Zingerman's Candy Manufactory » Ask the Candymaker

Do you make anything with milk chocolate?

cfrank — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 22:07:19 +0000

Yes! The Ca$hew Cow has milk chocolate mixed into the cashew butter. The What The Fudge has milk chocolate fudge in it.

Will you be making special candy for the holidays?

cfrank — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 21:58:25 +0000

During the holidays we actually have a little time to play around, so we do special stuff, but it is still experimental and not for sale. Last Christmas I candied some orange peels and ran them through the chocolate line. Wow – so fresh and so good. I’d like to figure out how to make Read the Rest...

What new flavors are you experimenting with for your next bar?

cfrank — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 21:55:12 +0000

We’re experimenting with a few flavors. I love coconut and chocolate so that is pretty near the top. I’ve also done some amazing things with the fresh coffee beans from Zingerman’s Coffee Company.

Are you thinking about making other types of candy or staying with candy bars?

cfrank — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 21:52:33 +0000

We are going to make other types of candy. I’d really like to make panned items for a few of the other Zingerman’s businesses. There is a lot of fun to be had cooking sugar and I love all kinds of candy. For now we are making just the candy bars, but in the future Read the Rest...

Can you make smaller bite-sized bars? The bars are so rich that I eat at most a quarter to half at a time.

cfrank — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 21:04:53 +0000

If you don’t already know, I’m happy to inform you that the bars are available in a mini size six-pack. Mini bars are not currently in most stores we sell to nationwide, but they are in some. I don’t know where you are writing from, but I can suggest that your nearest store carry them Read the Rest...

Are you going to make a candy bar with bacon in it like seems to be so popular right now? Bacon is showing up everywhere it seems. Name Eva

cfrank — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 21:34:43 +0000

Dear Eva,

I know what you mean. Everyone wants to have their bacon in everything these days. I want you to know that our candy is bacon-free and will remain that way. If you would like to experience the wonderfulness of smoky, salty, meaty bacon with our candy bars may I suggest you gently fry up some Nueske’s Applewood smoked bacon and eat it warm with a bite of your favorite Zzang! candy bar? I believe that the best way to eat bacon is hot or still warm from the pan, no matter what you choose to eat it with.

Are these candy bars gluten free?

cfrank — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 20:35:12 +0000

The Zzang! Original and the Wowza are gluten free. The Ca$hew Cow and the What The Fudge? have small amounts of wheat in them.

Where does the chocolate we use come from?

admin — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:22:30 +0000

The chocolate we use on the candy bars is made by two companies: Valrhona and Guittard. We did start with a single vendor and these two companies combined produce a chocolate that meets the flavor profile we want for the Candy bars. Our mix of these chocolates does not compete with the centers of the bars – where we show off our passion for sugar cookery. The chocolate is about 64% and is neither too sweet nor too assertive – it is very approachable and smooth with a nice chocolaty aroma and flavor.

What kinds of sugar do we use in our candy?

admin — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:05:05 +0000

I used to think sugar was simple. It’s a naturally occuring carbohydrate found in fruits and vegetables, right? Well lately it’s gotten more confusing in the popular press. What’s the difference between – sucrose, fructose, dextrose, maltose…? These are all different versions of sugar that are digested in different ways and at that I’ll leave the rest of the explanation to the chemists. At Zingerman’s Candy Manufactory we choose our sugar based on its flavor and how it reacts to cooking. We use white granulated cane sugar, muscovado brown sugar from Mauritius, corn syrup (not high fructose) and honey. We use cane sugar because of it’s clear flavor and how it reacts to cooking which is different from, say, beet sugar. Muscovado brown sugar has an incredible rich and varied flavor relative to typical brown sugar available in our grocery stores. Most American brown sugar is made by processing sugar into white sugar and then adding molasses back in. Muscovado brown sugar is never processed all the way to white sugar and you can tell. It’s very caramel-like and flavorful. Honey has great and very different flavor from sugar so we use it where we want its distinctiveness.