Candy Tips from the Pros
My favorite challenge when it comes to cooking is to create everyday foods people recognize, but homemade. After all, how often do you get to eat a homemade marshmallow, or fresh baked bread? And with Halloween just days away, wouldn’t you just love a pillowcase full of handmade candies?
So, with these queries, and my own personal challenge in mind, I reached out to Cincinnati’s favorite local pastry chef Megan Ketover to learn the basics when it comes to making sweet stuff. Megan is the head pastry chef for the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza where she puts love into all the desserts, fresh breads, and pastries for Orchids at Palm Court (the #1 restaurant in Cincinnati). Not only is she amazingly talented, and always smiling, Megan is a beast when it comes to competition. You surely will recognize Megan and her creative muscle from Food Network Challenges and Top Chef Just Desserts: Season 2.
With Molly and Kelly’s sweetest quandaries on my brain, and a candy thermometer in hand, I brought the following questions to the conversation:
- Baking 101. Where to begin? Best recipes to start this? Equipment that is a necessity?
- When creating your own candies, what do you take into consideration (i.e. texture, flavors, etc.)?
- Best flavors paired with chocolate?
- If you went trick-or-treating, what would you love to find filling your pillowcase?
Listen in for all that Megan had to share in just 10 minutes of conversation…
–written and recorded by Caitlin
