Episode 1 Sweets Made Simple

-I'm Kitty Hope.

-And I'm Mark Greenwood.

-And although we've been married for ever...

-Our first love is sweets.

Ooh, I'm going to have another one.

Over the last ten years we've built a business devoted to

rediscovering the best of British confectionery.

-Whether we're at home...

-ALL: Ooh!

-..or at work,

we're always on the lookout for new and exciting treats.

Do you like it or hate it? Bet you hate it. I love it!

And we never miss a chance to try them out on the people we love.

No. SHE LAUGHS

But now we're going to show you how to make our

favourite confections right there in your own home.

With sweets, the possibilities are endless.

And it doesn't have to be complicated.

Learn a few simple techniques and you're on your way.

Making sweets is the perfect way to spoil yourself, family and friends.

And it's something that anyone can do. This is Sweets Made Simple.

In this show we're going to be looking at sweets

that are perfect to enjoy after dark.

-They make a lovely gift for dinner party guests.

-ALL: Ooh!

But could also be an unexpected and impressive dessert.

-Da-da!

-Wow!

Or something sweet to nibble on whilst watching the telly.

'From our favourite AMERICAN confection -

'English almond butter toffee...'

Aw, it really is absolutely amazing.

'..to elegant chocolate treats, our seashell caramels.'

-Our gin and lime truffles.

-And our fruity raspberry marshmallow.

Perfect for a dinner party finale.

But first, our favourite American treat,

and a perfect partner for an after-dinner coffee.

This rich butter toffee is packed with crunchy almonds.

And topped with a layer of luscious milk chocolate.

Say hello to our recipe for English almond butter toffee.

Whilst I get cracking with the toffee, Mr G is...

Well, Mr G is going to put his feet up.

I do love having a dinner party, but most of all,

what I really love to do is a home-made sweet or confection

so that the guests can have a nibble with their coffee

and maybe take some home later.

'Start by toasting some almonds.

'Place 400g of almonds into a baking tray.'

Really keep an eye on them, because they burn really quickly.

If you can master the art of toasting your almonds,

then everything else is really simple.

'Toast the almonds for 10-15 minutes in a

'preheated oven at 180 degrees Centigrade.'

'Now, for the toffee.

'Add 450g of unsalted butter to a heavy-bottomed pan.

'To the butter, add 500g of granulated sugar.'

And yes, I know it looks like a lot of butter and sugar, but I'm

a firm believer in "A little bit of what you fancy does you good."

'Pop the pan straight onto the heat.'

Whatever you do, stop fiddling with it! Leave it alone.

-15 minutes.

-Darling.

-Yes?

Do you know that domesticated almonds are

-the world's largest tree nut crop?

-Tree nut crop?

-The wild variety is extremely toxic.

-Why is it toxic?

Well, if it's bitten into it generates hydrogen cyanide,

which can kill you.

Please do not use wild almonds in this recipe,

please go to your supermarket and buy some sensible ones.

'The almonds are ready when the edges have a lovely golden colour.

'Take them out of the oven and leave them to cool.

'Next, place a thermometer into the butter and sugar mixture.

'Once it reaches 120 degrees, add in three-quarters of the

'toasted almonds and a teaspoon of vanilla extract.'

So that's going to whoosh up - whoo!

'Give it a couple of brisk stirs with a wooden spoon.'

That's just beautifully golden.

'Keep the mixture on a moderate heat for around 15 minutes,

'until the thermometer reaches 150 degrees.

'Take care, it will stay forever at 135 degrees

'and then whoosh up to 150, so please do keep your eye on it.'

So we've just reached hard crack, which is 150 degrees,

and we'll take the thermometer out.

There are lots and lots of almonds in this toffee,

and the whole point is, it's really dense, it's quite a butch toffee.

If a toffee can be butch - and I think it can.

'Pour the mixture into a greased and lined 20cm square baking tin.'

Now, remember the rule - it's very, very, very hot.

Don't be tempted to put your finger in it,

because you will burn it, you ninny!

'Once the toffee has cooled down slightly,

'break up 200g of milk chocolate into small pieces.'

You can use dark chocolate if you want,

I prefer milk simply because I think the sweetness of the almonds

marries really nicely with the milk chocolate.

'Scatter the pieces of chocolate over the top of the toffee.'

As the heat comes through the toffee it's going to melt the chocolate,

and it'll be smothered in glorious milk chocolate.

As if this toffee could actually get any better!

'Whilst the chocolate's melting,

'blitz the remaining almonds into fine crumbs.

