Jessie from Cakespy recently visited me in the kitchen for a little look at our charming operation. She took some great photos of syrup cooling in the lollipop molds and a few other bits of scenery.
Go read her blog post if you haven’t already - http://www.cakespy.com/blog/2011/8/15/seeking-sweetness-behind-the-scenes-with-this-charming-candy.html - I love how she described the cast-off bits of sugar :-)
Have you ever been to Cakespy’s shop in Capitol HIll? It’s completely adorable!
Yeah, this is your basic picture spam post – so many great photos of the Adventurer’s Pack lollipops! All photos by Kevin Keeker, of course!
Which one’s your favorite? I go back and forth between the teapot-cannon and the garden.
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| image from johnpoon.org |
Tart Pluot lollipops are now available in our Etsy store! They’re a blend of two delicious stone fruits: plum and apricot, but amped up with a healthy wallop of tartness. That tartness is courtesy of two acids that occur naturally in fruits – citric and malic acid – added in sufficient amounts to create sourness.
photo by Kevin Keeker
We weren’t aiming for a level of sour that would cause you to scrunch up your face, though. Instead, we’ve delivered a seriously and literally mouth-watering tart flavor. Tart Pluot beat out a few other tarted-up competitors in taste testing:
Love love love the pluot. Great flavor, good color. –Eric
Absolutely, positively my favourite of the three. Really yummy and really authentic tasting pluot flavour. -- Karen
If you’re interested in trying Tart Pluot, or any of the Adventurer’s Pack lollipops for that matter, we’re having a 10% off sale in our Etsy store between now and August 22nd, after which we’ll be on a short vacation. Enter the checkout code SUMMERFUN2011.
This week, we started selling new flavors including Black Pepper Melon lollipops in our Etsy store. When I found out that a new, high-quality natural Black Pepper essence was available, I ordered it immediately without any particular plan for it. I just knew I needed to try it out in a dessert context where you wouldn’t usually see it.
photo by Kevin Keeker
Honeydew Melon was one of the first flavors I tried pairing it with, and I was delighted when our taste testers started raving about it:
a very solid flavor that's the kind of unusual brilliance we expect from This Charming Candy – Deb & Mike
I loved, loved love the Black Pepper and Melon--Spot on for my palate! I wouldn't change a thing – Anne
You might think a sophisticated combination such as this one would be enjoyed only by adults. Well, think again. When I was refining the recipe, testing different levels of pepperiness, my friend’s daughter got in on the action with Mom & Dad and declared, “I love these! I like that one and I also like that one over there.”
photo kindly shared by her mom
If you’re interested in trying Black Pepper Melon, or any of the Adventurer’s Pack lollipops for that matter, we’re having a 10% off sale in our Etsy store between now and August 22nd, after which we’ll be on a short vacation. Enter the checkout code SUMMERFUN2011.
We launched these jet-black Salted Anise lollipops in our Etsy store this week. A friend who’s originally from Europe first introduced me to salted licorice. I was skeptical, but intrigued. I shouldn’t have been intimidated – it was quite good!
I’ve since learned that salted licorice is popular in several northern European countries: Netherlands, Ireland and Norway to name the ones I’ve been told about. Maybe it’s popular in other countries too, I don’t know! Do you?
photo by Kevin Keeker
Anyway, when we started taste testing different salted flavors I figured that Salted Anise might not fare too well, because it’s an unusual combination in the U.S. We definitely saw that it was polarizing – if people know they don’t like licorice flavors, well, they definitely don’t like them! But the flip side of that is that if people like licorice, especially with salt? THEY GO NUTS FOR THIS LOLLIPOP. Their fevered support helped this little lolly beat out its salty brethren in competition.
Personally, I find that the salt really goes well with the slightly cool and tingly effects of the Anise flavor. Like in our Salted Caramel lollipops, we put grains of sel de mer in the lollipop molds before pouring in the syrup. This creates one salty side with a slightly rough texture, and one smooth sweet side. Heck yeah. Check ‘em out.
p.s. We’re having a 10% off sale in our Etsy store between now and August 22nd, after which we’ll be on a short vacation. Enter the checkout code SUMMERFUN2011.
