February 11th is Peppermint Patty Day. You may indulge in the occasional York Peppermint Patty or box of Junior Mints (we do). But if you love peppermint patties, making them at home is easy.

 
If you want to go all out, you can decorate the tops of the patties with candied mint leaves: Dip tiny leaves or cut pieces of leaf and crystallize in sugar syrup.

This recipe makes about 5 dozen peppermint patties. Be sure to make extra for friends and family—they’re are so good, you’ll want to eat the whole batch.
 
 
IS IT PATTY OR PATTIE?

The dictionary does not recognize “pattie” as a word; although the York Candy Company chose this [incorrect] spelling to refer to a York Peppermint Pattie.

Patty first appeared in English around 1700, from the French pâté. It referred to an item of food covered with dough, batter, etc., and fried or baked, such as oyster patties. It then referred to ground or minced food; and finally, the thin, round candy we call a peppermint patty.

Peppermint Patty is also a character from the Peanuts comic series.
 
 
YORK PEPPERMINT PATTIE HISTORY

According to a company history in Wikipedia, the York Peppermint Pattie (sic) was first produced by Henry C. Kessler, owner of the York Cone Company, in 1940. The company was named for its location: York, Pennsylvania.

In the annals of corporate acquisitions, in 1972 the York Cone Company was acquired by Peter Paul. In 1978, Peter Paul merged with Cadbury Schweppes. In 1988 the Hershey Foods Corporation acquired the U.S. operations of Cadbury Schweppes.

The York Peppermint Pattie we know is different from Henry Kessler’s: the mint centers are only semi hard. In February 2009, Hershey closed the Reading, Pennsylvania plant that made York Peppermint Patties, 5th Avenue and Zagnut candy bars, and Jolly Rancher hard candies. Production was moved to a new factory the company built in Monterey, Mexico.

Find more of our favorite peppermint candies in the Candy Section of THE NIBBLE webzine.
  

Try some of these beauties and you just might develop a marshmallow habit.

What’s the difference between “chocolates” and “confections?” Is a “chocolatier” or chocolate shop the same as a “confectionary?”

A confectionery (also spelled confectionary) is a confectioner’s shop—more popularly called a candy store or sweet shop in modern times.

A chocolatier (a French word, pronounced cho-co-la-tee-YAY) is both the chocolate shop and the person who makes the chocolate.

While both of these words are commonly used in American chocolate circles, the French words for confectioner, confiseur, and candy shop, confiserie, are not.

So what’s a confection?

The term “confection” refers to all candies and sweets, including candy bars, candied nuts, chocolate, fudge, hard candies, licorice, lollipops, marshmallows, marzipan, nougat, mints, toffee and other products, from cotton candy and candy canes to gum drops and gummi bears.

The term applies to snack items, so any baked goods and ice cream sold at a confectionery are included in the term—even though they also repose in other categories as well.

 
Discover more about chocolate in the Chocolate Section of THE NIBBLE online magazine. If you want to find the confectionery, you’ll have to look in the Candy Section and under Cookies, Cakes & Pastries.

February 10th is National Cream Cheese Brownie Day.

Why add cream cheese to brownie batter?

You might logically say, for more richness. Cream cheese makes a denser, fudgier brownie, and the tangy quality of the cream cheese is a nice counterpoint to both the deep chocolate flavor and the sweetness of the sugar.

Some cream cheese brownies simply incorporate the softened cream cheese into the batter; others create a marbled swirl in the batter, still others add a cream cheese layer on the top of the brownie, as shown in the top photo. The recipe is below

Then, there’s the full cheesecake topping that makes a half cheesecake, half brownie delight called the “zebra.” But that’s another holiday.
 
 
RECIPE: CREAM CHEESE BROWNIES

Ingredients For 16 Brownies

For The Brownie Mixture

 
For The Cream Cheese Mixture

[1] Cream cheese swirl brownies (photo © Lara Hata | iStock Photo).

[2] If you want to use higher-quality chocolate than supermarket chips, you can chop up a quality chocolate bar (photo © King Arthur Flour).

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. Butter lightly flour an 8 x 8-inch square cake pan. Combine the flour and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

2. MELT the butter in a small, heavy-bottom saucepan. Stir in the cocoa until thoroughly blended, and set aside.

3. BEAT the eggs until light and fluffy. Gradually add the sugar and stir in the chocolate mixture. Sift the flour and salt mixture over the top and fold it into the mixture. Add the vanilla. Fold in the chocolate chips.

3. MAKE the cream cheese mixture. Whisk together or use an electric mixer to blend the cream cheese, egg and sugar. Sift the self-rising flour over this mixture and fold in. Add the vanilla extract.

4. POUR three-quarters of the brownie mixture into the prepared pan, and spread the cream cheese mixture over it. Drop spoonfuls of the remaining brownie mixture on top, making swirls with a knife.

5. BAKE 35 to 40 minutes, or until the top is springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Be careful not to over-bake.

6. COOL the brownies in the pan, then cut into squares.
 
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*You can make superfine sugar by pulsing regular granulated sugar in a food processor.