Sugar Savvy

Newman’s Own Organic Ginger n’ Crème Ginger – O’s

Sylvie Shirazi — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:50:06 +0000

Last year around this time Newman’s Own expanded its Newman-O’s Cookie line to include a new Peanut Butter Crème Filled Chocolate Cookie, and generously sent me a sampler box to review, which you can check out here.

Along with the Peanut Butter Crème Filled Chocolate Cookies, the Newman’s sampler box also contained some other flavors, including their Organic Ginger n’ Crème Ginger - O’s (one of the most unique flavors of crème filled cookies I have seen on the market). Although these have been around for awhile, I had never tried one before. For some reason, I was expecting a vanilla cookie filled with a ginger crème, so I was surprised when I opened the package and the cookies were all a light tan color. These are ginger cookies with a plain crème filling (I guess I missed the part where it clearly says “crème filled ginger cookies” on the label).

The spicy/sweet taste of these cookies reminds me of gingersnaps. There is a clear hit of ginger and nutmeg when you bite into one. If you are not a fan of ginger, then this might not be the cookie for you. Unfortunately, the ginger flavor has a bit of harshness that comes from using powdered ginger instead of fresh. The crème filling, however, tames the bite of the spices nicely and makes the cookies sweeter than a gingersnap.

As usual with all the Newman’s Own products, the ingredients are fairly straightforward (organic unbleached wheat flour, organic powdered sugar, organic palm fruit oil, molasses, organic sugar, ground ginger, soy lecithin [an emulsifier], salt, sodium bicarbonate [leavening], nutmeg, monocalcium phosphate [leavening]), and do not contain any hydrogentated oils or trans fats.

Although I prefer some of the company’s other crème filled cookies a little more, overall I was pleasantly surprised at how good these were. I have also heard that the Trader Joe’s Ginger “Jo-Jo’s” are amazing; sadly, however, they were discontinued before I had a chance to try them, so I cannot compare the two.

Fresh and Easy Milk Chocolate Malt Balls

Sylvie Shirazi — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:59:36 +0000

I am on a quest to find the “perfect malt ball;” a malt ball with a nice milk chocolate coating (real milk chocolate) and a light crispy (not powdery) malt center that will satisfy my cravings. Alas, my quest has remained unfruitful to date.

You see, I find that there is always one missing component; for example, the chocolate coasting is too thin or too thick, the ratio of malty center to chocolate coating isn’t quite right, or the malt center is too dry and powdery. I have ruled out Whoppers, Mighty Malts and Maltesers because the chocolate coating they use is not real milk chocolate and tends to leave an unpleasant aftertaste.

I thought I had found a real contender when I tried Brach’s Fiesta Malted Milk Eggs (an egg shaped malt ball available during Easter) which advertises that it is made with “real milk chocolate” right on the package. The eggs have a thin candy shell coating that covers a nice milk chocolate layer. Don’t get me wrong, these are very good malt balls (one of my favorites), but they have a bit too much malt center for my taste, which makes them a little dry and the candy shell coating makes them very sweet.

On a trip to Bristol Farms Market (a Southern California based upscale grocery chain similar to Whole Foods), I decided to try their name brand chocolate malt balls, and found that although the chocolate coating was delicious, it was so thick that it completely overpowered the tiny malt center.

Still determined to find the elusive “perfect malt ball,” I decided most recently to give another grocery store malt ball a chance. This time it was Fresh and Easy, a division of Britain’s biggest supermarket group Tesco, which has opened locations in California, Nevada and Arizona.

I picked up a box of Fresh and Easy Milk Chocolate Malt Balls. The label reads: “Our handmade chocolate confections have a crunchy malt center and are coated with a rich milk chocolate.” I checked the ingredients and the chocolate is indeed real, and the malt center contains actual malted milk, as well as malt extract (not sure what that is), so I was very hopeful that this would be it — the “perfect malt ball.”

The Results:

The malt balls have a nice chocolatey smell. The chocolate to malt center ratio is good. The chocolate coating is smooth and creamy, not too thick, not too thin. The malt center is light, crispy and crunchy and reminiscent of honeycomb, but doesn’t have a very pronounced malt flavor.

So is this the “perfect malt ball?” Not quite, but it sure is close, and it is definitely my new favorite.

Have any of you found malt ball perfection?

What to Do with Leftover Egg Whites

Sylvie Shirazi — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 06:21:28 +0000

Let’s play Jeopardy-

Answer: Coconut Macaroons

Question: What is - what you do with leftover egg whites

Oftentimes a recipe calls for egg yolks only, so what do you do with the whites? Throw them away? That would be wasteful; instead, find a recipe that uses egg whites.

