While it heats, Alton builds a candy syrup similar to the one that produced candy corn in his two quart saucepan. This, he'll bring to a much hotter temperature: 300° F. It will take about fifteen minutes to get there; while it does, Alton considers apples.
The giant red apples grown in this country make poor candy apples, except perhaps for an anaconda (a snake known for eating prey whole). Instead, he chooses smaller apples such as MacIntoshes and Pink Ladies. For a handle, he recommends disposable chopsticks, the residue of years of Chinese take-out. They're more stable than Popsicle sticks and can even be reused when the apple is gone!
Back at the stove, Alton's syrup has reached a boil, so he adds a thermometer and begins to watch the temperature climb. Next he prepares his apples, starting by twisting out the stems and driving chopsticks into the blossom ends. He dips each apple into the large pot of hot water for fifteen to twenty seconds. This removes a thin coating of carnauba wax applied by the grower to make the apples shiny and keep moisture inside them. This wax would prevent the candy coating from adhering, so it has to go. Alton sets the dipped apples on a sheet pan to dry.
Candy apples are traditionally red, courtesy of red food coloring. Some parents dislike red food coloring, fearing it can over-excite children. (Viewers here see Alton from inside the cabinet where he keeps food coloring; he closes the doors and opens them otno a seen of underage mania.) Alton explains that food coloring falls into two broad categories. The first is unregulated, and includes compounds derived from natural substances such annatto seed, beta carotene, grapeskin extracts and suchlike. The second is man-made colorants, also called food, drug and cosmetic (or FD&C) colors. These artificial colors are prepared in batches and carefully regulated, and the government assures us they are safe. Some research does suggest that artificial food dyes, especially reds, can cause excitability. For those concerned, Alton recommends just skipping the food dye (apples are naturally red, after all), but muses that completely weaning oneself from food dies will require dismissing about 50,000 other foods: these dyes are ubiquitous.
Although ground cinnamon is the usual flavoring for the candy coating, Alton prefers candy maker's cinnamon oil (it's extremely potent). It's potent, so little is needed, and it isn't gritty. And finally, there's the Brown family special ingredient: cayenne pepper. Alton adds these ingredients to his syrup and stirs all that in. It will bubble. When it ceases to bubble, he quickly dips each apple, turning it and lifting it, and continuing to turn it until no more syrup drips from it. He sets the apple on a parchment papered cooie sheet. Allowing excess syrup time to drip away minimizes the size of the syrup disc under the apple. Once the apples are dry and cool, he wraps them in craft cellophane. When it is hot or humid, Alton recommends a layer of wax paper between the apple and cellophane to prevent adhesion.
Back to the recipe book, Alton chooses his final treat, a dark and nasty one: cousin Axel's popcorn balls, with a trick deep inside! This syrup starts with the three main ingredients water, sugar and corn syrup, and adds a few more: molasses, a pinch of salt, and a little vanilla. Alton puts this over medium heat and covers his saucepan to dissolve the solids.
Once the syrup boils the usual thermometer goes in. This time, Alton's target is 250° F, around the firm ball to hard ball stage. He makes up a batch of “Good Eats Perfect Popcorn” and adds a few cocoa nibs to that. They're optional, but delicious. Once the syrup reaches the correct temperature, Alton immediately adds it to the popcorn, stirring with a large spatula. Speed is important here; once removed from heat the syrup will begin to set. If it sets, it won't mix correctly. Buttering up his hands and an ice cream scoop (with actual butter), Alton scoops out quantities of the popcorn mixture and forms them into balls, careful not to compress them too much, lest they end up too dense to eat. He lets these cool and harden on a piece of parchment paper. Oh, and the Brown family secret here? A cooked Brussels sprout in the middle of each ball! It will ensure the little goblins get some vegetables!
There comes a knock at the door, and Alton distributes his treats to the ghouls arrayed before him. As he turns to go, he promises the viewers he'll see them again next year on Good Eats. And he listens for the pleasant screams as the little ones discover the special treats inside the popcorn balls!
