can i use candiquik in baking recipes?

I was gifted a ton of candiquik, which I thought was baking chocolate. However, after looking over the package, I learned that it is a candy coating. I checked out the product FAQ and learned that I most definitely should NOT add butter, milk, egg, or any liquid to it. Why shouldn’t I use milk, butter or other liquids with this product; and, can i use candiquik in baking recipes?

Best Answer

The ingredients it lists are

Sugar (Sugar, Corn Starch), Partially Hydrogenated Palm Kernel Oil, Cocoa Processed with Alkali, Corn Syrup Solids, Nonfat Dry Milk, Milk Powder, Cocoa, Soy Lecithin, Natural Flavors

This sounds like a product which has been very much engineered and fine-tuned to produce a very specific consistency when melted and cooled. I suspect that the "do not add" list means to not add those when using it as a glaze, because any of those will either cause it to seize, or make an inferior glaze texture when firmed up, if it firms up at all.

In principle, you could try using it as baking chocolate in a recipe, for example when making the dark part of a marble cake, and see what happens. The result will probably be edible, although you are running a risk of creating weird textures in some recipes, and it is almost impossible to predict which will go well and which won't. The taste will suffer - baking chocolate is already an inferior substitute for real chocolate, and this product has only a small proportion of cocoa-derived products (cocoa powder only, and no cocoa butter). It may turn out that it is good enough for you, not every eater expects to get the complexities of an original Sacher torte in a muffin.

So, the bottom line: it is OK to experiment. Just don't do it where it has to come out perfect, for example when you are time pressed to bake something for an occasion with guests. Make a dessert for your family now and then and see if it goes well.