I make quite a bit of ice cream so I am often faced with this dilemma and have spent a good deal of time trying out various recipes that use up my leftover egg whites. One of my favorite recipes is a quick and easy recipe for Coconut Macaroons. So in honor of the recent National Macaroon Day (May 31st), I would like to share this recipe with you.

EASY MINI COCONUT MACAROONS

Ingredients:

180g (about 1 ¾ cups) of finely shredded unsweetened coconut * see NOTES
120g (about ½ cup + 3 tsp) white sugar * see NOTES
2 large eggs whites
½ tsp vanilla extract
Optional – mini chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix together the coconut, sugar, egg whites and vanilla with a fork or you fingers until all the coconut is evenly moistened. You can also add mini-chocolate chips to the mixture at this point (like I do) to make Chocolate Chip Macaroons.

Scoop tightly packed teaspoonfuls of the mixture evenly spaced onto the baking sheet and place in the oven for about 5 minutes, or until the tops of the Macaroons turn a light golden brown. Do not over bake or the centers will not remain soft and chewy.

*NOTES:
The measurements in the original recipe are given in grams, which I converted to American cup measurements.

You need to use unsweetened coconut in order for this recipe to work. Unsweetened coconut can be found at most health food stores. Since it is drier and finer than the regular sweetened coconut that you find at grocery stores, the unsweetened coconut better absorbs the egg whites and gives the cookies their characteristic texture (soft and chewy in the middle, crisp on the outside).

Mother’s Cookies Return!

Sylvie Shirazi — Wed, 20 May 2009 17:03:13 +0000

Great news, Mother’s Cookies are back! I had previously shared with you here the sad news that Mother’s Cookies was going out of business in October 2008 when the company filed bankruptcy. The California institution was thankfully saved by Kellogg’s, who bought the rights to the trademarks and recipes.

Mother’s cookies made their return to stores near me (Los Angeles, California) in early May, just in time for Mother’s Day. According to the Mother’s Cookies website the following varieties are now available:

Circus Animals
Chocolate Chip
Coconut Cocadas
Double Fudge
English Tea
Iced Lemonade
Iced Oatmeal
Macaroons
Oatmeal
Taffy
Vanilla Crèmes

I picked up some of the Iced Oatmeal, Taffy and Macaroons to see if the newly released cookies would stand up to the old versions. I am pleased to say that I do not believe Kellogg’s altered the original recipes, as the cookies tasted just the way I remembered.

If you have been missing Mother’s Cookies, you may want to check your local stores to see if Mother’s Cookies have made a reappearance in your area.

*Photo courtesy of motherscookies.com.

Easter Candy Sale Finds

Sylvie Shirazi — Mon, 04 May 2009 06:08:23 +0000

Easter signaled the end of the candy season until Halloween, and Easter candy sales were the last chance to stock up on favorites until next year. Every year I look forward to making the rounds and picking up some of my favorite Easter cand,y as well as trying out a few new things I would not usually buy at full price. Unfortunately, this years’ sales were sad, to say the least. The majority of stores in my area had sold out of most of the good candy long before Easter. After scouring the local stores, I was able to find the following few items at pretty good sale prices:

(Giant) Reese’s Peanut Butter Egg: A ridiculously large (6 oz) molded chocolate egg with peanut butter filling. The peanut butter dominates here as it makes up the majority of this confection; it is firmer than the filling in the regular sized Reese’s egg and slightly less sweet. Growing up having eaten the firmer all-natural style peanut butter, I really enjoyed this filling. I will be buying this again next year.

(Small) Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs in Milk and White Chocolate: A bite sized (.6 oz) individually wrapped version of the regular Peanut Butter Egg with either a milk chocolate coating or white chocolate coating. These taste the same as their bigger counterparts, but are a nice bite sized portion. I like the built-in portion control these offer and will be buying them again next year.

Russell Stover Chocolate Crème Egg: A milk chocolate shell filled entirely with milk chocolate crème. The filling is very runny and tastes like it is artificially chocolate flavored. The intense sweetness of the filling leaves a burning sensation that lingers in the mouth. I did not like this at all and will not be buying it again.

Russell Stover Vanilla - Chocolate Crème Egg: A milk chocolate shell filled with white vanilla crème (similar to a Cadbury Egg) and a milk chocolate crème center. This egg also has an overwhelmingly sweet runny filling as well, and doesn’t taste very much like either vanilla or chocolate (I taste notes of artificial coconut flavoring). I will not be buying this egg again.

