peanut butter cups

I had always been told that adding a vegetable shortening or something along those lines added the
'sheen' or shiny effect to the chocolate when it melted, for example when many people do the coconut
and peanut butter balls in my neck of the woods around Christmas, you can always tell who added the
shortening and who didn't. It just seems to make the chocolate a little bit 'smoother'

--

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I do not wish to expiate, but to live. My life is for itself and not for a spectacle. I much prefer
that it should be of a lower strain, so it be genuine and equal, than that it should be glittering
and unsteady. I wish it to be sound and sweet, and not to heed diet and bleeding."

"It is not attention the child is seeking, but love" - Sigmund Freud "Scott"
<[email hidden]> wrote in message news:heimdall-FD963A.20005628022004@news4-
ge1.srv.hcvlny.cv.net...

Quoted message said:

Has anyone made these, i.e., sort of like the Reeses's Peanut Butter Cups? I've seen two basic
recipe variants. Most commonly, peanut butter is mixed with powdered sugar, 2:1 ratio, for the
filling. The other, from a Tyler Florence show, uses a mousse:
<foodnetwork.com0,1946,FOOD 9936 24657Open ↗ PRINT-RECIPE-FULL-
PAGE,00.html>

Any reason to favor the Tyler Florence version? The recipe is called "Frozen Peanut Butter Cups";
does this imply that the cup filling is overly soft at room temperature? All the recipes use plain
semi-sweet chocolate for the shell.

Some of the recipes call for adding vegetable shortening to the melted chocolate. How would this
effect the shell's texture?

--
to respond, change "spamless.invalid" with "optonline.net" please mail OT responses only

In article <[email hidden]>,

Emily Quesenberry said:

I had always been told that adding a vegetable shortening or something along those lines added the
'sheen' or shiny effect to the chocolate when it melted, for example when many people do the
coconut and peanut butter balls in my neck of the woods around Christmas, you can always tell who
added the shortening and who didn't. It just seems to make the chocolate a little bit 'smoother'

It also lowers the melting point.

Miche

--
If you want to end war and stuff you got to sing loud. -- Arlo Guthrie, "Alice's Restaurant"

"Scott" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Has anyone made these, i.e., sort of like the Reeses's Peanut Butter Cups? I've seen two basic
recipe variants. Most commonly, peanut butter is mixed with powdered sugar, 2:1 ratio, for the
filling. The other, from a Tyler Florence show, uses a mousse:
<foodnetwork.com0,1946,FOOD 9936 24657Open ↗ PRINT-RECIPE-FULL-
PAGE,00.html>

Any reason to favor the Tyler Florence version? The recipe is called "Frozen Peanut Butter Cups";
does this imply that the cup filling is overly soft at room temperature? All the recipes use plain
semi-sweet chocolate for the shell.

Some of the recipes call for adding vegetable shortening to the melted chocolate. How would this
effect the shell's texture?

The mousse one sounds interesting..I may have to give that a try. It sounds as if it's being frozen
for the chocolate's sake more than the filling, but who knows. I guess making the filling would be
the best way to know the consistency 🙂 Shucks! lol Adding shortening to chocolate is something some
people do to thin it when melting and using for coating. Using a good chocolate makes this not only
unnecessary, but IMO, a sacrilege. Making good peanut butter cups is actually very easy. You can
make mini with the candy cups sold in stores like Michael's, or you can take the time to trim
regular cup cake cups to make full size. Melt & temper some good chocolate. The easiest way is to
save out a chunk and melt the rest, then stir the chunk in the melted chocolate until you can touch
it to your lip and it is neither hot nor cold. Not exactly scientific, but it works for this. Of
course, you can google chocolate tempering for more exact instructions. I use a paint brush to paint
the chocolate into the cups and allow it to set up. You can do that well in advance, actually, but
it helps to do it when you're making the candy so you don't have to prepare the chocolate twice! I
like to get chunky peanut butter and whiz it in the processor until it's somewhere between creamy
and chunky, more towards creamy, but with a little texture. Next, melt it slowly either in a double
boiler or over low heat. Let it cool to room temp, then spoon into the chocolate cups. Top with more
chocolate, tap to level and let set. You can chill them if you just can't wait to have one, but
letting them set up at room temp makes them more flavorful (chill kills flavor), IMO.

kimberly

"Scott" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Has anyone made these, i.e., sort of like the Reeses's Peanut Butter Cups? I've seen two basic
recipe variants. Most commonly, peanut butter is mixed with powdered sugar, 2:1 ratio, for the
filling. The other, from a Tyler Florence show, uses a mousse:

I've made them with the powdered sugar recipe. They're really good. Haven't heard of the Tyler
Florence method, but sounds like a fun experiment...let us know how it goes!

Quoted message said:

Some of the recipes call for adding vegetable shortening to the melted chocolate. How would this
effect the shell's texture?

As previously stated, the shortening adds sheen and smoothness. Makes the chocolate a lot easier to
work with. Be *really* careful not to get even a drop of water into the chocolate mixture, or it
will sieze up on you (i.e. get clumpy and stiff). If that happens, you can add more shortening and
keep stirring to try to resolve it.

Chris and Bob Neidecker said:

"Scott" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:heimdall-FD963A.20005628022004@news4-
ge1.srv.hcvlny.cv.net...

Quoted message said:

Has anyone made these, i.e., sort of like the Reeses's Peanut Butter Cups? I've seen two basic
recipe variants. Most commonly, peanut butter is mixed with powdered sugar, 2:1 ratio, for the
filling. The other, from a Tyler Florence show, uses a mousse:

I've made them with the powdered sugar recipe. They're really good. Haven't heard of the Tyler
Florence method, but sounds like a fun experiment...let us know how it goes!

Quoted message said:

Some of the recipes call for adding vegetable shortening to the melted chocolate. How would this
effect the shell's texture?

As previously stated, the shortening adds sheen and smoothness. Makes the chocolate a lot easier
to work with. Be *really* careful not to get even a drop of water into the chocolate mixture, or
it will sieze up on you (i.e. get clumpy and stiff). If that happens, you can add more shortening
and keep stirring to try to resolve it.

I wonder if cocoa butter or palm kernal oil might work as well as shortening? Cocoa butter
seems more natural somehow, and would contribute some flavor as long as you don't buy
deodorized cocoa butter.

Bob

On Mon, 01 Mar 2004 23:27:07 -0600, zxcvbob <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I wonder if cocoa butter or palm kernal oil might work as well as shortening? Cocoa butter
seems more natural somehow, and would contribute some flavor as long as you don't buy
deodorized cocoa butter.

Some recipes call for paraffin (wax). I kinda like the veggie shortening better (or even coconut oil
- which is solid at room temp). Is palm kernel oil solid at room temp? I've never seen it sold in
stores (it's supposedly really nasty [censored] - or is that palm oil?).

-sw

"Steve Wertz" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

zxcvbob said:

I wonder if cocoa butter or palm kernal oil might work as well as shortening? Cocoa butter seems
more natural somehow, and would

contribute

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

some flavor as long as you don't buy deodorized cocoa butter.

Some recipes call for paraffin (wax). I kinda like the veggie shortening better (or even coconut
oil - which is solid at room temp). Is palm kernel oil solid at room temp? I've never seen it sold
in stores (it's supposedly really nasty [censored] - or is that palm oil?).

-sw

If you're using good chocolate, you don't need anything added. You have to be careful what cocoa
butter you buy...some will make it so the chocolate doesn't completely harden at room temp. Adding
any of the ingredients mentioned will make it so the chocolate melts in hand faster and will likely
need refrigeration. Ok, if you like your Reese's cups cold! lol

kimberly