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!

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…

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.

finished rainbow cake and cloud fluffs

Supplies:
angel food cake pan
big bowl
ziplock bags
whisk
spatula

Ingredients: (topping)
1 box white cake mix *and eggs/oil that it calls for!
food coloring
frosting

apparently i’m on a baking kick…with a few tweaks

Rainbow Cake

ingredients

the website linked does a really good job explaining this recipe – honestly it is so so easy to  mix up these colored batters. just pull together a basic white cake box mix and divide the batter into ziplock bags. put the most amount of batter in the one that you plan on adding red food dye to and scale down as you progress through the rainbow. leave some plain white to put in the bottom of the pan.

rainbow-ing

make a layer of plain white batter. cut a small!! hole in the corner of red ziplock bag and make a rather large ring. repeat process with all of the colors  - making smaller and smaller rings as you layer the colors.

baked

bake according to directions on cake box.

noms

i opted to move away from the green grass theme and leprechaun trap and instead frosted mine with fluffy vanilla clouds.

Lessons Learned:

• i should have flipped the cake over and covered entirely with white frosting but i thought the rainbow effect looked way too awesome to hide. i flipped it using a cake stand and pie plate just before serving and it turned out great.
• final result photos should have been prior to end of St. Patricks day meal and copious amounts of wine. it really looked impressive but unfortunately the only proof is this wee bit tragic looking pic…

Review: how can you not love a rainbow holiday theme cake?!

finished pie

Supplies:
pie tin
measuring cups/spoons
whisk
vitamix or food processor

Ingredients: (topping)
1/2 c walnut pieces
1/4 c packed golden brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch fine sea salt
pie crust
Ingredients: (filling)
1 c packed golden brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 can (15oz) pure pumpkin
1 c heavy whipping cream

so in honor of Pi day and to appease my inner math enthusiast i decided to bake off a pie. perused many options but decided on this one from Bon Appetite:

Pumpkin Pie with Brown Sugar Walnut Topping

ingredients

pre-heat oven to 375degrees. poke holes in bottom of pie shell with fork to allow air to escape. place frozen pie shell (i googled brands and am pretty impressed with how this one from Whole Foods called Whole Wholesome Organic turned out) in oven for about 15min to crisp up a bit.

topping

using Vitamix or food processor grind up walnuts, brown sugar and salt.

topping

pulse until it turns into fine crumbs

filling

whisk brown sugar, eggs and spices in medium bowl. add in heavy whipping cream and pumpkin puree and whisk some more to combine.

cooking

pour filling into pie and bake for about 30 min. be careful when placing pie into oven – where it sloshed over onto the pie crust it wound up burning and turning black by the time the pie was done. eep. sprinkle topping on pie and continue to bake for 15 min at 325degrees (i accidentally left my oven at 375degrees – again, eep.)

noms

Lessons Learned:

• there was a lot of excess filling that – despite my ill conceived attempts – did not fit in the pie shell. hence the filling all over the pie crust and subsequent burned shell.
• the pie needed to cook for longer than 30min to firm up. the finished, warm pie wasn’t set and tasted too runny, but putting it in the fridge overnight did the trick.
• make sure your oven is functioning. long story, but a messy transport and one kind soul with a proper oven later i wound up with a saved the pie.
• also…in all the craziness of pie transport/re-filling/re-bake i forgot to turn down the oven to 325 degrees after the topping was put on – but honestly not a big deal, i still liked the burntish taste

Review: honestly i’m not a pie fan but i love pumpkin puree and even eat it just by itself whenever it’s prominently promoted over the fall holidays. this tasted like a creamier version of that, but i really liked that the recipe didn’t call for condensed milk like some recipes do which i think takes away too much from the pumpkin taste. also the crumb topping doesn’t call for butter like most crumbles which i also like since it makes the overall flavor of the pie (deceptively?) healthy tasting. the frozen pie crust i used was also a winner, aside from the burnt parts around the sides…better chilled since it set the filling up, but had i cooked it longer i’m sure it would have been fine warm or at room temperature.

finished hard candies

Supplies:
3qt saucepan
measuring cups/spoons
lollipop molds and sticks
various additional molds
candy thermometer

