My question this week involves the substitution of rice syrup for corn syrup in candy making. Is it a good idea? Will it all go horribly wrong? There's only one way to know for sure.

As a special feature for The Food Geek readers, I'm going to include some alternate text that didn't go into the original article. It's like a bonus feature on a DVD. Woo!

I had a metaphor that just wasn't really working for me nor a select group of test readers, so I cut it. I could have made it work, but it didn't seem necessary, so I figured there was no reason to force the issue.

Corn syrup, on the other hand, is mostly glucose. The reason it's so, well, syrupy is because it's not just single molecules of glucose all hanging out by themselves, but chains of glucose. Sometimes they're short chains, sometimes they're long chains. It kind of like, and I want to stress that this is only a metaphor and should in no way put you off candy making, it's kind of like a big can of worms. Some of the worms are little ones, some are big long ones, but they all flow around each other and keep things moving slowly.

The reason why you put the corn syrup into the candy is because, when you just have single sugar molecules by themselves, then the sugar molecules want to bunch together to make crystals. It's really keen and useful for certain kinds of candies, but not as useful for others. What the corn syrup does is get in-between the sucrose molecules so, while they would normally join hands together, they instead try to keep from touching anything in case, for example, it might be a big worm.

Anyways, it's no room full of kittens, nor is it a thoroughly extended metaphor about a party, but for those who like knowing some of the (shhh!) secrets of the writing process, there ya go.

Powder-Filled Gel "Pac" Mints Mistaken for Drugs by Narcos: "

The new 'Ice Breakers Pacs' candy from Hershey have freaked out narcotics officers in Philadelphia because of their resemblance to bags of powered drugs. The candy, which is a gritty sugar sealed inside a gel bag that dissolves in your mouth, looks an awful lot like a little baggie of cocaine or heroin."

(Via Boing Boing Gadgets.)

Yeah, right, kid. "Mints," huh? Next you're going to say that t-shirt isn't a bomb. You're going to spend a long time in jail.

Was it this difficult for previous generations of law enforcement to keep up with changes in technology. I suppose it was. Anyways, for the conclusion - Ice Breackers Pacs: They may not be great mints, but you'll be cool like a heroin user. Alternately - Ice Breakers Pacs: Stickin' it to the man.

chadzilla: making vodka pills in 24 hours: "Recently, Chef Fabian was experimenting further with the Adria/Torreblanca technique of making 'vodka pills.' I use this word to describe the process of making liquid-filled candies by pouring flavored alcohol syrups into cornstarch and letting it set until a hard outer shell forms. The process is simple, but requires great attention to certain details and a clean approach."

The general idea is to make a soft, syrup-filled candy that is primarily based on a distilled spirit. The process takes a full day, and the end product doesn't have much shelf life, so it would be keen for a party, for example. I would probably lean towards a more flavorful spirit such as bourbon, but that might be a bit strong for some guests.

If you read through to the comments, there is a, um, energetic discussion (mustn't say 'spirited') about different spirits to use, possible ways to increase durability and shelf life, and how to measure.

(Via Make.)

Keacher.com » Blog Archive » Chocolate Zen: "The legends preceded it: chocolate so dark it ceased to taste like chocolate. Chocolate so intense it required cautionary statements. Chocolate so fine it cost $32 per pound. One of my coworkers is a fan of dark chocolate, and he was the one who first told me about the 99%-cocoa Lindt chocolate bar."

(Via reddit.)

One of the things I like doing best when I cook is making something that normally people buy. Sure, making the greatest Macaroni and Cheese is really cool, but making my own Chili Powder is being one step closer to godhood. Along those lines, I love the idea of the make your own gum kit. You get the basic materials, heat, mix, add some flavor, and Bob's your uncle.

What would be better, though, is finding a good source for chicle gum base (or, for that matter, any gum base). Then I could just make my own gum, without all that messy working with a kit thing. But where can I find chicle gum base? TIC gums seems a good source for some serious gum bases, but no chicle gums, and these seem to be the sorts of additives that are great for mass production of food, but aren't so useful for the home cook.

And that's where you get into the need for a kit. Play around with the pre-packaged, ready-to-assemble stuff, then work hard to find the basic ingredients if it seems at all worthwhile. I just like being able to go to my local market and grab the necessary ingredients and supplement it with what I already have. It works for a lot of foods, but I'm not sure if it'll work well with gum.

However, if anyone knows anything worth knowing on the subject of gum and gum making, please post here.

I believe I've mentioned my affinity for mints in the Metromint story, so it should come as no surprise that I'd mention this. Make Magazine's blog reports that Altoids are releasing a new set of ginger, cinnamon, and (of course) peppermint flavored candies, but this time dipped in dark chocolate. Curiously Strong Chocolates.

Unfortunately, they won't be available for a few months, unless you win an eBay auction to benefit the American Red Cross. Were it not for the charitable component, I think that even Dark Chocolate Covered Altoids would not be worth the (as of posting) $172.51 highest bid, even for the three tins. Still, if you enjoy helping people, chocolate, peppermint, and the knowledge that you would be one of the few people in the world who knows the tastiness of this treat, then it's likely worthwhile to start bidding.

I've mentioned before that the spicy/sweet connection is getting stronger in Popular Culture. It's not quite there yet, but one of my local coffee houses has a Maya Mocha which, so you know, thoroughly sucks. Mind you, that's more because of their poor coffee than the concept of the mocha, but I can think of a good version of that, so I'll work on that at some point.

Anyways, most of the products that mix spicy and sweet are niche products, and this is no exception. It's called Roulette Chocolate, and it's a series of twelve chocolate "bullets" that are mostly pure chocolate, with one that has what would appear to be a Thai chile hiding within. It's meant to be scary, but I suspect it would be mostly tasty. Perhaps not as good as my Chocolate Lava Fudge, but interesting nevertheless.