Monthly Archives: April 2012

Lemonade Marshmallows

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Soundtrack: Vacation, The Go-Go’s

finished lemonade marshmallows

Supplies:
standing mixer
measuring cups/spoons
spatula
silpat lined baking sheet
candy thermometer
sifter
Ingredients:
4 and 1/2 tsp powdered gelatin
6 Tbs fresh lemon juice
2 Tbs cold water
1 c sugar
1/2 c light corn syrup - divided
1/4 c water
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 drops citric acid (optional)
3 packets True Lemon powder (i used raspberry lemonade flavor)
3/4 c powdered sugar
1/2 c corn starch

topping ingredients

this is what will keep the marshmallows from sticking to everything in sight and some extra tart flavor

topping

sift together powdered sugar, corn starch and True Lemon packets

coating

coat silpat lined baking sheet with mixture – i added another True Lemon packet on top cause i wanted more pinky color

blooming

whisk lemon juice, gelatin and water. let sit for 5 min. put 1/4 c corn syrup in bowl of standard mixer with whisk attachment. after 5 min microwave the gelatin mixture for 30 seconds and combine with corn syrup – turn mixer on low

cooking

stir sugar, 1/4 corn syrup, water, and salt together in saucepan over medium high heat. heat until mixture reaches 240degrees. turn mixer on and slowly

fluff

slowly pour hot syrup mixture into (already slowly mixing) corn syrup gelatin combination.  whip up into a light fluffy mixture.

marshmallow block

add in vanilla flavoring, citric acid if using, and coloring. mix 1 min more. using wet spatula pour onto prepared baking sheet. cover with more coating and let sit overnight.

noms

cut into fun shapes with cookie cutters!

Lessons Learned:

  • make sure to put enough coating on the silpat – i topped the marshmallows off with enough but the bottom was still a bit sticky when i was cutting out the shapes
  • make sure to sift coating!! there were a bunch of clumps in the cornstarch/powdered sugar/True Lemon that would have not been pretty on the marshmallows

notgoodstuff

Review: really sour but in the best way. i can’t tell if it was just the lemon juice, or the citric acid, or the True Lemon topping that did it but the final result has a nice sourness to it. the color was perfect – i was hoping that by using raspberry lemonade True Lemon there would be more of a pink tint, but i’m happy with how they look. the shapes turned out great and i’m thrilled to add them to the Easter Basket!

White Chocolate Cream Eggs

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Soundtrack: Punk Bunny

finished white chocolate cream eggs

Supplies:
saucepan
measuring cups/spoons
spatula
silpat lined baking sheet
wire rack
Ingredients:
1/4 c butter
1 c finely chopped pecans
1 and 1/2 c confectioners sugar
1/3 c sweetened condensed milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
8 oz white baking chocolate chips
paste food colorings

chopped pecans

finely chop pecans

candy center

melt butter in saucepan. stir in pecans, sugar, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla. transfer to bowl

chilled filling

chill for 2 to 3 hours

chilled centers

shape mixture into eggs (…decided to go with balls vs. eggs since making mini eggs wasn’t really working out for me) - place on silpat lined baking sheets and refrigerate overnight

dipping

melt white chocolate in bowl set above pot of simmering water. using fork or candy holder carefully dip candy into melted chocolate.

chilling

place on wire rack and allow chocolate to harden

coloring

place small amount of food coloring on paper plate (or plastic container lid). dilute with a bit of water to achieve pastel colors.

speckling

crumple piece of wax paper, dip and carefully blot eggs to decorate.

chilling

allow coloring to set, chill candies

noms

Lessons Learned:

  • the pecan cream filling is pretty rich so i wanted to make smaller sized pieces – especially since they were going to be coated in white chocolate which is suuuper sweet. i thought small ball shapes just made more sense than eggs since every time i tried to make a mini egg it wound up looking round anyways
  • dipping the candies in white chocolate with the round chocolate dipping tool i have resulted in some weird marks when i put the candies down to cool – i let the chocolate harden up some and then re-dipped wonky looking ones for a thicker coat
  • the bottoms of the coated candies stuck to the wire rack while cooling. luckily i still had some melted white chocolate left over so i went back and tried to fill in the gaps

  • wear gloves
  • seriously – this was what the final product was supposed to look like. i like to think mine’ve got character.

perfection

Review: really rich tasting but pretty and festive. i don’t like white chocolate but it’s a sacrifice that has to be made to get the colors to turn out so vibrantly. smooth and melty with little bits of crunch from the pecans. i like them better chilled vs. room temperature. again, i cannot re-itterate enough these are so sweet i can’t imagine eating more than one at a time, if that. maybe if you really like white chocolate…

easter treats

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Soundtrack: Knife, Girl Talk

noms

getting ready to spend easter holiday in the sun and on the water with my family and best friends. in the process of making half batches of a variety of confectional delights – since everyone seems to have their own personal favorites i wanted to try and create a few options.

*currently hardening in the fridge awaiting white chocolate coating: pastel speckled pecan cream eggs.