It seems like there's a correlation between darkness and deliciousness. Huh.
Please click here for Part 1, or click here for Part 2!
So what do the barley candies I make taste like? Many people would probably say they taste like roasted grains, though they might not be able to name barley and rice. I know I certainly wouldn’t be able to. In fact, I might even have trouble recognizing the grain flavor since it isn’t often made into candy. They’re strongly savory and are sort of “warm” and “enveloping”, like a room with dark oaken paneling (does that make sense to you? I find that feelings or senses which can’t be put into words are best described by other feelings or senses which can’t be put into words). Personally I find them a little too sweet, but I’m having trouble making them less so without upsetting the careful balance of sweetness and not-sticking-to-pan. I have unusually low sugar preference levels anyway.
A number of factors rest in perfect balance in shelf-stable candy, so changing one little thing in a recipe to improve one aspect often throws everything else off balance. In the plate above, the right two batches are good examples of what can go wrong. The top right batch is melting into a pool on the plate due to too much glucose. Although both pretty and less sweet than pure sucrose candy, it’s very messy to both eat and store. I’m sure no one wants to receive a gift box that drips golden brown syrup on their shoe. The bottom right batch has the opposite problem due to too little glucose (or a flood of other possible reasons). This batch has a crystallized shell that’s very grainy and rough on the tongue. Not pleasant.
The two batches on the left are successful. The bottom one is hard candy and has a mild flavor, along with a nice chocolate color. However, I prefer the mound on the top, which is just as appealing to the tongue as it is repulsive to the eye. This is a soft-ish candy that in toughness is between a new wad of gum and beef jerky. The flavor is very bold and confrontational. It’s full of surprises: there are some crispy bits to please the teeth (which I love), and pockets of salt to reset the tastebuds. It’s the most fabulous thing I’ve made this year! The only problem is that this batch is difficult to recreate despite having the recipe. Later recipe modifications which make cooking easier for me haven’t had quite the same mix of great qualities. I’ll keep working on it!
