Chocolate Tours at Mrs. Cavanaugh’s

 

 

“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.”
~ Charles M. Schulz

Who doesn’t love the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?

Cavanaugh baskets

Everyone dreams of touring a real chocolate factory. I remember taking a tour of the Hershey’s & Ghirardelli factory in California when I was young. Recently when visiting Salt Lake City, I decided to take my daughter on a chocolate tour of Mrs. Cavanaugh’s. The tour is approximately an hour-long and only cost $1.00!!! I could not believe how many samples of chocolate and even a sample of ice cream that were provided all for $1.00. You need to make a reservation in advance for the tour. The tour begins with a short video about the history of Mrs. Cavanaugh’s, the cacao plant, cocoa bean liquor extraction and the picking of cocoa beans. The tour includes a movie, samples throughout and walking tour that gives customers a look inside the manufacturing of the candies. Workers are moving about and gummy bears dipped in white chocolate head from the assembly line belt into a box.

Tempering chocolate for the hand dipped nut clusters

Tempering Chocolate~

Tempered chocolate is what makes the chocolates look professional! Tempered chocolate is smooth and shiny, without the white, chalky appearance. Chocolate that isn’t tempered won’t taste different but it will appear overly soft and sticky at room temperature. Those gray and white streaks that appear after making fudge, are a result of chocolate that wasn’t tempered.

What happens when chocolate is tempered?  The chocolate is made up of different little crystals called “beta” crystals. The formation of the “beta” crystals are what creates the appearance of the finished candy. When a white, chalky, unattractive appearance is on the top of the chocolate, many people mistake this for the chocolate going bad; When it reality, is it caused by the cocoa butter (fat) rising to the top.  Some people go as far as tossing the chocolate out for fear that it has molded.

Tempered chocolate should be nice and shiny when purchased. However, if you leave it in the sun or in your car, it will become white/gray in color. This is a result of the chocolate losing its temper. Even baking chocolate, such as chocolate chips or baking squares,  are tempered. Keep in mind, once the chocolate has been melted, it has lost its temper and will need to be re-tempered.

How do you temper chocolate? Working with a larger quantity, at least 1 lb., makes tempering much easier.  Choose a chocolate that is shiny and hard without any solid products mixed in, such as fruit or nuts. Avoid chocolate chips and chocolate that has streaks or appears crumbly. Dark chocolate tends to be the easiest to temper due to the lack of milk solids. Chop the chocolate into small pieces, place in microwave bowl, microwave 30 secs at a time stirring after each increment, heat to 115 degrees (you will need a thermometer) and then cool down to 90 degrees by stirring, spread on wax or parchment paper and it should cool in 4-6  minutes, losing its shine and turning matte slowly. Do not place in the refrigerator to speed up the tempering process. Tempered chocolate is great for dipping truffles, making barks, clusters, or candy bars.

“What you see before you, my friend, is the result of a lifetime of chocolate.”
~ Katharine Hepburn

On the factory tour you will get a chance to see the workers stretch & cut peanut brittle, cut caramel into pieces, hand-dip the nut clusters, pouring, cutting & dipping of their famous Mindy Mints! All of this can be seen from behind the glass windows throughout the factory.

Mrs. Cavanaugh’s Candies is the perfect place to pick up a gift! You can even order on-line!

Kerri Cherry

Choose from famous brittles, caramel pecan logs, white/milk chocolate coated gummy bears, cinnamon bears and pretzels, sandwich mints, milk/dark chocolate coated peanuts, roasted nuts and much more! I even found a chocolate with my name on it, “Kerri Cherry” cordials with cherry almond creme.

The best part about Mrs. Cavanaugh’s candies for a gift is creating your own box. You don’t have to purchase an assortment full of candies that you would never eat. Are you one of those people who takes a bite of the chocolate, looks inside and then puts it back? No one wants that. The candies are sold by the pound at the same price, so build your own box. You can also purchase one of the “Most Famous Chocolates” box in milk, dark or assorted chocolate which are available in 1, 2 & 3 lb. boxes. The “Most Famous Chocolates” were chosen by their customers as the top picks. Prices are $27.95 for 1 lb. box, $50.90 for a 2 lb. box, $73.90 for a 3 lb. box, & $114.68 for a 5 lb. box.

