Candy Cap Mushroom Identification (Lactarius rubidus)
Come along with me as I stumble into an outrageous patch of Candy Cap Mushrooms in a forest in the Pacific Northwest.
This specific species, Lactarius rubidus, is the western variant of Lactarius fragilis. I show you some of the key things I look for when identifying candy cap mushrooms.
As a member of the Milkcap (or Lactarius) genus, these mushroom exude a milky latex when cut. I have noticed that if you have an older candy cap that has dried out a bit, it may not display this characteristic as prominently as those that are young. Be aware, however, that there are a lot of lactarius species out in the forest that look very similar to candy caps, and also display this characteristic of exuding milk when cut. Here are the key difference that I notice between the Candy Cap Mushroom and its imposters:
--the milk is thin and displays the consistency of skim milk (it is not thick and opaque)
--the stipe (stem) is hollow and both it and the cap are brittle, breaking easily when handled (this is where the latin species name fragilis comes from - it is fragile)
--the cap is rough and bumpy, often feeling somewhat dry to the touch even when wet (people describe the texture as feeling like an orange peel or like newt/salamander skin - the cap is never sticky and not characteristically smooth or slimy to the touch)
--lastly, and this is huge, it has one of the most distinct smells of any mushroom I've encountered -- it has a very, very strong smell of maple syrup, with hints of butterscotch, burnt sugar, and fenugreek...although...there is a catch -- you often can't detect this scent clearly until the mushroom is dried. So this is the ultimate test for me - if I'm unsure, I bring some home and let it dry on the counter. No smell, no candy cap! If it is a candy cap, the aroma is potent and unmistakeable! Some people even bring a lighter with them in the field so that they can get a more instant confirmation from the characteristic scent.
Also, candy cap mushroom spores are white and you can often see evidence of these spores on the caps of mushrooms that are stacked underneath others. You'll notice a spore print that I took of Lactarius rubidus at the end of this video.
Once you add Candy Cap Mushrooms to your pantry of baking supplies there is no going back. There are tons of candy cap mushroom recipes online, and favorites include candy cap mushroom ice cream, candy cap mushroom syrup, candy cap mushroom cookies, and candy cap mushroom powder to work as a spice in your favorite baked goods and dishes - some people even add candy cap mushroom to curries! They are also great sauteed fresh in butter, somewhat reminiscent of salted caramel - but they really shine when they are dried, as that brings out the true richness of the flavor.
In terms of drying, it is best to dry candy cap mushrooms at the lowest temperature possible. They shrink down quite a bit. Whereas a typical mushroom will require 10 lbs to produce 1 pound of dried mushroom, these require 15 lbs to produce a single dried pound. But a little bit of this dried mushroom goes a really long way, and some people report that using too much of the dried powder in baked goods can turn what would've been the sweetest tasting maple flavor you can imagine into a flavor that has some bitterness.
I hope you learned something here and enjoyed the video! Please like, subscribe, comment... all that good stuff! Happy hunting!
Music Credits:
Arcadia - Wonders by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.
#mushroom #candycap #mushroomrecipe #mushroomhunting
Cultivating and Cooking Garden Giants with Paul Stamets
The Garden Giant is a stellar species for folks to grow in their backyard, and especially in their gardens. This species is plant friendly, helps transform woodchips into rich soils, consumes nematodes and filters out E. coli. Garden Giants produce long, abundant rhizomorphs, and the stem butts can regrow. See Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World for step by step instructions.
Once you have this species (Stropharia rugoso-annulata, aka The Wine Cap, The King Stropharia) growing on your property and if you annually use wood chips as a mulch, the Garden Giant can become resident for years. Not only are the mushrooms huge (see the 4-5 lb specimens in the photos), and edible (mild flavor), but this species can produce acanthocytes - which allow it to eat nematodes, important for protecting root crops.
Acanthocytes of Stropharia rugosoannulata Function as a Nematode-Attacking DeviceAPPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, Apr. 2006, p. 2982–2987 Vol. 72, No. 4
0099-2240/06/$08.000 doi:10.1128/AEM.72.4.2982–2987.2006
We also published on this species removing E. coli. See my bio at paustamets.com
Moreover, this mushroom will distract slugs from eating your vegetables, and fly larvae love them. I discovered when raising sliver (coho) salmon fingerlings that the fish would strike at the floating maggot-ridden mushrooms to dislodge the larvae and aggressively consume them. So, this suggests that this species could be useful for feeding fish, from salmon to tilapia.
Also, see my YT video on MycoTotes - for the massive expansion of mycelium using a low tech fermentation method.
Crazy fun with fungi.
Location: Earth
Filming by Pam Kryskow
Comparing two mushroom species: one magic, one deadly.
Comparing the deadly Galerina marginata to the psychoactive Gymnopilus luteofolius. A mistake can be deadly.
Check out:
Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World -
Facebook -
Twitter -