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In 1869, Alton's great-great-granduncle went to work for the Gurlitz brothers, who had emigrated from Germany to establish a candy shop in Belleville, Illinois. This talented candy making clan invented many forms of candy, including a nearly fat-free form of chewy candy that remains a Halloween classic even now. And Alton has his ancestor's version of it, a candy that's as much fun to make as it is to eat.
Like many of the candy recipes in Alton's family, this one starts with a cooked mixture of water, sugar, and corn syrup. But cooked how? Well, cooked to the thread stage. What does that mean, exactly? At the blackboard, Alton discusses the “old” candy making terms. These terms describe the behavior of syrup cooked to various temperatures when dropped into cold water. Each term refers to a stage with different behavior. The stages are thread, soft ball, hard ball, soft crack, hard crack and caramel, and at each stage, the sugar concentration in the mixture is greater. Softer candies result from cooking to the thread and ball stages (more water), while cooking to the crack and caramel stages produces much harder candies (far less water).
The modern era of reliable candy thermometers offers a new option: temperature. Alton will cook his to about 230° F, equivalent to the thread stage, at which point the candy will contain about twenty percent water, and will still be very soft.
Alton starts with a two quart saucepan. This narrow vessel concentrates the heat, resulting in faster and more even cooking. He adds water, sugar, and corn syrup to the pan and fires up the burner to medium, which will heat the syrup slowly enough to minimize the chance of burning it.
While that cooks, Alton explains that cooking sugar (sucrose) in water can make it crystallize, leaving an end product resembling rocks sitting in a puddle of water. That's certainly not the goal here. Corn syrup, he continues, contains fructose, which has different chemical properties than sucrose. As it gets incorporated into the sugar matrix, it prevents the formation of regular crystals. The resulting syrup incorporates both sugar and water.
Back at the pot, Alton shows (with the help of a handy mirror) that four minutes of medium heat has dissolved all the solids and produced a nice syrup. To this, he adds some butter, which will help give the final product a creamy texture, and will as a bonus offer some further protection against crystallization. Alton clamps an old school analog thermometer to the side of the pot; its large scale will allow him to easily see the temperature reaching the goal, a process that takes about a minute. While that happens, he gathers additional software.
These extra ingredients include powdered (confectioners) sugar, which will add both more sugar and corn starch. Corn starch is a dessicant which will help dry the candy and keep it dry. Finally, powdered milk adds proteins that will help make the product chewy when they coagulate in the presence of the enzymes and acids present (in small quantities) in corn syrup. Alton adds the confectioners sugar, milk and just a touch of kosher salt to his food processor and spins the mixture to break up lumps.
The miracle of television has brought Alton's syrup to the proper temperature so he removes the thermometer and adds a shot of vanilla (it will bubble a little), followed by all of the dry ingredients, stirring them in. He recommends a silicone spatula for this, since this produce will be very sticky! When he has combined all the ingredients, he pours the mixture onto a silicone treated baking mat or piece of parchment, to cool for fifteen minutes. Again, because it is so very stick, Alton recommends parchment (silicone impregnated paper) or a silicone baking mat.
Next, Alton fetches gel food colorings from his cabinet. These are not generally available at food stores but are worth searching out on the web because they homogenize easily into thick mixtures like Alton's candy batter. Alton divides his batter into three parts. He applies some yellow color to one part, folding it over and over (with the silicone baking mat) until the color is even. He then repeats this with some orange dye and a second part of the batter. He leaves the last part of the batter white. He then splits each part in half again, giving him six pieces. Taking a piece of yellow, he rolls it until it is about a half inch in diameter, and about 22 inches long. He repeats this treatment with a piece of orange and a piece of white, then presses these together into a triangle using a metal ruler and his silicone mat. He ends up with a long triangular piece of candy colored orange, yellow, and white. He cuts this into four inch segments, because that is the size of his butter cutter, and then uses that butter cutter to cut each segment into small candies – home made candy corn that almost looks like the store-bought kind!
Alton lets his candies dry and harden for about an hour and a half before bagging them. He assures candy corn haters that the reason they dislike the confection has to do with how commercial candy factories make it. They will, he promises, like the home made kind. It may be prepared as much as a week in advance of when needed. And that particular candy batter has other applications – but that's another show.
