Friends of Library enjoy class about candy making
Chocolate – and plenty of it – poured throughout the second-floor meeting rooms of the Uniontown Public Library during its recent Autumn Cooking Class Luncheon that featured this creamy, smooth, delectable treat. “I know we’re going to have a good time today,’ head librarian Christy Fusco said, welcoming the guests who had registered for the event, one of a series of cooking-class luncheons sponsored by the Friends of the Uniontown Public Library.
Joni Wisilosky, owner of Joni’s Cakes and Candy Supplies in Connellsville, wasted no time in giving instructions and putting the class to work in a hands-on project: to use melted candy wafers to create their own chocolate suckers.
“It’s easy, very easy,’ Wisilosky promised. “So how does everybody feel about getting started?’
A roomful of women suddenly rose and picked up candy molds they had selected when they arrived. The molds featured upcoming holiday designs, including mummy teddy bears, tombstones, ghosts in derbies, pumpkins, bats and witches for Halloween as well as ornaments and trees for Christmas.
Wisilosky, who came to the class with her son, Brad, and daughter, Dawn McGregor, commented on the popularity of candy making while the class went to work painting the details in their molds – such as eyes, noses and trimmings – with colored melted chocolate.
“Around Christmas and Easter, people do so much for their families. For Christmas, it’s crazy. They use different molds, make tiger bark and chocolate-covered pretzels. They love to pack it up into a Christmas-decorated bag and tie it with ribbon,’ Wisilosky explained.
“In the fall, they love to do things for parties, like Halloween. They make treats for the kids and it’s something different,’ she continued. “But Christmas and Easter are even more popular. Easter is all candy.’
Wisilosky and her family began the class by showing the students how to melt the candy wafers. To save time, they had melted the wafers before class started and arranged different colors of candy in bowls set in electric skillets filled with warm water to keep the candy from hardening, but they offered a quick demonstration to reveal the process.
Wisilosky explained she was not actually working with real chocolate, which contains cocoa butter, but a substitute made from a vegetable oil base, sugar, milk, solids, emulsifiers, flavorings and color that are fashioned into candy water. According to a flyer she passed out, real chocolate must be tempered and is expensive in comparison to candy wafers. But she noted the wafers do not contain any wax.
Candy wafers must be stored in a cool, dry place in an airtight container. They can be kept for up to one year before melting and up to four months after the candy is made, allowing candy makers to prepare special treats ahead of time for holidays and special events like weddings.
The wafers can be melted in a variety of ways. Wisilosky prefers the microwave where candy is melted at 30-second intervals and stirred until smooth. Candy can also be melted using an electric skillet or a double boiler, again stirring until chocolate is smooth. But make certain no water gets in the chocolate or it will harden and become difficult to work with.
Yet, some of the candy can prove stubborn. Brad Wisilosky microwaved orange wafers to demonstrate the technique for the guests but noted they were slow to melt. So he added paramount crystals to aid the process.
“Some colors are hard to melt. Orange, red, purple, pink and white will give you a hard time. Dark chocolate will melt very easily,’ said Wisilosky, watching her son stirred the melted chocolate and adding, “I love to see it fall off the spoon.’
Using an ornament mold, Brad Wisilosky then showed the women how to paint details in chocolate with toothpicks and paintbrushes. The women went to work, visiting different tables to get the colors they wanted for their pieces. Once the details hardened, they poured chocolate into the rest of the molds and added sticks to make suckers.
Nancy Clark of Uniontown worked on a mold that featured gingerbread men: “It’s nice. I like it. It’s something different and I like to try different things.’
Bonnie Gebe of Uniontown made yellow, white and red roses, commented on Wisilosky’s presentation, “I thought it was really informative. I never made candy before and using these candy molds is really easy.’
Sushi Warman of Uniontown found out about the demonstration through a book club at the library: “I’m game for anything. It’s fun and the camaraderie was delightful.’
Samantha Mayfield of Lemont Furnace took time with her mold that featured witches, saying, “I’m an artist myself. I like doing these kinds of things so this is interesting to me. Now I have the idea, I can make my own chocolate.’
Olive Semans of Hopwood, who worked on a mold with bats, pumpkins and cats, said, “I think it was fun, especially if you’re a craft person, which I am. I love crafts.’
When filled, the molds went into the refrigerator and the women were put to work once again dipping cookies into chocolate for the dessert they would enjoy after their soup-and-sandwich luncheon. They become quite creative, covering cookies with white or milk chocolate and then drizzling the other color on top. Of course, there is sampling taking place.
“You can dip anything, even a pickle,’ said Wisilosky. “I tried that a month ago. Some people liked them. But you have to do sweet, like gherkins, and you have to like pickles.’
Just before lunch was served, the molds came out of the refrigerator and Wisilosky and her family showed everyone the proper way to remove the candy. The suckers were then placed in clear bags and tied with a colorful orange ribbon.
Susan Hanuschock of Uniontown used a knife to trim extra chocolate away from the heads of her family of gingerbread men.
“This is a 70’s gingerbread woman. You know by the big hair,’ she joked.
Like the other participants, Hanuschock enjoyed the class immensely: “I think this is a lot of fun and I’m just happy it’s informal. It’s a relaxed atmosphere. We’re having fun and talking.’
As lunch was winding up, Wisilosky brought around samples of chocolates her daughter had just made that were stuffed with a peppermint filling. She noted there are molds and other fillings available for a variety of chocolate treats.
“There were so many creative ideas,’ smiled Marian Chambers of Uniontown. “I can’t wait to go home and share them with my daughter, and I think we will use many of these ideas for the holidays. These are things we can do that become family traditions.’
For more information on the cooking class series, phone the Uniontown Public Library at 724-437-1165.