Russell Stover Marshmallow & Caramel Egg: A milk chocolate shell filled with marshmallow fluff and a soft caramel center. The marshmallow filling is spongy and not liquid like the other two eggs. The marshmallow is nice and soft, not too sweet, and the caramel is a nice complement. I actually enjoyed this one and will be buying it again next year.

I’m hoping that next year’s Easter sales will be more fruitful. Did you score interesting candy at the after Easter sales?

Limited Edition Thingamajig

Sylvie Shirazi — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:01:51 +0000

Have you ever eaten a Thingamajig? Have you ever seen one? Chances are you may not even know it existed.

A Thingamajig is a limited edition candy bar made by Hershey’s similar in style to the Whatchamacallit. The Whatchamacallit label reads “peanut flavor crisp, caramel, and rich chocolatey coating,” whereas the Thingamajig boasts “made with chocolate, cocoa crisps, and peanut butter.” Right away I note a few differences: (i) the Thingamajig is made with actual chocolate unlike the Whatchamacallit which is “mockolate,” (ii) the Thingamajig is a chocolate bar with peanut butter while the Whatchamacallit is a peanut butter bar with caramel.

The Thingamajig has a strong peanut butter smell, which reminds me of a Butterfinger. Inside is a layer of chocolate crisp rice topped with a layer of peanut butter. The crisps make the bar very light and airy but do not impart much chocolate flavor. The flavor of the peanut butter layer only comes through very mildly towards the end of a bite. I was pretty underwhelmed with this bar, it contains very promising ingredients but none of them stand out and the overall experience is rather boring. There are better chocolate/peanut butter combination bars on the market.

If you would like to do your own taste test, you can currently find Thingamajigs at Walgreens.

Fun Food Holidays

Sylvie Shirazi — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 06:04:36 +0000

Do you love the holidays and all the foods that are an integral part of the celebration? Do you miss the holiday season when it is over? Well, did you know that it is a holiday almost every day of the year?

You can celebrate with your favorite foods almost every day thanks to National Food Holidays such as National Chocolate Day or National Ice Cream Day.

How are food holidays created? Usually a company or association connected to the food in question petitions the government for a calendar day commemorating their product to raise awareness and recognition by the general public. So yes, it is a marketing ploy, but does that really matter when you have an excuse to eat delicious food all year long?

A few of my personal favorites are:

July 21: National Ice Cream Day
October 28: National Chocolate Day
December 4: National Cookie Day

Check out a list of National Food Holidays here, and find your excuse to celebrate today.

The Chocolate Guide – Eastern Edition

Sylvie Shirazi — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 06:00:24 +0000

The Chocolate Guide: To Local Chocolatiers, Chocolate Makers, Boutiques, Patisseries and Shops - Eastern Edition is Taste TV’s latest guidebook to all things chocolate on the East Coast. This book follows the publication of The Chocolate Guide Western Edition.

At its core, the book is a compilation of profiles of various Chocolate Makers and chocolate shops on the East Coast. The profiles are organized by the following regions:

● Southeast
● Northeast & New England
● Pennsylvania
● New York, New Jersey, Connecticut
● Chicago, Ohio, Indiana

Each profile provides basic information such as contact information and business hours, as well as more specific descriptions of popular products, notable people or unique stories about the businesses. Along with this information are pictures of the chocolates and the people who make them.

Unfortunately, unlike the Western Edition, the editors chose to publish all of the pictures in this edition in black and white, which, in my opinion, does the Chocolate Makers a disservice by not showcasing their creations in all their colorful beauty. It is also not quite clear to me why the editors chose to give some of the Chocolate Makers multiple-page spreads of pictures while others have only a half-page profile with no pictures at all.

The Eastern Edition of the Chocolate Guide reads very much like a Zagat Guide to chocolate, as it is more of a reference book than a coffee table book. The sole focus of the book are the profiles; there is no information presented in regards to the making or the history of chocolate. Unlike a Zagat Guide, however, the featured Chocolate Makers are not rated, simply presented to the reader. This would be a good book to travel with as it is lightweight and could fit in most handbags.

Notwithstanding my objections above, this book does contain useful information about Chocolate Makers on the East Coast, some familiar names such as Lake Champlain Chocolates and Voges Haut Chocolate, and some new discoveries. If you live on the East Coast and are interested in learning more about chocolate shops in your area, or are planning a trip to the East Coast you may want to check out this book.