Back to his eerie recipe book, Alton discovers a candy treat prepared at a hotter temperature and served with a symbol of the harvest – an apple. He'll be making candy apples, but with a Brown family twist!
This starts with a lot of water in a four quart saucepan over high heat. While it heats, Alton builds a candy syrup similar to the one that produced candy corn in his two quart saucepan. This, he'll bring to a much hotter temperature: 300° F. It will take about fifteen minutes to get there; while it does, Alton considers apples.
The giant red apples grown in this country make poor candy apples, except perhaps for an anaconda (a snake known for eating prey whole). Instead, he chooses smaller apples such as MacIntoshes and Pink Ladies. For a handle, he recommends disposable chopsticks, the residue of years of Chinese take-out. They're more stable than Popsicle sticks and can even be reused when the apple is gone!
Back at the stove, Alton's syrup has reached a boil, so he adds a thermometer and begins to watch the temperature climb. Next he prepares his apples, starting by twisting out the stems and driving chopsticks into the blossom ends. He dips each apple into the large pot of hot water for fifteen to twenty seconds. This removes a thin coating of carnauba wax applied by the grower to make the apples shiny and keep moisture inside them. This wax would prevent the candy coating from adhering, so it has to go. Alton sets the dipped apples on a sheet pan to dry.
Candy apples are traditionally red, courtesy of red food coloring. Some parents dislike red food coloring, fearing it can over-excite children. (Viewers here see Alton from inside the cabinet where he keeps food coloring; he closes the doors and opens them otno a seen of underage mania.) Alton explains that food coloring falls into two broad categories. The first is unregulated, and includes compounds derived from natural substances such annatto seed, beta carotene, grapeskin extracts and suchlike. The second is man-made colorants, also called food, drug and cosmetic (or FD&C) colors. These artificial colors are prepared in batches and carefully regulated, and the government assures us they are safe. Some research does suggest that artificial food dyes, especially reds, can cause excitability. For those concerned, Alton recommends just skipping the food dye (apples are naturally red, after all), but muses that completely weaning oneself from food dies will require dismissing about 50,000 other foods: these dyes are ubiquitous.
Although ground cinnamon is the usual flavoring for the candy coating, Alton prefers candy maker's cinnamon oil (it's extremely potent). It's potent, so little is needed, and it isn't gritty. And finally, there's the Brown family special ingredient: cayenne pepper. Alton adds these ingredients to his syrup and stirs all that in. It will bubble. When it ceases to bubble, he quickly dips each apple, turning it and lifting it, and continuing to turn it until no more syrup drips from it. He sets the apple on a parchment papered cooie sheet. Allowing excess syrup time to drip away minimizes the size of the syrup disc under the apple. Once the apples are dry and cool, he wraps them in craft cellophane. When it is hot or humid, Alton recommends a layer of wax paper between the apple and cellophane to prevent adhesion.
Back to the recipe book, Alton chooses his final treat, a dark and nasty one: cousin Axel's popcorn balls, with a trick deep inside! This syrup starts with the three main ingredients water, sugar and corn syrup, and adds a few more: molasses, a pinch of salt, and a little vanilla. Alton puts this over medium heat and covers his saucepan to dissolve the solids.
Once the syrup boils the usual thermometer goes in. This time, Alton's target is 250° F, around the firm ball to hard ball stage. He makes up a batch of “Good Eats Perfect Popcorn” and adds a few cocoa nibs to that. They're optional, but delicious. Once the syrup reaches the correct temperature, Alton immediately adds it to the popcorn, stirring with a large spatula. Speed is important here; once removed from heat the syrup will begin to set. If it sets, it won't mix correctly. Buttering up his hands and an ice cream scoop (with actual butter), Alton scoops out quantities of the popcorn mixture and forms them into balls, careful not to compress them too much, lest they end up too dense to eat. He lets these cool and harden on a piece of parchment paper. Oh, and the Brown family secret here? A cooked Brussels sprout in the middle of each ball! It will ensure the little goblins get some vegetables!
There comes a knock at the door, and Alton distributes his treats to the ghouls arrayed before him. As he turns to go, he promises the viewers he'll see them again next year on Good Eats. And he listens for the pleasant screams as the little ones discover the special treats inside the popcorn balls!
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