I have big dreams.
I am the mom of a phenomenal 4.5 year old. She is my greatest gift.
I work hard in an office all day so that I can pay my bills and give my daughter the life I never had.
Then I come home to my mommy world and I dream in the few minutes in between making dinner, reading stories, kissing boo-boos, doing some homeschooling (in addition to her regular public school), help with piano practice...you know...all that mommy stuff.
I dream big dreams - like how, someday, I will take a trip to France to study with the greatest confiseurs and pastry chefs and really learn how candy is made.
I wish too...I wish I could win the lottery or be discovered by the right person who will discover that I have an innate talent and help to give me a push in the right direction.
The truth is I never had an education. I was raised in the insular hasidic world - where women are practically non-existent and only count when they are cooking, sewing or making babies. I wasn't allowed to attend college. I was barely allowed to read books - they all had to be censored. What really hurt was that I watched my father live out his dreams of becoming a famous cantor. But I, as a woman, was not permitted to sing. The laws of "kol isha" (literally translated: the voice of a woman) prohibited me from doing so. I love music. It flows, like molten sugar, in my veins.
Likewise, I could never attend the CIA or the FCI or any other notable cooking school for fear of assimilation and also because I would likely have to cook using non-kosher ingredients, and - OH horror of horrors - have to taste what I had cooked.
So I did what I was expected to do.
And when I realized I couldn't live a lie any longer and needed to be free I left a marriage and found a job in an office selling pagers.
I had no education. I had to do what I could.
The world, since those days about 20 years ago, has opened before me like a glorious plump oyster.
I have, however, never had the tools to really find my niche. I didn't really have a mentor...someone to guide me and show me the way to break into a career in a field that was exciting to me.
I guess I am a late bloomer. But I am realizing that while working in an office is really fulfilling on one level, it is not my dream. It is not my greatest love. I long for more.
So now...when my daughter is in bed...I create recipes. I test recipes. I make candy. I bake. I take my tasty treats to work and invite friends over for tasting parties.
Honestly, if I had the money to do so, I would probably take a class at night. Maybe even beg my boss to allow me to take a sabbatical (I have been working for the same company for 15 years now). I would take a trip to San Francisco and beg Elizabeth Falkner to let me be her intern. (I would have asked Johnny Iuzzini...but I hear he's camping in the woods right now.) I would sit at Jacques Torres' door until he agreed to teach me. And, secretly, I wish I could be Jean-Michel Carre.
Simply put...I wish I had time and money. And if I had the money I could definitely make the time.
But maybe...just maybe...someone will read my story and realize that I have a fire burning inside me that really wants to do something I love. Someone that has as much faith in my dreams as I do. Someone who has a few extra bucks - who will give me a chance to live out my dream.
Until then, I will work my ass off and help make everyone's life a little sweeter...until I get there myself.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
My Earliest Candy Memory
Living in Montreal...I must have been about 3 or 4 years of age...We had a babysitter who didn't adhere to the laws of kashrut (adherence to the kosher dietary laws) and she brought over some marshmallow broom-shaped lollipops coated in dark chocolate.
My mother made it very clear that we were forbidden to touch them, but I so desperately wanted to try it...to bite into that delightful hardened chocolate shell and sink my teeth into the sweet, gelatinous goo that hid beneath. I knew, in my mind, even at that tender age, exactly how it would feel and taste.
I remember it to this day...roughly 40 years later.
Oddly enough, while I remember how my mother caught me, red-handed, as I tried to get away with marshmallow broom murder, I don't quite recall the details except that I was punished somehow.
As these 40 years have passed, like an everlasting jawbreaker of Wonka proportion, I've had my share of candy experiences, now but bittersweet chocolate memories of the 85% cacao kind.
Let me give it to you straight. Kosher candy, when I was growing up, bore but a bare and insipid resemblance to the "treyf" (non-kosher) goodies on the market. The taboo stuff always looked so pretty and exciting and enticing and came in every imaginable flavor, color, texture, shape, size!
I have grown a lot since then. I now realize that if you use the finest and freshest ingredients you can find, even kosher candy can be delicious.
Yes, there are restrictions. There are rules and regulations of what can and can't be mixed together. You have to check your eggs for bloodspots and make sure not to use dairy ingredients if you intend to serve our sweets at a meal where meat is served. But it can be done. Good candy can be made...and it can be made kosher.
My mother made it very clear that we were forbidden to touch them, but I so desperately wanted to try it...to bite into that delightful hardened chocolate shell and sink my teeth into the sweet, gelatinous goo that hid beneath. I knew, in my mind, even at that tender age, exactly how it would feel and taste.
I remember it to this day...roughly 40 years later.
Oddly enough, while I remember how my mother caught me, red-handed, as I tried to get away with marshmallow broom murder, I don't quite recall the details except that I was punished somehow.
As these 40 years have passed, like an everlasting jawbreaker of Wonka proportion, I've had my share of candy experiences, now but bittersweet chocolate memories of the 85% cacao kind.
Let me give it to you straight. Kosher candy, when I was growing up, bore but a bare and insipid resemblance to the "treyf" (non-kosher) goodies on the market. The taboo stuff always looked so pretty and exciting and enticing and came in every imaginable flavor, color, texture, shape, size!
I have grown a lot since then. I now realize that if you use the finest and freshest ingredients you can find, even kosher candy can be delicious.