Crêpe Day - La Chandeleur

Sylvie Shirazi — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:26:54 +0000

Every year on February 2^nd French people everywhere eat crêpes. Why February 2^nd, because it is traditional to celebrate the Catholic holiday called “La Chandeleur” (Candlemas) by making delicious crêpes.

“La Chandeleur” commemorates the purification of the Virgin Mary and the presentation of baby Jesus. Now you may be asking, what does this have to do with making crêpes? (Apparently, not much). Historically, flour was used to make crêpes as a symbol of prosperity for the next year’s harvest, and the round shape of the crêpes themselves recalled the shape of the sun in order to usher in the return of spring after a cold winter.

And so, on February 2^nd it is now traditional to make crêpes while holding a coin in your left hand, and single-handedly flipping a crêpe in a pan with your right hand. If you are able to flip the crêpe in the air and have it land perfectly back in the pan, you and your family will enjoy prosperity for the year.

Of course, the best part of crêpe day, is eating them! I suggest you keep the accompaniments simple: sugar, lemon juice, jam, chocolate and (if you can find some), Nutella. Get these ready to go before your start making your crêpes, as they are best eaten rolled up with your fingers, warm from the pan, spread with your filling of choice. A crêpe is basically a thin pancake made with flour, eggs, milk, water, sugar, and butter or oil. The key to making great crêpes is to make sure that the batter is smooth and to let it rest for a few hours before you cook them. As for the flipping technique, it’s in the wrist action, but that might take a bit of practice, or you can just use a spatula to turn them over.

Here is a recipe from my French grandmother to get you started:

Basic French Crêpes:

250g (2 cups) sifted flour
¼ liter (1 cup) whole milk
¼ liter (1 cup) water
½ tsp. salt
2 TB of melted butter or vegetable oil
3 large eggs lightly beaten
3 TB of sugar

Place the flour in a bowl and form a well in the center. Pour half of the liquid into the well, and starting from the center slowly mix in the flour until smooth. Add in the lightly beaten eggs, salt, and sugar and stir well. Next, add in the butter or oil, followed by the remaining liquid and slowly mix until you have a smooth fluid batter. At this point cover the bowl and let it rest at room temperature for at least 1 hour, or place in the refrigerator for up to 72 hours.

Note: At this point the original recipe says to cook the crêpes in the “habitual manner,” but since I’m sure most of you are not in the habit of making crêpes, I am including my own further directions on how to cook them.

Preheat a crêpe pan or small non-stick frying pan over medium heat. When hot add a little butter to grease the pan. Give the batter a stir to ensure that it is smooth.

Ladle about a ¼ cup of batter into the pan quickly tilting it around to spread a thin layer of batter that just coats the bottom of the pan. Cook until bubbles begin to form on top (this should take about 1 minute, so adjust your heat accordingly if it is cooking too fast or too slowly). Using a spatula, lift up the edges of the crêpe to check if it is cooked underneath, then gently loosen the crêpe from the pan and flip it over. Continue to cook for another 30 seconds until set.

Fill and eat immediately, or stack and keep warm in a 200 degree oven.

Give the batter another stir and repeat the process. Also, keep in mind that the first few are always failures until you get the heat just right.

I hope you will be inspired to make your own crêpes. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Recall

Sylvie Shirazi — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 06:00:56 +0000

I am sure some of you have been following the peanut butter recall associated with a recent Salmonella outbreak, which has affected over 400 people across America in just the past few months.

According to the FDA, the recall concerns industrial peanut butter and peanut paste (not jarred peanut butter) manufactured since July 1, 2008 by the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) at its Blakely, Georgia processing plant because of potential contamination. PCA does not sell peanut butter directly to consumers, only to institutions and food manufacturers. The company distributes its peanut butter and peanut butter paste to be used in the production of commercial products such as cakes, cookies, crackers, candies, cereal and ice cream. Apparently the CDC started to receive numerous reports of illness around mid-September and initiated an investigation. The investigation by the CDC and the FDA led to the discovery of a strain of Salmonella that was associated with the reported illnesses in an unopened canister of King Nut peanut butter (King Nut distributes peanut butter from PCA to long-term care facilities, hospitals, and cafeterias) indicating that the contamination took place at the PCA processing plant.

Since PCA distributes its peanut butter to a number of nationwide food manufacturers, this unfortunately means that some of our favorite peanut butter treats could be affected by the recall. An updated list of recalled products can be found here. Of course, it might also be wise to also contact the manufacturer of any peanut butter product you have recently purchased if you have questions regarding its safety.