Oh, Fudge!

yeah. so you know those times when you get a crazy idea to do something at 9pm, and the voice of reason FAILS you, so you end up doing it??


well.. I decided, on a whim, to make FUDGE one evening.


first of all.. I have never made fudge before, but I decided it was high time I make some, and more importantly.. EAT some.


let the record show that this was a big mistake.



I didn't even bother taking pictures of it, because for ONE.. I didn't know what I was doing, and TWO... I was too bent on EATING the creation to even think straight.


I feel foolish, as the ingredients for MOST fudge recipes are merely chocolate and condensed milk... but somewhere between chopping the chocolate and sticking my fingers in and licking the ingredients as they melted, things went astray.


In the end.. it was eaten. but it was not so much fudgey as it was a grainy chocolate bar. bleh. I would have been better off just sticking a straw into a bottle of chocolate syrup and going to town, or just eating the baking chips right out of the package.

I'm chalking this up as a hormonal-driven catastrophe. Ordinarily I wouldn't/shouldn't post about hot messes like this.. but I need to document these kind of mistakes so I can learn from them. really. cooking is not always about the ingredients and techniques you use.. it also has a lot to do with your mental state while PERFORMING such tasks as baking/creating/cooking.


I do plan on attempting the fudge again, though. (I won't go down without at least another fight!) I WILL, however.. wait until a better time of the month for my next attempt.. and maybe try it during the day when I'm a little less 'cagey'. just sayin'.

More-than-S'Mores

Ladies and gentlemen... I'm happy to announce I have created another Happy Jane Flavor.

Meet the "More-than-a-S'more"....

I was going to call them S'mores a Go-Go, but I used that name for a post I did about little S'mores favors I made for my son's first birthday. Who knows.. maybe I will go with the Go-Go name. but not now. Now I just want to share the latest Jane.

So she was SUPER easy to make... did a batch of the home-made graham crackers. I'm definitely loving that recipe that Cupcake Project posted. LOVE IT!

As usual, I roll it out on the thick side, then cut out my rounds. I like the bottoms to be thick because the topping are just SO sweet that the thicker cookie base is needed for balance. otherwise.. why am I not just making filled chocolates, you know?

ANYWAY. after my rounds were made, I had some dough left, so I rolled it nice and thin so I could have some graham crackers for the kids. (for the kids.. THIN is the key. I've made fun shapes for them in the past, using the same thickness as I do for my sugar cookies, and wow.. it's like eating dog biscuits. So for non-Happy-Jane graham cracker making? thinner is better in our house.)

but back to the Janes. I piped a home-made marshmallow butter cream on the rounds, then dipped them in a dark chocolate.

these were very very sweet. ALMOST too sweet for my taste with that marshmallow filling... but again.. the thicker graham rounds help spread out that sweetness so it wasn't a full-on assault of your teeth. (I do NOT recommend eating the toppings off the cookies first. really. TOO SWEET! YOW!)

Nonetheless... I think these will make a fine addition to the Happy Jane Flavor Roster. the best part? no camping required to enjoy them!

Lessons Learned: the marshmallow butter cream is not nearly as thick as some of my other toppings. when in the dipping stage, I find it is far better to dip the cookies and filling right after they have been removed from the freezer so they can withstand the heat of the melted chocolate. towards the end of the batch I had on my tray, I found that the filling was melting under the chocolate, and gave way to a 'broken shell' appearance. Still tasty.. but not as pretty to me.

oops!

Cookie Kits

One of the biggest indicators of me being 'off my mark' lately is the lack of activity on this blog. Ask me how much Christmas baking I've done this year. It's right about at the same level of how much shopping and Christmas card making/sending I've done.

next to nothing.

oh well.

there's still a few days til Christmas, so I may still get a fire under me and crank some stuff out. I DID, however, put some time aside to make some cookie kits for my daughter's preschool class.

I was lucky to be one of the volunteer moms for her Christmas party last week. Highlights of the party were to include pizza making, a story, and cookie decorating. The other mom said she would take care of the pizza supplies, so I happily said I'd take care of the cookie decorating.

The cookies themselves were no great shakes... I used a simple butter cookie recipe, and made enough so that each child would get one candy-cane shaped and one tree-shaped cookie to decorate. Because these kids are 4 years old, I kept the cookies on the thin side, versus my normal thick style I use for decorating with royal icing.

Inspiration hit to create the 'kits' when my daughter and son were working on a project together. arms flailing, tempers rising, and too much whining while two kids fought over who gets to use what materials are not a good combination when trying to stay on Santa's good list... and I pictured what it would be like with TEN boys and girls trying to reach for the same sprinkles at once.

Hence.. the cookie kits were born.

I hit up my local super-everything-store and purchased some inexpensive plastic containers. At a price of $2-something for a 4 pack... I'd say I got a good deal while staying on point for a budget.

Each kits also received three types of sprinkles, which were put in little plastic condiment cups. Let me tell you.. those cups are FANTASTIC. for storing sprinkles to putting ranch dressing for my daughter's carrot-stick snacks, to individual servings of jello-shots back in the day when my husband and I had more of an industrious social life.... anyways... LOVE them. and the lids... don't forget the lids! seriously.. they are so perfect and useful for SO many things... I always have them in my pantry.

so each kit got the sprinkles, two cookies, a plastic spoon, and some vanilla frosting that I put in the disposable pastry bags, then tied in a knot. no mess, no fuss, no fighting or reaching or germs spreading from one set of sticky fingers to the communal sprinkles. Well.. maybe not so much on the 'no mess' part. they are FOUR, after all.

