- Wednesday, February 22, 2012 The Homeschool Magazine: Reviewed By: Anne Margaret Wright (Citrus Heights, CA)
The life of a product reviewer is sometimes difficult. So many great products must be sampled to bring you, our faithful readers, helpful information. Reviewing Candymaking: A Guide for Home Confectioners by Sharyn Pak required great sacrifice on my family’s part. Don’t get me wrong: we all very much enjoyed watching teh DVD that shows beginning candymakers how to make wonderful confectionaries! Sharyn Pak in very professional and personable in her presentation. Her demonstrations are clear and make the process accessible for even a novice cook. But after watching the mouthwatering demonstrations in the DVD, we felt compelled, dare I say duty-bound, to try some of the recipes. After all, it would be unfair to our dear readers not to personally try these recipes and report the results. The sacrifice was great, but you are worth it!
Candymaking covers making dipped and drizzled candies, clusters, turtles and bark, molded candies, peanut brittle, filled cookies, lollipops, and saltwater taffy. Sharyn does a marvelous job of explaining he process of each type of candymaking. She demonstrates each step with enthusiasm and care. The DVD includes a detailed list of needed tools and materials broken down by category of candy, not by individual recipe. The presentation could be enhanced by the inclusion of a file with each recipe to make the process simpler, especially when you come back to the recipe later
We tried several of the recipes with nearly flawless results. Sharyn uses a warm, friendly, and encouraging teaching style to demonstrate step-by-step how to make each delicacy. She carefully explains the necessary tools, what is involved in the techniques, how to vary the craft for a range of results, how to present the finished product in a festive manner, and she even adds some interesting information about the history of candymaking. Most of the recipes are appropriate for b
- Wednesday, February 22, 2012 Video Librarian: Reviewed By: Randy Pitman (Seabeck, WA)
Sharyn Pak, host of several crafting titles, turns her attention to candymaking in this program likely to appeal to children as well as adults. Many of the treats created here require molds and ingredients from candy supply stores, but there’s also a section on tempering high-quality chocolate for dipping bonbons. Techniques start out simple, such as coating store-bought sandwich cookies or pretzels in chocolate or colored coatings melted in the microwave oven (who knew that Nutter Butters dipped in yellow or white coating could turn into ghosts and snowmen?). From there, Pak moves on to caramel-pecan turtles and chocolate bark, molded confections and dessert shells (using craft molds and pre-packaged Wilton Candy Melts discs), peanut brittle, and lollipops. Most interesting is the section on filled candies, which includes instructions for making peanut butter cups. Pak even makes pulling saltwater taffy look easy. Because candymaking involves heat and often hot, sticky ingredients, children will need to be supervised. Featuring PDF lists of ingredients, tools, and materials, this sure-to-be-popular how-to is recommended.
- Wednesday, February 22, 2012 Library Journal: Reviewed By: Bette-Lee Fox (New York, NY)
Craft expert Sharyn Pak believes anyone can make candy at home, and she sets out to prove this theory with very successful results. In clear and concise steps, Pak demonstrates the skills needed to create seven different types of candies—from basic dipped treats to molded chocolates to taffy—frequently repeating a step as needed to reinforce a particular skill or concept. The menu allows viewers easy access to the various sections; the production values are simple yet solid. While the confections viewers learn to make may be more Good Housekeeping than Gourmet, Candymaking is still a terrific introduction to the art of candymaking, and Pak’s latest crafty effort would be a stand-out title for those who like to sweeten up their table.
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