One day while walking around Glorietta, Linx (my personal panda) and I bumped into DJ, who invited us to make candies at Made In Candy! :3 The thing is, whenever I would pass by their store and chance upon their Candy Crew making some candies, I would stop and just stare at awe. It amazing how they cook the sugar and turn it into a work of art...and give free taste afterwards! Haha! I doubt anyone would ever turn down this once in a lifetime experience. (So thankful!) :D
To give you a brief intro about Made In Candy:
Made In Candy is Asia's first independent candy kitchen - where everyone's sweet desires are met! At Made In Candy, Candy Artisans sculpt contemporary handmade candies using methods to craft pictures and messages at the center of each candy. You feel as you enter the shop, Made In Candy is not your ordinary candy store. Customers are able to walk by their open concept kitchen and see the chefs work their magic into the candy.
Candy is more than just a sweet delicacy; it’s a symbolic tribute - as well as a perfect gift to bring meaning to someone. A meaning that would actually sweeten any tooth, mouth, and heart.
I count this experience as Cooking 102: Made In Candy Panda Rock Candies. (Cooking 101 was our homemade Hello Kitty Pesto Pasta, but that's another story.) For our candy making, we chose their store in SM Megamall.
According to their brochure, they have 32 designs for Retail Rock Candies, and choosing ours was pretty easy: Panda Rock it is! :3 It's like candy engineering since you do need the correct measurements or else panda will look deformed. We don't want that.
Since we'll be working with hot candy, rubber gloves are a must to protect our hands. (Even with the gloves on, we could still feel the heat seeping through, but it's tolerable.)
The sugar has to be cooked 'til it reaches 260º Fahrenheit to be able to get the rock candy consistency. With candy making, I learned that the sugar, flavoring, and coloring are totally independent of each other. For example, you want to have a customized set of candies, you can choose our own color(s) and flavor(s). (I thought beforehand, that the yellow orange outer layer of the Panda Rock gave it its mango flavor. WRONG! XD As the sugar is cooked in the pot, the liquid flavoring is added into the entire mixture.)
The boiling sugar is poured into the granite table (which can handle high heat effortlessly). When the Candy Crew mixed the coloring into the boiling sugar, it bubbled and sizzled. The
Candy Crew reminded us to be careful while mixing, candy burn hurts more than oil
splatter, since hot candy has the tendency to crystallize easily on the
surface of your skin.
The candy has to be slightly cooled on the steel table and hand-pulled before building and assembling the design.
The builders trimmed and molded the candy into the shapes required, and the assemblers make the candy whole and maintains its shape. We do this on the heated table, so the candy will remain easy to mold.
Spot the panda's smile! :3
Chef Panda making Panda Rocks
After the inner design (panda's face) is completed, the final colorful outer layer is added.
*roll and pull*
Almost done! From the huge slab of soft candy, we will reduce it to tiny bits. But for now, picture break! :D The ones we were holding are huge samples of the Panda Rocks, which we got to take home as souvenir. Yey!
The Candy Crew were pros at chopping the candies. They made it look so easy. But we did well too for first-timers!
Here's our finished product:
We also got to make lollipops from the remaining candies. No wasting! :3 The big lollipop looked cute and it came in the same mango flavor as our Panda Rocks. That same day, we spotted a 9" diameter hand-crafted rainbow lollipop inside the Candy Kitchen. Someone ordered it for photo shoot purposes, which was really cool! :D
Not just candies, but memories! :D
Grab the limited edition SUPER MOM candies in time for Mother's Day! :3
Prices:
- 70g Foil Bag - P100.00
- 35g Small Jar - P90.00
- 70g Medium Jar - P150.00
- 135g Large Jar - P260.00
- Retail Lollipop - P70.00
70g Foil Bags (P100.00 each)
in I Love You Rock and Watermelon Rock
135g Large Jar (P260.00)
Jar of Everything (a must try!)
Aside from the cutesy pandas we made, I was also over the moon with these pink Helen candies. So me!!! :D You can have customized candies for any occasion - in any color and flavor you prefer.
Because Made In Candy is extra sweet and generous, 5 readers will win 2 Small Jars of Everything (to be picked up at any Made In Candy store in Metro Manila). ♥
Mecanics are super easy, but please follow it completely.
3. Share this blog post link PUBLICLY on Facebook, with the caption:
@Lucky Citrine and @Made In Candy, Philippines are giving away 10 Jars of Everything! Join now, @Friend1 and @Friend2! #madeincandyph
*Make sure to properly tag the 2 pages and your 2 friends so it appears on my timeline.
4. Leave your full name and FB share link on the comments section below.
Join via Rafflecopter here:
a Rafflecopter giveaway Giveaway ends May 31, 2015. Winners will be randomly picked via Rafflecopter, but incomplete entries will be disqualified. (Yes, I will check the winning entries manually.) Winners will be announce here in this Rafflecopter widget and via Facebook. If you don't respond within 7 days, I'll pick a new winner. :)
Made In Candy Stores:
- Powerplant Rockwell (2/F)
- Alabang Town Center (New Wing)
- SM Megamall (UG/F, Mega A)
- Glorietta 4 (3/F)
- SM Mall of Asia (1/F Entertainment Mall)
Contact no.: (02)8665624; 09209649076
Email: philippines@madeincandy.com
FB: Made In Candy, Philippines
Twitter & IG: MadeinCandyPH
I'll never look at candies the same way again, all thanks to Made In Candy! It's true: When no two pieces of candy are ever the same, you know we make rock candy lovingly by hand. :)
Love,
Helen
