Thanks to everyone who braved the beautiful weather to come out to last night's Masters of Social Gastronomy on sugar & sweeteners!
While Sarah will have you covered on NYC's sugar history, I thought I'd give you some further reading if your scientific curiosity was piqued. I'll be making follow-up posts on HFCS vs sugar and the hilarious history of artificial sweeteners, but figured you all might want to get a jump on it!
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Candy’s been an obsession around the Brainery for a long, long time. While you’re marveling at the fact we still have teeth, check out the posts below so you can whip up some slightly dangerous/delicious candy at home.
Menthol Candy Cigarettes [recipe, how-to, burn potential: low]
Faux Altoids [recipe, how-to, cavity potential: high]
What’s the Deal with Xylitol? [failed experiments, learn from our mistakes, science]
OK, so you've made candy cigarettes (or you've read about it, enraptured). You're left with a ton of leftover gum paste, with nary a clue what to do with it.
Allow us to be of service! Faux Altoids, here we go.
First, you need to make gum paste. Don't know how to do that? Check out our DIY candy cigarettes post, or this Instructables. It's basically egg white and sugar thickened to the point where it can dry out if left to its own...
At last month's MSG I shared the result of my quest for a cold, cold confection: candy menthol cigarettes. The peppermint and menthol flavors trick you mouth into thinking it's colder, while they also use xylitol instead of sugar so it's actually lowering the temperature in your mouth.
First we need to make gum paste. It's basically play doh made out of sugar you can use to make chalky candy (think Altoids or Necco wafers). You...
Note: This experiment ends in faaaaiillluuuurrre. I found a great different way to make xylitol candy, though, that I'll post in a day or two.
Xylitol is a pretty fun sugar substitute. You'll find it advertised as being in a lot of gums and the like, and that's because when xylitol dissolves in your mouth, it actually makes your mouth colder. Some things like cinnamon or spicy peppers make your mouth think it's getting hotter, but they...
