How do I Get the Right Flavor?

[Eric Walker]

Hello. im experimenting with Making Starburst Flavored Cookies and potentially Blondie Brownies. not sure what would be the best way to incorporate the starburst to get the desired flavor and Color. Melting in Microwave? Making a simple Syrup ove a stove top. Any help is more than appreciated. Thank you.

 

[ChesterV]

Working with candy to get the flavors from them is REALLY tricky sometimes, especially if you are not using chocolates.

Starbursts are pretty much a waxy flavored square. Unfortunately Starburst only comes in candy form, they don't make the liquid flavorings like some other candy makers do.

Mixing this kind of candy into a batter or dough can make it gummy and pasty, and possibly not even bake right at all.

Your best bet for using this type of candy is melting it to get the flavoring to separate from the wax part of the candy. I don't know if this works all of the time, but I have experimented with this type of candy.

Put all the candy you want to extract the flavor from into a double boiler. Let it melt completely.
Then let it cool in the pan until the wax part is all at the bottom and the flavoring is floating on top.

You can experiment by putting 4 pieces of candy into a microwavable cup and melting it, then letting it cool off, and see if the flavorings will separate or not, rather than wasting a whole bag of candy attempting this.

The downfall of this is, there is more waxy candy part than flavoring, so there will be a lot of waxy part left over....not all of the flavoring will separate from the candy.

I'm not sure how this is going to work with cookies though. Cakes are workable, but cookies, I'm not sure about, just because of the type of candy this is.

Possibly using the extracted flavoring in some white chocolate and coating the cookie with that?

If you can find the hard shell Starburst candies or the Jelly Bean Starburst candies, these can be chopped up and mixed in to cookie dough and should be solid enough not to melt and make the cookie gummy or just melt out of the cookie altogether.

Other options.....

Softening the candy in the microwave and then spreading it over the top of the baked cookie, like frosting.

Make thin cookies and then spread some softened candy and make cookies "sandwiches".

Make "filled" cookies, by inserting a piece of candy inside the cookie, making sure the candy piece is fully surrounded by the cookie dough before baking (so it doesn't leak out).

Or just make a sugar cookie with the candy in the middle......

 

[Becky]

Very good advice from @ChesterV ^

I like the idea of chopping them up and mixing it into the batter - might even work with regular starburst (not the coated ones) depending on the amount of time in the oven.

 

[ChesterV]

Very good advice from @ChesterV ^

I like the idea of chopping them up and mixing it into the batter - might even work with regular starburst (not the coated ones) depending on the amount of time in the oven.

Yeah, I was trying to avoid that.......depending on the consistency of the candy and how much wax or softeners are in it, will usually depend how fast it melts and separates.

Possibly "flash baking" thin cookies with chunks in it might work. I just remember trying cookies with this kind of soft candy and it melted out of the cookie and made it all gooey. And not the good gooey either.

The problems with using candies anymore is that they are not consistent. "Back when", candies were usually made at 1-3 specific production plants. Nowadays, there are production plants all over the world....and even though it might taste like the same candy, they are all slightly different on ingredient amounts and consistencies.

 

[Zyni]

You're in luck because our resident expert ChesterV is here. @ChesterV is extremely knowledgeable and versatile when it comes to baking. Some great tips here. I'm interested in this now.

If you don't already, you should have a bakery, Chester.

 

[ChesterV]

You're in luck because our resident expert ChesterV is here. @ChesterV is extremely knowledgeable and versatile when it comes to baking. Some great tips here. I'm interested in this now.

If you don't already, you should have a bakery, Chester.

I tried for 15 years to get my own bakery, but was handed a brick wall each time I tried.
So, I finally gave up.

I tried baking from home to start a home business. People want my stuff, but they expect it to be free. I don't think so.

So, I completely gave up on everything about 10 years ago. What a load off my mind too!

 

[Zyni]

I tried for 15 years to get my own bakery, but was handed a brick wall each time I tried.
So, I finally gave up.

I tried baking from home to start a home business. People want my stuff, but they expect it to be free. I don't think so.

So, I completely gave up on everything about 10 years ago. What a load off my mind too!

Sorry to hear that. You definitely have talent. Maybe you can hire yourself out to catering company or something.

I wouldn't give it all away for free either. While baking can be fun, it can also be a LOT of work.

 

[ChesterV]

Sorry to hear that. You definitely have talent. Maybe you can hire yourself out to catering company or something.

I wouldn't give it all away for free either. While baking can be fun, it can also be a LOT of work.

I got out of working at bakeries of any kind back in the late 90's. There is no money in it unless you work for yourself. Catering companies are even worse. They are very stingy with the money. I've talked to people who "sub" in at some catering companies, and have been told that many times they just barely break even on what it costs to produce all that food.

 

[Zyni]

I got out of working at bakeries of any kind back in the late 90's. There is no money in it unless you work for yourself. Catering companies are even worse. They are very stingy with the money. I've talked to people who "sub" in at some catering companies, and have been told that many times they just barely break even on what it costs to produce all that food.

Yeah, it makes sense. It's pretty much that way with everything these days. Everyone wants to take advantage.

Well, thank you for sharing your knowledge and talent with all of us, anyway.

 

[ChesterV]

Yeah, it makes sense. It's pretty much that way with everything these days. Everyone wants to take advantage.

Well, thank you for sharing your knowledge and talent with all of us, anyway.

I have been told that I need to teach classes, but I dont see the need when everything is pretty much free online now.

 

[Zyni]

I have been told that I need to teach classes, but I dont see the need when everything is pretty much free online now.

Well, I bet you'd be good at it, but yeah, there is so much accessible online now.

Do you have your own site or a blog? Maybe that would be a good option for you.

 

[ChesterV]

Well, I bet you'd be good at it, but yeah, there is so much accessible online now.

Do you have your own site or a blog? Maybe that would be a good option for you.

I actually want my own website, but I have no clue how to do something like that.

I have been thinking about a Blog of my own, but not for baking info, for other things.

 

[Zyni]

I actually want my own website, but I have no clue how to do something like that.

I have been thinking about a Blog of my own, but not for baking info, for other things.

I think you should totally go for it. There is tons of free info online. I'm still learning, so I can't offer to help. Tons of people do it though, so I know it's do-able. It is rather time-consuming (for me at least, trying to learn the ins and outs). I think you'd do well though. You have a lot to offer.