Incorporating Candies into Baked Food 

Many people enjoy eating candies such as Hershey’s, Reese’s, and some others that may be lesser known to the public, like Heath and Mr. Goodbar. However, what a majority does not realize is that one can use these candies in baked food – cakes, pies, and even pizzas!

Multitudes of people prefer their mother’s recipes, those which have been passed down through generations. These recipes hold sentimental value and they sometimes choose not to stray away from what they know and love.

On the other hand, millions of people have a yearn to learn, and they purchase cookbooks. Around 20 million cookbooks are sold every year in the United States. With the estimate of 340 million people in the USA, that’s around 17 cookbooks per citizen. 

Because there are not always specific cooking or baking instructions for these candies, folks frequently bake them at a temperature too high for sustainability in the taste: the chocolate becomes burnt and crispy, and its sweet flavor is replaced with that of burnt cacao beans, a very distinct and unenjoyable flavor, overpowering other flavors in the dish. Many recipes including these candies take this into account and significantly alter the baking instructions.

While this can be the case for lots of baked goods, experienced bakers use these chocolates to their advantage in a technique called “layering.” This includes adding different forms of the candy to the treat; on one layer of a chocolate cake, chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups are used in the icing. On the top, whole cups add flair and style, enhancing the visual presentation.

The Hershey’s website offers an abundance of recipes that include their products, all listed here. Some cookbooks also offer “specialty recipes,” extra recipes that did not make it to the book’s main content for whatever reason, which include candies and name-brand chocolates.

Although some name-brands do not publicly offer curated recipes including their candies, chocolates, or what-have-you, recipes including them can be found throughout the Internet with a simple Google search. For example, Reese’s does not offer recipes incorporating their candies, but you can find an unlimited amount of dishes online that include them.

Open the Hall of Flavor for plenty of dishes that teach you how to incorporate your favorite candies into unexpected dishes!

Hall of Flavor