'Then use a knife to smooth out the melted chocolate.'

And then the piece de resistance.

Just crumble those...lovely...

aromatic almonds over the top.

Ooh, it just gets better and better and better with every layer.

'Leave in a cool place to allow the toffee and chocolate to set.'

When the toffee's set,

break it up using a screwdriver or a toffee hammer.

-Oh!

-'But do be careful.'

Enough bashing.

Ooh, it's got all the sweetness of that caramelisation

and the milk chocolate and the dusting of almonds on the top.

-At the end it just melts away.

-Oh, it really is absolutely amazing.

This toffee is smooth, rich and all-round gorgeous.

I like to think of it as the George Clooney of toffees.

Living right on the beach gives me so much inspiration for my recipes.

And I wanted to make a chocolate for my guests that reminded me

of a day at the seaside with rosy cheeks, beach hair and salty lips.

So my next recipe is a sumptuous chocolate filled with

luxurious salted caramel.

Did you know that salted caramel originated in France?

In Brittany, salted butter caramels are a traditional treat.

You are so full of facts today, Mr G.

This is our recipe for seashell caramels.

First we need to temper some dark chocolate.

Tempering the chocolate encourages even-sized crystals to form

in the coco butter and will make the chocolate nice and shiny.

I've put the chocolate in a bowl over some simmering water.

Don't let the bottom of the bowl touch the hot water

or the chocolate will burn.

And don't let any water get into the chocolate because it will seize.

I'm going to pop a chocolate thermometer in there.

And we're going to bring that chocolate to 42 degrees.

And once it reaches that temperature, it'll need to cool.

-Take it off the heat for me, Mr G?

-Yeah.

Just dry the bottom of it on there.

By the time it gets down to 32 degrees

it'll be just the right temperature to work with.

-I'd say that's there, 32 degrees.

-Brilliant.

Now we've got out tempered chocolate

it's time to get on with the recipe.

Use teaspoons to coat the inside of the moulds.

I'm going to make a salt caramel filling to put inside these

lovely dark chocolate seashells that Mr G's making.

For the caramel filling pop 200ml of double cream

into a heavy-bottomed pan,

and a couple of tablespoons of muscovado sugar.

Let me dig down cos it smells just amazing.

-Oh, yeah.

-It smells of... molasses and...bonfire toffee.

So, a couple of tablespoons of that.

The more you dig down into it the more the amazing aroma comes out.

Pop the pan on the heat and allow the sugar to dissolve slowly.

Meanwhile, add four tablespoons of caster sugar to a shallow pan

on a low heat. Try and keep all your sugar in the middle of the pan,

don't get it up the sides cos it'll burn.

I'm making sure there are no gaps in the chocolate or holes.

So, the reason we got these see-through moulds is just for this

very reason because you can hold it up to the light and check for gaps.

If you've got gaps the caramel will seep through.

Simply go back and touch in any holes with a bit more chocolate.

Yep, all good.

Just going to pop this in the fridge for 15-20 minutes,

and put my feet up.

The muscovado and the cream has now just come up to a lovely simmer.

And the caramel is now sort of the colour of, maybe a toffee apple?

And all the sugar has melted.

Now add the cream and muscovado into the sugar and give it a quick stir.

Pour the mixture into a bowl and add a good pinch of sea salt.

As you're mixing it and it's getting cooler,

the caramel is getting thicker and thicker and stickier

and stickier and more and more luscious.

Once that's all mixed together I'm going to reluctantly say goodbye

to it for a while and pop it in the fridge.

When the caramel has firmed up and the shells have set,

fill the moulds with teaspoon amounts of the caramel.

Try not to overfill them, I know it's difficult.

Pop them back in the fridge and let the filling set.

When they're ready we're going to top them

with a layer of white chocolate.

This is going to seal everything together.

It also looks really beautiful.

You can use milk or dark if you want but I really rather like

the contrast of the white chocolate with the dark chocolate.

The white chocolate will take 30 minutes to set.

SHE SQUEALS

-Look at those.

-They look amazing.

-Fantastic.

Let's do it.

Look at the tempering on that. It's lovely and shiny.

-It's got a great sheen, hasn't it?

-It has, it's beautiful.

It's everything you want in a chocolate. It's got that great snap.

It's got that incredible oozy filling.

-Then it goes - salt.

-Salt on the back...

-Oh.

-..lovely. I'm going again.

What a luxurious and elegant chocolate for a dinner party.

Your guests will be well impressed.

Whether it's a quite night in snuggling on the sofa...