There are also sugarless chocolate boxes for those of you who stay away from sugar. These boxes include truffles, cavaliers, pecan rolls, haystacks, nut clusters and caramels. The sugar-free chocolates do contain mannitol.

At the end of the tour, ice cream samples are available. Yes, they have ice cream too! Sample the various ice creams and then purchase a scoop at a very reasonable price. Kids scoops are only $1.00.

“It started when my aunt sent her pecan-rolls recipe,” Mrs. Cavanaugh recalled. “I gave the recipe my own touch and started making the yummy specialties.  Then I began dipping chocolates.  Our friends and neighbors loved these treats, encouraging me to start a candy business.  Finally, I decided it might be a good idea.’”

~ Quoted from Mrs. Cavanaugh’s webpage. 

Decisions, decisions

Mrs. Cavanaugh’s has six stores, all located in Utah. You can purchase chocolates in North Salt Lake, North Ogden, Bountiful, Layton, Valley Fair Mall, and in Provo. Mrs. Cavanaugh’s Candies has been recognized on numerous occasions as the Candy/Confectionery recipient of Utah’s Best of State Award.

5wheelsto5star.com is featured monthly in Destinations Travel Magazine

For the Love of Gelato!!!

Gelato in Florence

Gelato in Roma

Throughout the Mediterranean our kids flipped out over gelato!! Everywhere we went, they wanted more and more. In Florence, Italy our daughter ate gelato three times in one day which is not cheap.

Gelato is the Italian word for ice cream, but is it really the same thing as ice cream??? Gelato refers to varieties of ice cream made in a traditional Italian style. Gelato is made with milk, cream, various sugars, and flavoring such as fresh fruit and nut purees. Often times you will see it served in a glass as a parfait or in a dish with whole fruits. In the picture above the gelato is displayed in parfaits. Whether in a cup, on a cone or in a dish~ It’s all amazing!!!

First you must know the gelato lingo!!! Gelati is plural for gelato and Gelateria is where geltao is sold.

Money saving tips: We ate gelato all along the Mediterranean. Be sure to look around and price out the gelato as some gelaterias are located on the same block for twice as much and the one next door. At Piazza Navona in Rome for example, gelato is priced very high within the piazza but if you step a block outside of the piazza you can find it much cheaper and just as good! It’s the same for paella in Spain or wood burning oven pizzas in Rome. When visiting Barcelona, the Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria (The Market) has amazing gelato for much cheaper than purchasing on La Rambla. If you would like to read more about The Market, click on the link Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria on the right hand side under “topics”.

What makes gelato different from ice cream? Gelato is a type of soft ice cream which contains a relatively small amount of air. Gelato in Italy must have at least 3.5% butterfat. The sugar content in homemade gelato, as in ice cream, is balanced with the water content to act as an anti-freeze to prevent it from freezing solid. Several types of sugar are used including sucrose, dextrose, and inverted sugar to control sweetness. Typically, gelato—like any other ice cream—needs a stabilizing base. Egg yolks are used in yellow custard-based gelato flavors, including zabaione (an Italian dessert, or sometimes a beverage, made with egg yolks, sugar, and a sweet wine) and creme caramel, and non-fat milk solids are also added to gelato to stabilize the base. Starches and gums, especially corn starch, are often used to thicken and stabilize the mix.

Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria, Barcelona

Facts about Gelato~ In the United States there isn’t a standard of definition for gelato set forth by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as there is for ice cream. Ice cream in the U.S. is defined by the Federal Code both by its ingredients, which includes milk fat of 10% or more, gelato in the U.S. covers a wide range of products including frozen desserts eaten like ice cream; products that are identical to ice cream with the exception of their butterfat contents; and premium ice cream containing butterfat far exceeding the minimums set forth in Italy. Recipes will vary as will the person making it, but most dairy gelato contains 16–24% sugar. Whereas, ice cream in the United States contains 12 to 16% sugar.

