Ben’s cranberry candy

Photo coming

Cranberries	2 cups
Orange zest, grated	1 ½ tablespoons
Orange juice	¾ cup
Gelatin, unflavored	3 envelopes
Sugar, granulated	1 ½ cups
Walnuts, chopped (optional)	1 cup
Sugar, powdered

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the cranberries, zest, and juice. 
2. Cover, and cook over medium-high heat until the cranberries soften and crack open, about 15 minutes; let cool. 
3. In batches, purée the mixture, and then press through a sieve; discard solids. 
4. Return purée to a clean pan. 
5. Stir together the gelatin and sugar, add to the purée, and stir until the sugar is dissolved. 
6. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring until you can see the pan’s bottom for a full second after the spoon is drawn across it, about 10 to 20 minutes. 
7. Remove from heat, and stir in the walnuts, if using. 
8. Spread the mixture evenly in a well-greased 5-by-9-inch loaf pan; let stand, uncovered, for at least 8 hours. 
9. Cut into 1-inch squares, and roll in powdered sugar to keep them from sticking to each other. 

Yield: 45 pieces.
Recipe from friend and cook extraordinaire Ben.

Cranberry pâte de fruits

Lemon, small, sliced, seeded	1
Cranberries	12 ounces
Certo liquid pectin	6 ounces
Sugar	2 ½ cups +
Chocolate, bittersweet (optional)	12 to 16 ounces

1. Purée the lemon slices, cranberries, and 1/4 cup water in a food processor until smooth; leave very slightly chunky.
2. Combine the cranberry mixture with the sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring often, until it boils, about 4 minutes.
3. Remove from heat, and stir in the pectin.
4. Return to heat, and bring to a boil again; stir 1 minute more.
5. Pour into silicon molds, and let cool to set.
6. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
7. Unmold, and roll jellies in sugar to coat before serving.
8. Dip in melted bittersweet chocolate, if desired. 

Recipe from Cooking Lessons.

Handmade toffee

Ingredients
Butter, salted	2 cups
Sugar	2 cups
Equipment
Stock pan with a heavy bottom	1
Wooden spoon, or heat-proof plastic spatula	1
Candy thermometer	1
Cookie sheet, or jelly roll pan, with lip around the edge, well greased	1
Clean dish towel	1

1. In the pot over medium-low heat, melt together butter and sugar, stirring constantly.
2. Clip the thermometer onto the pot. Do not touch the bottom of the pan, which provides false temperatures.
3. Stir the toffee over medium or medium-low heat. As the toffee heats up, it will bubble, foam, and eventually turn brown.
4. Achieve the ‘hard crack” stage, which means heating the toffee to just under 300°F, and remove from heat.
5. Pour the toffee into a well-greased cookie sheet.
6. Stretch a clean dish towel tightly over the cookie sheet.
7. Flip the toffee from the pan into the towel; if the toffee is still attached to the pan, tap the pan on the counter until the toffee releases.
8. Break the toffee into pieces, starting from the center and working outwards.