Lollipop Love: Sweet Indulgence with Chocolate, Caramel, and Sugar

I enjoy cooking and baking and consider myself at an intermediate level. I have been wanting to make candy for a long time now, but, frankly, I've been a big chicken. I am glad I purchased this book. There are a lot of basic details in the book that I would have missed simply trying to follow a recipe on my own. I used the product information (page 93) to order the correct Lorann Oils flavoring from Amazon as well. Because I'm a chicken and have to start with baby steps, I made a lollipop without the sticks. It was crazy easy because of the author's recipe and instructions. My family loves it. These candies would make wonderful gifts (if you have the time to make them). I am now brave enough to purchase a lollipop mold and begin making actual lollipops as well as venture into the book's more complex recipes. Having fun and building my confidence in this new creative endeavor.UPDATE: Got the confidence to try actual lollipops. Yay! They are not perfect, but for the very first try these worked well. They taste so much better than store bought. Wow! Great recipes! Planning to make peach tea next time.

I really wanted to love this book. It's great for ideas. BUT biggest problem is the temperatures. They're wrong. I make lollipops for a living and the mixture isnt ready to pour until 310°F-315°F. I got those when I first started and was wondering why my lollipops werent setting. Until I realized the temperature in the book was off. Now I know better. It's great for ideas just wish they'd proof read it next time and make sure the recipes actually work

Last year I tried my hand at my very first hard candy - lemon drops, which ended up being an unmitigated disaster, and I figured that was the end of my hard candy making (stick to chocolates). Then I saw this book in the new Kindle listings, and thought "why not give it another go". I have to say, this book is fantastic. It turns out candy making isn't anywhere near as complicated as the recipes I had found on the internet made it look. Anita's recipes and instructions are simple, clear and easy to follow - pretty much fool proof. Everything I have tried from her book has been a roaring success.I love the little bit of history in the beginning, and the detailed explanations of equipment and methods - also in the front rather than cluttering up the recipes where that kind of thing can be a distraction, and make things look complicated. There are just enough recipes for my liking - enough to give a good overview of what works, and enable you to launch into your own ideas, rather than a ton of basically-the-same or overly complex recipes that can be overwhelming. I can wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone wanting to add hard candy making to their culinary repertoire.

You can find all info about candies from internet now. There is no special about this book. The photos are nice but it is not bookshelf keep. It maybe good for little gift.

Tried the salted caramel pops recipe. Doesn't work. Need to reheat after cream added but not in instructions. This book is a disappointment. Like others have said could have been fun and beautiful. There is a trend in new candy books to take a simple recipe and repeat again and again with little new information. She doesn't even include basic pops like two flavored. Disappointing.

This book was okay- it was far thinner than I thought it would be but I should have read the description. I just didn't get as excited reading it as I usually do with my zillion cookbooks- perhaps my expectations were too high though.

Gave as a gift

Cant wait to try out the recipes