Or you've got friends round for film night,

our popcorn macchiato espresso balls

are perfect as an after-dinner snackette.

A confection like this deserves some really special ingredients.

So I've come to Volcano Coffee in south-east London

to find a coffee with a punch.

The company sources its beans from all over the world.

They are delivered green and it's Mac, the head roaster's job,

to convert the raw products into one of the UK's top artisan coffees.

-How long is the whole roast?

-Between 15-18 minutes.

'Volcano only roast their coffee in small batches.

'This allows them to maintain a top-notch product.'

What these guys are doing, really putting love and passion into

their product - a bit like what we do with our sweets.

You're not going to drink coffee all day long, you're not going to

eat sweets all day long but when you do you want the best.

What they're doing here is something really special.

These are ready to go.

Whoa.

'Mac and his colleague, Onnie, have set up coffee tasting for me.

'They've chosen three different beans they think might work

'with the popcorn macchiato balls.'

We've got a Guatemalan and a Mexican and Ethiopian.

'Each coffee is identically ground and brewed

'before being tasted blind. A bit like wine.'

On a molecular level coffee actually has around 800 or more molecules

that taste different, that activate your taste buds.

Whereas wine only has around 400. When someone says,

"I get a sense of vanilla or chocolate or caramel,"

that's the same molecule found in chocolate

and caramel that is actually in that coffee.

'Vanilla? Chocolate? I like where we're heading here.

'As I'm looking for a coffee that will stand up to the sweetness

'of the marshmallow and the nuttiness of the popcorn,

'I'm hoping my senses are up to the job.'

-Fill your spoon and...

-HE SLURPS

You want to slurp it so you're aerating it over the top

of your palette in a full, kind of perception of it.

That's really nice, that.

I think of it almost like a kind of baked red pepper.

I'm getting a nice little coffee buzz going.

This one always give me, like, a rhubarb sort of scent off it.

Rhubarb would work, yeah.

'After careful consideration I've made my decision.

'It's a bean called La Frontera from Guatemala.'

I just think that this particular one will really work well with

-the sweetness of the marshmallow.

-It's a great call.

-Great call.

I'd best get back to the kitchen to make some popcorn balls

for Miss H to try.

Heat a tablespoon of oil gently in a heavy-base pan

and add 50g of popcorn kernels.

Cover with a lid and allow to cook.

After about five minutes you'll hear the corn start to pop.

POPPING

Toss the pan a bit but don't lift the lid.

While the corn is popping, finely grate 30g of white chocolate.

Once the corn has finished popping take it off the heat.

Put 30g of unsalted butter into a pan

along with 100g of mini marshmallows,

and heat gently to melt the two together.

Give it a stir every now and then to help it on its way.

Pour the marshmallow mixture into the popcorn pan

and add in the white chocolate. Give it a good stir.

Sprinkle over a teaspoon of ground coffee and give it another big mix.

Leave for five minutes.

And put on some rubber gloves.

Take a large tablespoon of the mixture,

roll and squeeze the popcorn into a round ball,

and pop it onto a baking sheet to set.

I do hope Miss H likes the coffee I chose.

-What do you think?

-They look amazing.

-Slightly different shapes.

-That's all right.

-Can I taste one?

-Yeah.

-That really big one there?

-No, small one there.

-I'll have the big one.

-Oh, that's fantastic.

-Yeah, do you like it?

-I love it.

Mr G chose the ideal coffee.

Its smoothness works perfectly with the crunchy popcorn

and the sweet marshmallows.

Maybe I should let him do the shopping more often.

All we need now is to settle down to a good film.

Everyone loves a sundowner

and my favourite evening tipple is a gin and tonic.

I've always wanted to use the flavour of gin in a recipe.

But I don't want to use any old gin.

It has to be something really special.

But, Miss H, where do we find some super special gin?

In a front room in Cambridge, obviously, Mr G.

We're going to see Will at Cambridge Gin, the world's first gin tailor.

To me and you that's someone who blends bespoke gin.

And he's going to blend us the perfect gin.

So, how did you get into gin making in your front room?

Well, it was a hobby that started in the back room

and it became successful and we eventually, my wife and I,

built a business out of it and this is now what we do full time.

-Look at the kit.

-That's fantastic. It's very Breaking Bad.

'For gin to be gin it must be flavoured with juniper berries.

'But it can also include any number of herbs, plants,

'spices of flowers.'

-Oh, that's lovely.

-Get a load of flavour out of there.

-I love that.

