In Edmonton I went to church with a wonderful lady named Marie Burnham. One year in October she held a couple classes for our Relief Society that taught us how to make chocolates. And she was a master at this. As she taught us, we were amazed that this little lady who now had some health issues and had been making chocolates for about 50 years could do this still! She is an amazing lady. A sister missionary there tasted the lemon chocolates and got a startled/amazed look on her face and said, “These taste just like Mrs. See’s!” I’ve never had Mrs. See’s, but if you have, maybe now you know what I talking about. She had a cousin who would dip for her, and they had it down to a science. I don’t know quite how they did it, because that fondant was so soft and smooth and liquidy… yuh-um. And when we dipped, mine were very, let’s say “individual” looking. Marie’s looked perfect. Uniform in size and shape with a perfect little swirl on top. Just amazing.
She started making them as a church fundraiser. She instructed and led many many women in the art of chocolate-making. She had pictures of gymnasiums with tables and tables of chocolates in production. She made them for others. I don’t know if she has ever been paid for making chocolates, but if she decided to, she would have made a LOT of money.
Marie gave out her Homemade Chocolate Bible. I asked her if it was OK to copy it for friends and family. She said that would be fine.
At another point, Marie asked me to do up her personal history. She had written it up and had the photos, I just needed to type it and add the photos where they belong, edit things a little. What an honour that was, to learn from her life experiences! What an outstanding woman of faith and diligence. Before I was able to finish it, we moved away. At the last point of turning over what I had done, she said she had looked into how much she should pay her granddaughter to finish tying it up, and she realized she wasn’t paying me enough. So she gave me a cheque for a couple hundred dollars. And she gave me a hug and said, “I love you.”
To little old me! I in no way measure up to this lady. In every way that I see her as strong and exemplary, I see where I need to grow. I didn’t quite know how to reply.
I realized something then that I haven’t really been able to encapsulate or enunciate until very recently. Sometimes when people say, “I love you,” it says more about who they are than who you are. They are loving. They have the qualities I think of as Christian. I thought about this the past week as another amazing lady I know said, “I love you.” I don’t have to qualify for their love. I don’t have to be perfect. They see me as a child of God and worthy of being loved. I love people like that.
Here’s Marie’s chocolate bible. It takes you all the way through choosing the chocolate, but does not include the dipping process. Finished chocolates can be frozen in little cups (they look like tiny cupcake papers) and in a chocolate box. Do not open the box until they are completely defrosted or they will get sweaty and gooey, and nobody wants that!
I have added things I learned along the way to Marie’s instructions, or some of the things she told us but did not have included in the written instructions.
Marie Burnham’s ‘Homemade Chocolates’ Bible
Basic Cream Fondant
Makes 2 lbs
4 c white sugar
1 ½ c half & half cream
2 Tbsp white corn syrup
2 Tbsp butter
flavouring
Combine sugar, cream, corn syrup and butter in a large heavy pot. Stir until all sugar is dissolved.
Do not let it boil until you wash down the sides of the pot to make sure there are no sugar crystals left there.
Once it comes to a boil, DO NOT STIR. Any movement at this stage will destroy the texture. Boil rapidly over medium heat until it reaches 232 degrees Farenheit or soft ball stage.
Remove from heat immediately and cool as rapidly as possible. Cooling the fondant in the pot it was cooked in reduces the possibility of it going sugary. Move it as little as possible.
For cooling the fondant, putting the pot into ice water in the sink works well, or a snowdrift in the wintertime. But do not cover the pot. I sometimes have my kids bring bucketfuls of snow in to the sink.
When the fondant is cool (not ice-cold), pour it out onto an arborite counter top or table to beat.
Once you start to beat the fondant it must keep moving continuously until it is finished.
Do not add flavouring yet, but make sure they are ready when you start to beat the fondant.
Beating the fondant
Once the fondant is cooled, let it sit at room temperature (for about an hour) until it is all the same temperature. Then you can start beating.
To beat the fondant, use a sturdy wooden spoon. (A couple suggestions are listed later for tools for beating fondant)
To beat the fondant, use a sturdy wooden spoon.