Yes, there are restrictions. There are rules and regulations of what can and can't be mixed together. You have to check your eggs for bloodspots and make sure not to use dairy ingredients if you intend to serve our sweets at a meal where meat is served. But it can be done. Good candy can be made...and it can be made kosher.
What's in a name?
queen
[kween]
noun
1.
a female sovereign or monarch.
2.
a woman, or something personified as a woman, that is foremost or preeminent in any respect: a movie queen; a beauty queen; Athens, the queen of the Aegean.
con·fec·tion
[kuhn-fek-shuhn]
noun
1.
a sweet preparation of fruit or the like, as a preserve or candy.
2.
the process of compounding, preparing, or making something.
con·fec·tion
[kuhn-fek-shuhn]
noun
1.
a sweet preparation of fruit or the like, as a preserve or candy.
2.
the process of compounding, preparing, or making something.
The name I was given at birth, Malka, means queen in Hebrew. Seeing as I am creating sweet treats I think the name I have chosen, Queen's Confections, suits me perfectly.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Welcome to my candy kingdom!
Sweet lovers of the world!!! Welcome to my candy kingdom!!!
Allow me to share my line of confections with you. It is my wish to spread love and sweetness by creating confections made with care and great attention to every ingredient and detail.
I have just shared samples of my sweets with some dear friends and the reports were stellar!
There were happy faces, ooooohs and aaaaahs and, as one of my friends called it, a gustatory orgasm or two.
Here is my current menu of sweets. It is still evolving, though, so stick around.
Homemade Sweet Treats...candy you wish your mommy would have made:
PB&Jiggy Piggy, pb&j inspired crisp rice treats dressed as little piggies on a stick
PB&Just Adorable, pb&j inspired crisp rice treats enrobed in white chocolate w/ a marshmallow button
PB&Jiggy Piggy, pb&j inspired crisp rice treats dressed as little piggies on a stick
PB&Just Adorable, pb&j inspired crisp rice treats enrobed in white chocolate w/ a marshmallow button
CPBPs, chocolate smothered peanut buttery crisp rice treats on a stick
Poof Pops, chocolate coated marshmallow crisp rice treats on a stick
Regal Mints, fudgy chocolate mint bites adorned with crowns
Apple Ginger Pate de Fruit, fruit gems kissed by the autumn air
Apple Ginger Pate de Fruit, fruit gems kissed by the autumn air
Cara-mias, soft and chewy caramels in intoxicating flavors:
Double Grey - Earl Grey and Grey Salt
Sassy Rose - Vanilla, Rose and Himalayan Pink Salt
Jazzy Momma - Jasmine and Cardamom
Creamsicle - Orange and vanilla bean cream
Cha-Cha-Chai - Chocolate Chai Spice
Hot-Hot-Hellapeno - Jalapeno
The "High Tea" Line of Biscuits...cookies influenced by tea flavors:
The Earl of Sandwich, a lacy almond tuille sandwich filled with Earl Gray chocolate ganache
Lemon Zingaling, a delicate lemon cookie sandwiched with Wild Berry Zinger white chocolate ganache
Thai Oh My, a peanut buttery rich cookie filled with a zesty Ginger Tea white chocolate ganache
O-Jazzmin, a sunny orange delight topped with a Jasmine Tea frosting bud
Matcha Magic, a Matcha Green Tea butter cookie topped with a rose flavored glaze
Everyday Favorites...based on classics, only better:
Lotta Chip, rich and buttery Ghirardelli chocolate chip cookies available in large and mini
Oatie Doaties, crunchy steel-cut oat cookies laced with butterscotch chips and dried cranberries
Chocolate Orange Crinkles, crispy crinkly sparkly chocolate cookies with a hint of orange
Fluffer-Nutters, peanut butter cookies dotted with mini marshmallow bits
Who-Stole-The-Cookie, thumbprint cookies filled with an assortment of jams
A Whole Lot O Whoopie...whoopie pies galore (not available for long distance shipping):
Tradition!, devils food with marshmallow crème
24 Carrot, carrot cake with cream cheese crème
Red Devil, red velvet with red hot marshmallow crème
Very Vanilla, vanilla cake with marshmallow crème
Cake Balls...cake pops are the latest craze - these are on or off the stick
Chocolate w/ buttercream enrobed in dark, milk or white chocolate
Chocolate w/ Nutella enrobed in dark, milk or white chocolate
Chocolate w/ peanut butter enrobed in dark, milk or white chocolate
Chocolate w/ mint enrobed in dark, milk or white chocolate
Red Velvet w/ cream cheese frosting enrobed in dark, milk or white chocolate
Carrot Cake w/ cream cheese frosting enrobed in dark, milk or white chocolate
Custom Cupcakes...Flavor combinations created on request - decorated with fondant toppers
Photos of possible options will be loaded soon, so stay tuned!
Cake Balls...cake pops are the latest craze - these are on or off the stick
Chocolate w/ buttercream enrobed in dark, milk or white chocolate
Chocolate w/ Nutella enrobed in dark, milk or white chocolate
Chocolate w/ peanut butter enrobed in dark, milk or white chocolate
Chocolate w/ mint enrobed in dark, milk or white chocolate
Red Velvet w/ cream cheese frosting enrobed in dark, milk or white chocolate
Carrot Cake w/ cream cheese frosting enrobed in dark, milk or white chocolate
Custom Cupcakes...Flavor combinations created on request - decorated with fondant toppers
Photos of possible options will be loaded soon, so stay tuned!
Price List to follow shortly, along with ordering information!
Thank you for visiting Queen's Confections...My Candy Kingdom
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