Ingredients:
2 c sugar
1 c light corn syrup
1/2 c water
1/4 tsp flavoring (champagne)
assorted sprinkles/coarse decorating sugars

ingredients

combine sugar, corn syrup and water in saucepan. stir to combine and heat until sugar dissolves. wash down sides with pastry brush and increase heat to medium. cook until mixture reaches 300degrees.

extract

remove from heat and stir in champagne extract.

pouring

pour mixture into lollipop, silicone, plastic molds – that have all been sprayed with nonstick spray and filled with sprinkles.

sprinkling

sprinkle with more sprinkles/sugar. (yes i did forget to fill that one on the top left)

excess

pour remaining mixture onto silpat and top with more fun sprinkles/jimmies and let cool. once cooled remove from molds (carefully) and break up hard candy block into pieces.

noms

Lessons Learned:

• it works best if there is already sprinkles in the molds before you pour. then top with more sprinkles before the candy hardens to get a pretty looking finished product
• the round rainbow sprinkles showed up better than the coarse colored candy sprinkles
• the sugar mixture seemed to continue to cook even after i pulled it off the heat. as i was pouring it into the various molds the color kept darkening and resulted in an inconsistent looking/tasting candy. not sure how to fix this…

ombre

• this recipe makes a ton of finished product – i really need to buy more lollipop molds

Review: pretty looking but not my favorite tasting. best to let the candy dissolve rather than try and chew since it’s the kind of candy that gets stuck in your teeth. actually most candies seem to do this…i like the sprinkles better than jimmies but figured i’d try something different with all of the excess sugar mixture. more caramel tasting than champagne-y but i think that is because the sugar kept cooking for so long off the heat.

wonderland

so tomorrow is my birthday. i’m hoping i have time to make some sort of thematic candy confections…not sure what that would be (but in googling ideas i found out that jelly belly comes in birthday cake flavor ohmygod)…i know this is the time to break out those rainbow sprinkles but i’d like to use them with something other than my beloved marshmallows…maybe clear champagne flavored lollipops filled with sprinkles??!

in any case, i’m going to dinner with some very special people in my life and the restaurant happens to have one of my most favorite deserts – something called an Eton Mess. pretty much a concoction of meringue, whipped cream, and macerated fruits. like a really messy (so messy it’s not even listed on the menu and you have to specifically ask for it) version of pavlova (mother’s favorite dessert). how fitting.

nosh

got a wicked package of british confections from the lovely ali (who dates and makes cakes). i love her and cannot wait to see her when she comes back to visit in a few weeks!

finished nougat

Supplies:
standing mixer
measuring cups/spoons
spatula
silpat lined baking sheet
candy thermometer

Ingredients:
1 large egg whites, room temperature
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1 and 1/3 c sugar
1/2 c honey
2 Tbs water
roasted pistachios
chocolate covered dried cherries
rice paper or wafer paper

ingredients

roasted pistachios

chocolate covered dried cherries

chop up whatever you decide to put into nougat – i had a scant half cup of pistachios and some chocolate covered dried cherries on hand i figured would be a nice combo.

cooking

combine sugar, honey and water in saucepan. mix to combine and increase heat. cook until syrup reaches 252 degrees.

mixing

in standard mixer with whisk attachment beat egg white and salt on medium high until foamy. with mixture running add in syrup and continue to beat.

whisked

whip up into a light fluffy mixture.

mix-ins

add in pistachios and chocolate covered dried cherries

mixed

stir to combine.

spreading

spread onto waver paper and top with another sheet. let cool for about two hours.

cutting

cut into pieces with serrated knife

noms

Lessons Learned:

• it’s hard to whip up just one egg white in a standing mixer. not sure if i should have used a hand mixer to start since the final nougat mixture didn’t seem to whip up into a fluffy base, but it still worked
• i should have spread more mixture in between the wafer paper. the ratio tasted a bit off and i would have preferred more nougat to wafer.
• the kitchen store i went to didn’t have rice paper which i think would have worked much better than the wafer paper since the wafer paper is a bit thick.

Review: delicious. i love nougat and the chocolate covered dried cherries and pistachio were great additions. really soft consistency and gorgeous color. would love to make again with rice paper.