I rounded out each kit with a splash of color on the top, then individual labels for each child.

really.. this was such an easy thing to prepare.. and so inexpensive... and each child felt special cause it was made especially for them.

So while this project didn't involve a LOT of baking.. I think it deserves to be on here in my baking journal because it accompanies the experience of EATING the baked goods. I will totally do these kits again for one of my children's future birthday parties. From what I could tell, it was a hit with the kids and teachers alike.... so for sure this will be on my list of things to do again. After all.. happy, non-fighting kids equals happy, non-yelling mom.

Lessons Learned: If I were to ever market this, I would definitely include a 'decorating mat' of some sorts, and perhaps a little explanatory note card. Something cutesy and fun like a check-list or decorating ideas... whatever was age or theme appropriate. Best part is that this can be made to suit any theme, and as said previously... was fairly inexpensive to create.

Corny, but Cute!

ok, ok.. I couldn't resist this one.

Stolen from the pages of Hello, Cupcake YET AGAIN.... I used a bag of assorted yellow jelly beans, a few more yellow starbursts, and some black decorating sugar to replicate their cupcake-on-the-cob.

Theirs, of course, came out better then my first stab over here.. but seriously. this was too easy to be this cute. and like I said.. for my first try.. they're pretty believable.

Next time I try these, I will for sure use less frosting, and work on the spacing of the jelly beans better... try to get it spaced better.

I could totally see these as a fun thing to bring to a summer BBQ. or a thanksgiving/autumn treat if I were to use darker jelly beans.. (like making Indian Corn) and try to find something to replicate some husks. but hey.. if you like lemon... these are just a cute way to pay homage to corn!

Piece of Cake

so I forgot to mention that the cake I made for Danny's party was a three layer cake. I had bought a cutting tool a few weeks ago... the kind that helps you make level layer cuts.

I decided to alternate chocolate cake layers with a vanilla layer, and used a chocolate pudding filling.

While the tool helped to make a very even-looking cake, and the three layers looked really cool when sliced... I have to say the pudding was a little goopy inside, and left the remaining cake and slice a teeny sloppy looking.

perhaps a thicker filling or using a hot knife to make the slice? or having the cake be cold at the time of cutting? maybe it's something that can't be helped... or I just need to learn to cut a slice better. not really sure.. but it's something I certainly don't mind investigating a little further.

Birthday Boy

Yesterday we had a little party for my son. He turned two this week, and while he doesn't use a lot of words, he THOROUGHLY enjoys singing along to a variety of songs.


One song he particularly enjoys is "Old MacDonald". He loves mimicking the animal sounds and the simple "E-I-E-I-O" refrain. Consequently, we decided to go with a barnyard/farm theme for his party. While I have no problems eating meat, I prefer to think of farms as places where animals LIVE, and we harvest vegetables from... so Danny's cake and accompanying cupcakes focused on veggies.




Now, a while back, I had played with some gumpaste in attempt to practice making fruit/veggie cupcake toppers. as cute as they did turn out.. I was overall left a little disappointed. Gumpaste , while edible, isn't exactly TASTY. and it's HARD. like break a child's tooth HARD. Imagine, then, my delight when I read the book Hello, Cupcake. Not only did it feature a garden-party cupcake for me to replicate.. but the authors suggested taking ready made candies and ingredients to make into the vegetables.


The result? amazing. I used starbursts and m&m candies, licorice, cornflakes and graham crackers in conjunction with some home made cake and frosting, a little melted chocolate and color gels... and I managed to produce the following.






Now, I still wouldn't allow my 2 year old birthday boy (or his 4 year old sister) to eat the starbursts-turned-veggies.... but in a few years I could totally see them eating every little bit of the cupcake, and still having teeth left to brush when they were through.






Lessons Learned: heating the starbursts in the oven worked better than the microwave. Also? best tip EVER??? rolling the 'carrots' in cinnamon after I made the decorative growth lines made the carrots look OH-SO real. and LOVED the idea of coating the cornflakes in green frosting. the 'leaves' looked truly authentic.



I'm not saying I'll never use gumpaste again.. but for basic colors and for items for kids? the reshaping of chewy candies is really the way to go!

Let them eat PIE

so one of my favorite things about November and December is the ABUNDANCE of cranberries. Fresh, red, beautiful tart CRANBERRIES!

Naturally, when I see them at my grocer's, I can't help myself and pick up a bag or two. then I make a beeline for the apples... and get home to start baking.

My girlfriend made a french Cranberry-Apple pie a few years ago, and I have been smitten ever since. between the streusel-crunch topping and the intermitten tart cranberries, I firmly believe I can not make a plain apple pie ever again.

The recipe she passed on to me was a photocopy from a Williams-Sonoma cookbook, but I have found this recipe online to be identical. If I was in the business of sharing my secrets, I'd tell you I ALWAYS double the amount of streusel topping and omit the nuts.... but the best way to bake (at least as far as I have found) is to taste and see and tweak as you like.


Anyway... if you're looking for a sure-fire hit to bring to a Thanksgiving dinner... this is a winner. enjoy... and let's all give thanks for the cranberry!

Lessons Learned: I have been LOVING the little pie tins. Not only do I increase the number of pies I can get out of one batch of filling, but the SIZE!! so nice! Perfect for hitting the spot when you have a sweet tooth, but don't want to be eating the same dessert all week.

These tins can be found in the grocer's under the label of 'pot pie' tins. They're deep dish, so 1/4 of this pie is a generous portion. try them out... they even serve well to bring to a friend's house for coffee or little thank you gifts.