[Sca-cooks] candy suggestions needed

[Stefan li Rous]

Hrothny asked for some ideas for a gift using chocolate (cacao) beans.

<<< I'm doubting there is a medieval recipe for what I'd like to do  
but I'd
really welcome ideas from you smart folks.

A couple of weeks ago I went to MTA in Jamestown and 2oz of roasted  
criollo
(cacao) beans jumped out at me. It was my thought to cook up a heavy  
sugar
suspension with maybe a tiny bit of vanilla in it and use it to coat the
nibs. But perhaps that is too plebeian. I am not a chocolate lover so  
don't
really know what would be the best way to treat these little darlings  
before
giving them to Margret.

Got any ideas? (Obviously, I'm not too worried about 'is it period'. I'm
more concerned about it being really special and delicious and worthy  
of a
hard-working event organiser.) >>>

If these were roasted coffee beans, I might suggest coating them in  
chocolate, however these aren't.

I know you said you weren't necessarily looking for a period recipe,  
but want about a period "chocolate kit". The roasted beans, packages  
of the other necessary ingredients and if you can find one, the  
wooden, stirring, foaming stick. You can find several period recipes  
in this file:

chocolate-msg    (130K)  2/29/08    History and description of early  
chocolate.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-SWEETS/chocolate-msg.html

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas           
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****