Where does gelato come from? The history of gelato dates back to frozen desserts in Sicily, ancient Rome and Egypt which were made from snow and ice brought down from mountaintops and preserved below ground. Then, frozen desserts appeared during banquets at the Medici court in Florence. Bernardo Buontalenti, the Florentine cook, is said to have invented modern ice cream in 1565. He presented his recipe and his innovative refrigerating techniques to Catherine de’ Medici, who in turn brought the novelty to France as Queen consort. In 1686 the Sicilian fisherman Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli perfected the first ice cream machine. Gelato increased in popularity in the 1920s–1930s in the northern Italian city of Varese, where the first gelato cart was developed!!

Interesting Gelato Stat: Italy is the only country where the market share of handmade gelato versus industrial one is over 55%. More than 5,000 modern Italian ice cream parlors employ over 15,000 people today, mostly Italians.

Gelato in Florence

Want to make your own gelato???

Piazza Navona, Roma

Making gelato is similar to making ice cream. There are several steps involved. The mixture for gelato is typically prepared using a hot process first, dissolving sugars. White base is heated to 185 °F completing a pasteurization program. The hot process to make chocolate gelato is basically the same for ice cream and is traditionally flavored with cocoa powder and cocoa butter.

Gelato and some premium ice creams are so dense that they require a slightly higher serving temperature. This is the perfect point in which your scoop is firm but not hard and not so soft that it melts immediately. Gelato recipes usually include more egg yolks, more milk and less cream than ice cream. It actually has less fat than regular ice cream. Gelato’s low overrun (less air) makes for an extremely dense, rich and creamy treat that we all love.

Sorbets are all about the fruit, fruit, fruit. With the absence of milk, cream or eggs, they depend only on sugar, lemon juice and fresh fruit for flavor. Elegantly simple and refreshingly tart, sorbets were the rage during Victorian years, when they were served as palate cleansers between rich, heavy courses. A sorbetto, the more intense Italian version, generally has more fruit and less water, resulting in a softer, less icy texture. Sorbet is all about the FRESH fruit.

Giada’s Chocolate-Hazelnut Gelato

• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup chocolate-hazelnut spread (recommended: Nutella)
• 1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts, crushed, for garnish

In a saucepan combine the milk, cream, and 1/2 cup sugar over medium heat. Cook until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl whip the egg yolks with the remaining sugar using an electric mixer until the eggs have become thick and pale yellow, about 4 minutes. Pour 1/2 cup of the warm milk and cream mixture into the egg mixture and stir. Add this mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over very low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture becomes thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 7 to 10 minutes.

Place a strainer over a medium bowl and pour the warm custard mixture through the strainer. Stir in the vanilla and hazelnut spread until it dissolves. Chill mixture completely before pouring into an ice cream maker and follow manufacturer’s instructions to freeze. To serve, scoop gelato into serving bowls and top with hazelnuts.

What type of gelato maker should you buy? Gelato makers can run anywhere from $22.00 – $1200 depending on the brand, size and features. De Longhi GM6000 Gelator Maker with Self-Refrigerating Compressor will cost you about $300! Cuisinart ICE-100 compressor is both an ice cream maker and gelato maker which runs about $251. If you own a KitchenAid mixer, there is an attachment for ice cream which is $85.00. Be sure to research before purchase, check out ratings and read reviews as some of the ice cream makers are for both ice and gelato while others are for frozen yogurt and sorbets. Gelato is made to perfection at a slightly lower temperature than ice cream in Italian Gelaterias; however, it can still be made at home using an ice cream maker.

According to World of Ice Cream, here is the equation for gelato:

Gelato= less fat + no air added = richer taste

Gelato in Barcelona

 5wheelsto5star is featured monthly in Destinations Travel Magazine