OMG. I flipped through this book twice today and now I know I must own it! Detailed instructions on candymaking I've not found anywhere. Plus there are loads of interesting looking recipes.

UPDATING MONTHS LATER: This book was great. I still need to buy it, but I copied a few of the recipes to play with, in the meantime. ( )

Formula, theory, technique, and they are not kidding. This is a serious candy-making bible. This book is way smarter than I am. Not only are all recipes given in weight measures instead of volume, the marshmallow recipe references the specific gravity the final product should be.

Amazing pictures, very clear instructions, detailed troubleshooting sections, extensive discussion of the science of what's happening and why. Someone needs to buy me this book. I swear, I will make it worth your while by making you candy out of it. This tome is worth every penny of the $65 cover price (which, sadly, is why I got it from the library--but now I need to return it, instead of keeping it for my very own.)

2010/11 UPDATE: I made the sponge candy (AKA Honeycomb) out of this book. It was delicious. I had two other things bookmarked to make this holiday season and time got away from me, but the sponge candy alone was worth it, if only because it gave me an even-tastier Crunchie bar at far less than the price of Cadbury imports. ( )

I bought this book with the plan of opening my own candy business some time in the future. Chocolates and Confections - Formula, Theory and Technique for the Artisan Confectioner was written by Culinary Institute of America teacher Peter Greweling, CMB (certified master baker). All of the contents deal with candy making. It is a comprehensive guide to the ingrediants, theory, techniques and formulas needed to create every kind of chocolate and confection.

The book is oversized with 388 pages that are divided into 11 sections: confectionery ingrediants and equipment, cacao and chocolate, packaging and storing, fundamental techniques, cream ganache, butter ganache, noncrystalline sugar confections, crystalline sugar confections, jellies, aerated confections and nut centers. Each section begins with introductory material on the science behind the confection before getting to any recipes. In addition, there are 200 full-color photographs and illustrations that offer step-by-step guidance on technique, from tempering chocolate to candying fruit. Since the photos of the finished candies take up the space of an entire page, the eye candy factor is huge. Charts that list common mistakes and how to avoid them are included in each section as well.

I will be studying its pages for some time to come before actually trying a recipe. I like to study a cookbook thorouhly before attempting a recipe. The only problem with the book is that I can't read it without eating candy. Another problem is that all of the recipes are huge. There will be alot of leftovers when I sample the recipes as the recipes make 150-250 pieces of candy. I am not sure if the recipes can be reduced because some of the ingrediants may not be reducable, ie, they are needed in order to make the right chemical reaction with the other ingrediants.

The list of resources in the back of the book will help me find the tools that I will need to go forth with my business. Chocolate and Confections is an indispensible resource book for the serious candy maker. You must buy it if you are in the candy biz ( )