1. a very stiff fondant;
2. then a thin, glossy fondant;
3. finally the fondant loses its shine and thickens up to the point that it can be handled.
With the wooden spoon, work under the fondant, then turn it over onto itself. Continue this motion as it works through the three stages. Make sure to work all of the fondant well. Be prepared, it could take a while!
And it is quite a workout! Another person who has taught a class on fondant uses her KitchenAid stand mixer with the dough hook to beat her fondant and it seemed to work beautifully.
Add the flavouring during the final stage or knead it in at the end. Have the flavouring ready before hand, because if you stop working the fondant to get it you will come back and find it has turned very hard.
When the fondant is finished, put it into a class bowl and rub a little butter onto the top of it. Cover. It will store well in the refrigerator for 3-4 weeks.
Let the fondant ripen for a day to bring out the full flavour before dipping.
Flavouring the fondant
All flavouring is done by taste. Add a little bit at a time until it suits your taste. Be aware that dipping the fondant in chocolate seems to reduce the flavour of the fondant. You will want more than a hint of flavouring so you can be sure what you have.
Some suggested flavours:
Vanilla: use vanilla extract, preferably pure vanilla.
Banana: banana extract
Rum & Butter: rum extract and soft butter
Maple walnut: add Mapleine and chopped walnuts
Orange or Lemon: add finely grated rind. Be careful- it will soften the fondant.
Almond: almond extract and chopped toasted almonds
Cherry almond: almond extract and finely chopped, well-drained maraschino cherries. (Use a clean towel to squeeze juice out of the chopped cherries)
Chocolate: use simple fudge or add melted chocolate to basic fondant. If adding chocolate to fondant, make sure they are both the same temperature so you don’t end up with tiny chocolate chunks.
Peppermint: add a drop or two of oil of peppermint. Be careful, it is strong! (Peppermint is best when flattened into a patty and dipped in dark chocolate.)
Chocolate mint: oil of peppermint and chocolate fondant
Chocolate nut: add chopped nuts and vanilla to chocolate fondant
Strawberry: strawberry extract
Orange chocolate: add orange rind to chocolate fondant
Butter pecan: add a bit of butter flavouring and chopped pecans
Pina Colada: pineapple extract and fine toasted unsweetened coconut
Cinnamon or Licorice: add extract of flavouring
Nuts: all nuts are good for dipping individually or in clusters (without fondant)
Handrolls: any flavour of fondant can be dipped in chocolate and carefully covered with chopped nuts or coconut (long-grain sweetened toasted coconut, crumbled)
Hazelnut: add ground toasted hazelnuts and a couple drops of flavouring if desired.
Caramel: homemade caramels, sometimes I roll a piece of pecan inside. Are you kidding me? Too yummmm.
Possible problems in fondant-making and their solutions
Fondant too hard
If the fondant goes hard, you may put a wet cloth over it for 15-20 minutes, then take a little of the fondant and knead it well. If it is still too firm, knead a little milk or water into it until it is soft enough to make into balls when you are ready to dip it.
Sugar crystals on top
After you have cooked and cooled the fondant, you may notice a few sugar crystals on top of the fondant. Pour a little tepid water on top of the fondant and carefully wash the sugar crystals off. Remove any water left behind with a damp cloth. Proceed to beat the fondant and it should be all right.
Sugar crystals throughout
If the fondant should end up sugary throughout, there’s not much you can do except re-cook the fondant. For a 2 lb. batch, add 2 cups milk and warm it up, stirring to remove all lumps and dissolve all sugar. Use the method described in the recipe. This double-cooked fondant is fine except it will be a more golden colour after it is beaten than it was before.
Fondant too soft
If the fondant turns too soft to handle, just add melted chocolate to it. It is important to have the fondant and the chocolate as close to the same temperature as possible so you don’t end up with chocolate chip fondant. Mix the two as quickly as possible and let it sit for a few minutes. It works!
Grainy fondant
Sometimes fondant will not be sugary, but will be grainy—or just not as smooth as it should be. Beating the fondant when it is warm instead of cool probably causes it.
Getting fondant out of pot
If your fondant is too firm to take out of the pot, let it sit in some warm water for a few minutes or pop it into your oven on ‘low’ for just a few minutes. Don’t let it get warm or you may end up with rough fondant.
