Who Wants Candy? [Mass Market Paperback]

Jane Sharrock (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 3, 2004

Third-generation candy-maker Jane Sharrock shares here some 400 recipes for mouth-watering candies, chocolates, pralines, crèmes, fudges, cookies, toffee, and holiday treats. This step-by-step candy bible covers everything from the traditional to the exotic. Complete with instructional chapters on the basics of candymaking, it deserves a place on every cookbook shelf. This collection features such irresistable treats as:

Marry Me Toffee € Pistol Pete's Peanut Brittle € Grace's Walnut Butter Fudge € Cherry Almond Bark € Panache Penuche € Raspberry-Fudge Truffles € and something called Aunt Bill's Brown Candy...

Plus: € No-bake cookies
€ Practical and fascinating information about ingredients and candy chemistry
€ Dipping candies in chocolate
€ A basic candy glossary

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jane Sharrock, a third-generation candy-maker, began collecting candy recipes in grade school. She was born and raised in Oklahoma.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: HP Trade (August 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557884323
• ISBN-13: 978-1557884329
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #220,497 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Candy Making Bible, November 3, 2005

By 

Madelyn Pryor "Goblyn Queen" (Mesa, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Who Wants Candy? (Mass Market Paperback)

Serious, this is the best book on making candy out there. I've looked, I know. I own over 300 cookbooks, and yet, if I want something sweet, this is my go to book. Not only has Jane Sharrock taken all the mystery out of making candy with 27 pages of easy to follow directions and instructions, she rates every recipe, telling whether it's Novice Super Simple, Novice Easy, Average, Advanced, and Expert. She tells you how much the recipe will make and exactly what you need to make it- not only the food ingredients, but all the utensils, so you can be sure you have everything on hand before you start.

The recipes themselves are a treasure hoard of delights from the elegant to simple, from complicated to comfortable. Generations of her family are represented by recipes and she tells delightful anecdotes about most of them along with the recipes. Because such a broad range of time is covered, you'll not only discover new treats, you'll find family favorites.

My only word of warning is that there aren't many pictures, so if you're someone like my friend Lindsay that thinks cookbooks need pictures I wanted to warn you, but I still recommend this book! It's perfect the way it is.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you like candy, you're going to love this one!, September 8, 2004

By 

Yvonca (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Who Wants Candy? (Mass Market Paperback)

To be perfectly honest, I thought that candy making was a lost art, or at least one on the verge of extinction. If so, then Jane Sharrock has definitely revived and resuscitated that art and brought it to a new generation. She has collected, tested, collated and preserved hundreds of recipes, and presents them with such a sense of joy and passion that it is impossible not to get caught up in her enthusiasm.

It would be difficult to imagine that there could be a stray candy recipe that has somehow managed to escape inclusion. You are sure to find some of your old family favorites, along with plenty of candidates for new family favorites, like "Marry Me Toffee", for example. Anyone who samples it invariably uses one word to describe the taste...."addictive!". It almost turned into "Divorce Me Toffee" when I took some along on a camping trip and my husband and I ended up trying to hide it from each other. Better make an extra batch of this one.

"Luscious Raspberry-Fudge Truffles" is another yummy creation. With ingredients like cream cheese and raspberry preserves, it is obviously not your "politically correct" truffle recipe.......but, who cares about politics when they are this easy to make and outrageously delicious!

A convenient feature of the book is that each recipe is assigned a skill level from super simple to advanced. Although I would have to rate my talents more towards the "super simple" end of the spectrum, I have on occasion ventured up to the "advanced" level recipe with surprising ease. Armed with a candy thermometer and the easy-to-follow directions, it is just one small leap from novice to expert.

"Who Wants Candy" is quite literally a walk down memory lane through fields of bonbons. It is a great collection of recipes and just a lot of fun to read.

23 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, clearly-written tried-and-true candy recipes, August 5, 2005

By 

Mark Twain "Gillian" (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Who Wants Candy? (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is wonderful! It is filled with tried-and-true, well-tested candy recipes clearly written to ensure success, and prefaced by complete descriptions of why they're so special. My only quibble (and the reason I didn't give it 5 stars) is that it has the worst index on the planet (e.g., Luscious Raspberry Fudge Truffles aren't under R for Raspberry, F for fudge, C for chocolate, or T for Truffles, but L for Luscious --which you may not remember is in the name when looking for the recipe), and includes every possible version of every candy, rather than those that taste the best. Nevertheless, it is a wonderful book, and very highly recommended