'Will has made gin from things like peas, truffles, and even ants.

'These are all distilled in a neutral alcohol

'and are called distillates, which mix together to make up the gin.

'This is so inspiring.

'I think Will's tailor gin will be perfect in a gin and lime truffle.'

Can you help us make a gin that's going to match that chocolate

without overpowering it?

No problem at all. Give me a couple of minutes, I'll go and get set up.

Cool.

'Tailoring gin involves tasting through a wide range

'of botanical distillates. Will then makes up a bespoke recipe

'depending on your likes and dislikes.'

'Or in our case, flavours that will work in our recipe.'

We're going to taste them blind. I'll know what they are, you won't.

-We don't get any clues at all?

-No.

The important thing is whether or not you like them.

If you don't like them we simply won't use them. As simple as that.

What is that?

-It tastes like...

-It's roses.

That's coriander seed.

SHE LAUGHS

-Is it really?

-Yeah, this is why we taste things blind.

Tasting them out of context where you've got no texture cue,

no colour cue, no preconceived idea,

means that you're using just your sense of taste.

-Did you get coriander there?

-Not at all.

-Oregano.

-Or thyme.

-Or...? Liquorice root.

-Liquorice root?

Really?

Thank you.

-It does say aniseed balls to me.

-That's actually fennel seed,

most commonly described as the flavour of liquorice.

Aniseed twist.

I like that. For me, aniseed ticks all my boxes.

That is citrusy.

And it does taste lemony to me.

I'm probably horribly, horribly, pathetically wrong.

Lemon.

I got one right!

That's the first one I've got right.

-That was good.

-Think that's a tick, Dr Will.

-Yeah.

The tastes that we've tried,

-you think you've got enough there to create something...?

-Yeah.

Something that's going to reflect both the way that you guys

are tasting and also something that's going to complement

the recipe you're putting together.

Now Will knows our likes and dislikes,

he can get on with blending our recipe.

And when the gin arrives we can make some special

truffles for our dinner party -

a luxurious dark chocolate truffle with a wicked twist of lime.

This is my recipe for...

This is the simplest truffle recipe

in the bible of simple truffle recipes.

First break up 100g of dark chocolate into small pieces.

You can chop it with a knife or just break it in your fingers,

it's entirely up to you.

Depends how lazy you're feeling.

Or how much gin you've sampled.

Place the chocolate into a heat-proof bowl

and add two tablespoons of double cream.

Then place the bowl over a pan of simmering water

and heat gently to allow the chocolate to melt.

When your chocolate's melted take it off the heat,

and you want some butter.

Add in 50g of unsalted butter.

Cut the butter up into quite small pieces.

Because you want it to melt quite quickly into your chocolate.

You're going to give it stir.

Just so we make sure all that butter has melted down

into the chocolate mixture.

This is when it starts getting lovely and thick

and rich and velvety.

Keep mixing until all the butter has melted and become smooth and glossy.

Now we're going to add the magic bits to this truffle.

Add in the zest and juice of half a lime.

It smells lovely. That smells like summer holidays.

And then we're going to add my favourite bit, which is the gin.

Which got delivered this morning.

I've tried a little bit just to make sure it's OK.

Did a little bit of quality control.

Any gin will work for this recipe

but our tailor gin from Will is perfect,

with its aromatic coriander, citrus notes from the lemon,

and sweetness from the liquorice root.

Add in two tablespoons.

One for the cook.

And give the mixture another stir.

Now, we've all had - or I hope you've had -

champagne truffles or maybe a cherry brandy liqueur at Christmas.

And I'll grant you that putting gin in chocolate does seem like

the strangest thing in the world, but the fabulous thing about

the lime in there is it genuinely makes it taste like a gin and tonic.

So, if you're a bit of a gin and tonic head, like I am,

well, this is the best truffle for you.

I'm going to put the chocolate mixture in the fridge for

a couple of hours, just so it firms up

and then it'll be ready for cocktail hour.

Once the mixture is set it's time for us to finish them off.

Just rolling the gorgeous gin truffle around the coco powder.

If you fancy a change and you don't want to use coco powder,

you can always roll your truffle in something like coconut

or icing sugar or chocolate vermicelli.

Whatever you fancy, really.

You could get in a taxi,

hire a helicopter, jump on a train,

and go up to town - up to big town - and buy some truffles like this.

But how much more satisfying to make them

at home on your own kitchen table?

My gin and lime truffles are fantastic any time of the day,

whether it's cocktail hour, before dinner, after dinner,

or even maybe late at night.