Wooden paddle
I had a very simple wooden paddle made for beating the fondant and it has worked for many years. I don’t break any more wooden spoons!
My favourite fondant-beating tool is a heavy wooden spatula I bought at Zellers about seven years ago. I put a foam handle-bar cover for a bike on the handle to protect my hands.
Keep it moving
Remember: once you start to beat the fondant you must keep it moving. The more you beat it, the smoother it will be. If you leave it for very long, it may skip stage two and set up very quickly. You may need to knead it to make it nice and smooth.
Rolling fondant into balls
Using a little corn starch on your hands, take a teaspoon of fondant, about the size of a marble, and roll it quickly into a ball. If the fondant is soft, don’t make many ahead of the dipper’s needs. If fondant is firmer, make a few ahead and hand to the dipper as she is ready for them. When the roller gets to know the dipper’s dipping rhythm, she may put the fondant ball right into the dipper’s chocolate, which saves time.
If you don’t have a friend along to dip, put rolled fondant onto waxed paper-lined baking sheet and into the fridge until you are completely ready to dip.
Prepare the chocolate
There are over 200 different grades of chocolate. One of the best qualities is Belgium Callebaut chocolate.
Cut up your chocolate into pieces for quick melting. (I use an ice pick to break up the chocolate.)
To melt the chocolate, put it into a pan. Heat your oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit, then turn the oven off and pop the pan of chocolate into the oven. Stir it about every half hour until it is all melted.
Some people like to melt the chocolate in an electric frying pan, and then dip out of the frying pan also. I would not recommend this for beginners, as it is easy to burn the chocolate. Once chocolate is burnt it is unusable.
After you have melted your chocolate in the oven, transfer three or four cups to your electric frying pan and keep it just barely warm by turning the frying pan to “low” just for a few seconds now and then.
Scoop a few handfuls of chocolate into a Pyrex dish and dip from that. Pyrex is the best for dipping from as it helps the chocolate stay at the right temperature for the longest.
Allow 1 lb chocolate for 1 lb of fondant. Generally use 2 parts light chocolate to one part dark chocolate.
Some dipping tips I remember:
When your chocolate is melted, and in the electric frying pan, temper it by adding a little unmelted chocolate and swirling it with your fingers until the new chocolate melts in.
To prevent the bottom of the chocolates from being too thin, set out some waxed paper on a sturdy tray or baking sheet. (I like to ask a pizza shop for an extra large box.) Dip your fingertip in the chocolate, and put marks about the size of a nickel on the waxed paper about an inch apart. When they are dry, put the freshly-dipped chocolates onto the little marks and you will have a solid bottom for your chocolates.
I don’t remember exactly how Marie dipped – her arms were chocolate-coated half-way to her elbows. She was disgusted that I only had chocolatey fingers. I have since seen another technique that seems much simpler, but I haven’t tried it yet.
Mona, the one who beats fondant with her KitchenAid, made a window screen frame to standard baking sheet size and elevated the screen by sitting the corners on same-size cans or something over the counter. She put waxed paper on top of the screen. She rolled the fondant out into ropes, cut them to size and then rolled them in her hands to round them off. She then stuck a needle in the bottom of the ball of fondant and dipped it.in the chocolate holding the needle. She let the excess chocolate drip off, then poked the needle partway through from the top of the screen. With her other hand from under the screen, she guide the needle through so the chocolate sat on top. When the chocolates are set, you can pull the needle out and use it on another. Sometimes a little bit of fondant tries escaping through the tiny hole. When you transfer them to the candy cups, you may need to patch the bottom with a dab of chocolate.
Mona’s chocolates were very delicious, but obviously that is not going to work if they are very soft. That’s when I consider it time to turn to the lovely candy molds. They are pretty simple. Fill the mold with chocolate, let it drip out, pop it in the fridge to set. When the chocolate is set, put in your soft, gooey, creamy filling short of the top. Completely cover with chocolate, then scrape the extra off. Put the back in the fridge. When it is cold enough, the chocolate is supposed to have constricted a little so they come easily out of the mold when you turn it over. You may have to whack it on the counter, but they should come out easily.
