Flavored Oils - For Candy Recipes And Much More

When you cook up a batch of candy, you simply add a few drops of your desired flavoring oil or extract to the mix. Here is a basic recipe for hard candy. Simple enough.

With chocolate, however, it's a bit different. Add too much liquid - it seizes. That's where highly-concentrated oils come in handy. Although a few of them are not recommended for use with chocolate (if they're water-based) - I've used them anyway, and I've never had any problems.

What ingredients do we need for flavored chocolate candy?  

• High-quality coating chocolate. Why coating (or dipping) chocolate? Because this type of chocolate has been designed for quick and easy melting without having to go through an elaborate tempering process. If you would throw a Hershey's milk chocolate bar in the microwave, it would melt down and seize into an ugly lump. Then you could neither pour it into molds, nor stir some luscious flavoring into it. Coating chocolate, however, has the cocoa butter replaced by vegetable oil. It will melt evenly and stay pourable for a while. Finally, it will set up hard in the freezer - with a nice shine to boot.
• Food-grade flavored oils. My favorite brand is LorAnn. They offer a huge selection of flavors that are so much fun to play with. Unlike extracts, these oils are strong, and often you don't need more than a drop or two for, let's say, 1/2 pound of chocolate. 

In this picture you see about 2 cups of coating chocolate - ready to be nuked. Start with 30 seconds, then stir, and then heat some more, in 10-second increments. Once your chocolate is smooth, stir in 1 drop of flavoring oil; taste and add more if desired. You may also add nuts, candy pieces, dried fruit, or whatever you like. Spoon your chocolate mix into special chocolate candy molds, and then stick them in the freezer for 15-20 minutes. They should pop out easily.