It's time to make a showstopper of a dessert for our dinner party.

It's super fruity and as light and fluffy as a cloud.

-And was originally made using the root of a plant.

-Was it?

-Yes.

That's where it gets its name from - the marshmallow plant.

-And our guests are going to love it.

-This is our...

Some sweets are great for putting in your pocket

and going for a nice walk in the woods.

But there are some sweets so special

and possibly made by angels that work really well as a pudding, too.

And this is one of them.

First you need 300g of raspberries. Put about half of them into a pan.

We're just going to make a little raspberry puree,

nothing flash, very simple.

Add a couple of tablespoons of caster sugar.

If you've got a punnet of squishy raspberries in your fridge

that you want to get used up this is the perfect way to use them.

Just going to let that sugar dissolve a little bit,

which it's starting to do now really nicely.

It smells like my childhood, actually.

My mum was a big jam and marmalade maker

and it just smells like really, really super fruity raspberry jam.

Do you want to come and sieve my raspberries for me?

Personally, I don't really like getting raspberry seeds in my teeth,

so I think it's quite nice to try and take those raspberry seeds out

if you can. While Mr G sieves the raspberries I'm going to get on with

the marshmallow. In a heavy-bottom pan add 450g of granulated sugar

and a tablespoon of lovely liquid glucose.

It's always handy if you're using something like honey or treacle

or liquid glucose if you dip your spoon in hot water first.

The glucose or whatever you're using will slide straight off it.

-Am I dismissed?

-Are you done?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, cool.

Then add 200ml of water to the pan and pop it on the heat.

We're going to let the sugar dissolve into the water

and we're going to get that glucose syrup bubbling away.

We're going to leave it for about 15 minutes until that happens.

For the next part of the recipe we'll need a mixer.

As soon as it's reached 118 degrees

you need to get a couple of egg whites and start whisking them.

In earnest. Two egg whites, whisk them.

There's a bit of multitasking here.

This is where it all gets a little bit exciting.

Make sure your mixer bowl is clean and dry.

If there's any grease in there it can stop the egg whites

from getting stiff.

If your husband has not whisked the egg whites quickly enough you can

lift the pan off the heat to control it a little bit.

When the sugar syrup reaches 127 degrees centigrade

take the thermometer out and add in four sheets of pre-soaked gelatine.

Make sure to give them a really good squeeze to remove the excess water.

It's going to froth up like crazy.

Oooh!

The egg whites need to be whisked until just stiff.

And then all you have to do, in a very, very slow stream...

pour the hot mixture...

onto the egg whites.

The hot syrup will cook the egg whites.

You want to whisk it on a moderate speed

for a surprisingly long 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, get a tin ready by lining it with baking parchment

and sifting in equal amounts of icing sugar and cornflower.

This will stop the marshmallow sticking to the parchment.

After 15 minutes your marshmallow should be

lovely and thick and glossy.

Oh, that is just like the most beautiful marshmallow cloud.

Scrape the marshmallow cloud off the whisk.

I'm going to take the raspberry puree that I made earlier and

we want to try and get this to be like a raspberry ripple ice cream.

So you're not going to do loads and loads of mixing and get it all pink,

we want this to ripple gently through the marshmallow.

Spoon half the mixture into the bottom of the tin.

And then add a handful of the remaining raspberries.

I do think there's something really rather lovely about making

a sandwich, as it were. What you can see from the outside

is a lovely ripply marshmallow

and then the surprise is you've got the extra layer in the middle

that you weren't expecting.

Add the final layer of mallow

and top with the rest of the raspberries.

This is going to make the most gorgeous pudding later.

If you don't want to make it as a pudding, you could put it

in a square tin and cut it into squares.

I'm going to leave that for half an hour to set and when it's ready

I'm going to consider sharing it with my guests this evening.

'Now the table is set for our dinner party, we just need some guests.'

'I hope they all have room for some dessert.'

Ta-da!

EXCITED CHATTERING

Raspberry marshmallow.

'My raspberry marshmallow makes a perfect dessert

'with a luscious white chocolate sauce.'

'And don't forget to send your guests home with a little bag of treats.'

EXCITED CHATTERING

Next time, we'll be revisiting the sweets of our childhood.

And showing you some of our slightly more unusual flavour combinations.

I love bacon.

We'll be making a traditional pulled butter toffee.

Beautiful, look at that.

-And our take on a walnut whip.

-Such a classic.

And then mixing things up with some tequila chillies

and maple bacon lollies.

Taste bomb and a half.