Send 'em Some Sugar (Literally!)

Do you ever see something and think.. oh, that's cute.. I could do that... then forget all about it?

A while back I had seen something in one of the many cake decorating books that I buy about decorating sugar cubes for a party. Cute idea, right? I thought so too.. then promptly forgot all about it.

The other day I indulged and bought myself another book called Beautiful Cakes by Peggy Porschen. It was in a discount bin, so I really couldn't resist. Sure enough, as if by fate.. the very last feature in her book (as well as the back cover art) is home-made sugar cubes.

I figured the baking gods must be screaming at me, cause sure enough.. here we are nearing the end of Teacher Appreciation Week, and a mere few days away from Mother's Day, and I have NOTHING. no gifts, no cards, nothing in the mail on the way anywhere... NOTHING. Ladies and gentlemen.. this is a time to send some SUGAR!

I will say that this was so ridiculously easy that I almost feel guilty giving this as a gift. With some sugar, a half of a drop of neon food coloring, a splash of water to dampen the sugar and my itty-bitty cookie cutters... I was totally in business.

really. if you've ever built a sand castle... you can do this. Take care that the sugar isn't TOO wet, make sure it isn't too dry, and be sure to pack it down.

oh, and wait a few minutes before trying to remove the cutter. otherwise you might end up with a jacked-up sugar shape.

or worse... a real mess.

within an hour or two, the sugar shapes were ready to be handled (GENTLY) to have their picture taken... but I'll be letting them 'dry' over night before I package them up. Nonetheless... here they are ready to sweeten a special some one's day.

Each of my daughter's teachers (and a few of my favorite friends that are moms) will be getting a box of tea and some home-made sugar cubes. While I have them slated for Teacher Appreciation and Mother's Day gifts.. these can certainly work as adorable favors for a baby shower, bridal tea, birthday, princess party, or even a get-well gift (spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, right?)

Happy Mother's Day... Happy Teacher Appreciation Week, and just Happy Day in general! Now go send some sugar to someone... if they haven't already... they might just do something sweet for you in return.

Grahamtastic

I've said it before. I'm SURE I'll say it again.


This recipe for home-made graham crackers is GREAT! A certain drawback is that of any other dough I make, I just can NOT help myself from eating this raw. maybe it's the honey, maybe it's the graham wheat flour itself, but all I need is a spoon and a bowl of this stuff. (Just don't tell my daughter... I tell her all the time we can't eat things because of raw eggs. she'd have a hypocritical field day with me if she knew how much I was sneaking behind her back.)





Of course, my main reason for making this recipe is so I can get my little graham cracker rounds for some of my Happy Jane varieties. but every time I DO make them I think... "Why don't I make these more often???"


If you have ever made a sugar cookie or cookie using a cutter with any success, then you can TOTALLY make these grahams. My only suggestion is to be sure to roll them out so they are thin. In the past I've made them thick like my cookies, and the kids just end up looking at me weird. like I'm giving them dog biscuits or something.





We were super boring and stuck with squares this time around, but I did let the kids 'prick' the holes in the top and 'help' with the sprinkling of the cinnamon sugar before baking. (notice the HEAVY layer of sugar??)





no joke.. any time of year these are a light and fun snack. and it should be noted that despite my kids' habit of a heavy pour/sprinkle of sugar on top, this treat has FAR less sugar than the majority of store-bought varieties out there. Almost kind of gives you the green light to cover them in chocolate and marshmallows, you think?

Right in the Kisser!

So I've mentioned before that some the spring time, I like to find inspiration from citrus. Combine the availability of so many fresh fruits this time of year with all of the grass, trees, and flowers in bloom... and my mind kept seeing shades of green. Consequently, I succumbed to the green as well as gave a nod of respect to my days in Florida and bought myself a bag of Key Limes this week.

Of COURSE I was thinking about Key Lime Pies, but then I thought... ooooh... key lime HAPPY JANES. all the taste, tang and creamy goodness of a pie in one uber-decadent bite. SIGN ME UP!

Do you like how nice and neat I started with my bowl of key limes and clean cutting board?

Unfortunately, trying to de-pulp key limes is NOT an easy task. not only did my fingers prune in the prolonged exposure to juice, but man! I made quite a mess!

I tried everything! A peeler, a fork, knife, spoon... considered the food processor... but nothing but time and effort were the trick to removing the pulp (sans PITS!) from the little green meanies.

I strained the pulp and juice, because I was really only wanting to add the lime pulp. I knew too much 'juice' and my buttercream would not set, so I tried to minimize my liquid additions.

Once my buttercream filling was set, I piped it on to some home-made graham cracker rounds. I know I've said this before, but I LOVE this recipe for home-made graham crackers!!! So tasty!! (speaking of tasty... don't these girls look so GOOD??? )

You know the rest! do the dip.... let harden, and enjoy!! (ok, more like.. do the dip, get impatient waiting for white chocolate to set, stick in freezer, STARE at freezer willing sub-zero temperatures to make the shell harden already... THEN enjoy!) I tried to keep to the key lime pie 'flavor' as much as possible, so I stuck with white chocolate.

I joked on Twitter that my husband Troy was going to propose to me again when he tasted these.

He did. (well... no ring was involved.. but he did actually put his dishes in the dish washer, so that's close enough for me!)

Please give a warm welcome to our newest Jane----

The Key Lime Kisser!

Lessons Learned: de-pulping key limes is HARD! I have bought key-lime juice in the past, but man oh man, if I could out-right purchase key lime pulp.... I would totally do it. When I make these again (and I will... these are definitely a high-ranker in terms of flavor in our house, and I see them being made well into and through the summer!) I will try different methods of de-pulping. maybe I'll even try the food processor. you know.. once I figure out if eating key lime rinds is ok.

Holy Orders

This week I was busy making a BUNCH of cross-shaped cookies for a first Communion this coming weekend in New Jersey. Coincidentally, the class of student *I* teach is ALSO making their first Communion this weekend, AND our church is having a bake sale.

It was agreed that I would make 5 dozen cookies for the New Jersey affair, but I ultimately baked 75 cookies... allowing myself a decent margin should I have any mishaps. I figured any extra I made can be donated to the church for the bake sale... with that many first-time communicants on the loose, I figured the cross-cookie might be an easy sell.

Having learned from my own mistakes, I decided I would stick with a simple (and REPEATABLE) design. I was thinking all-white... with some texturization. given the sheer QUANTITY of cookies I was taking on, I knew my hands would be able to handle only so much piping. the idea of switching back and forth between colors would have probably broken me.

The crosses came out pretty simple looking, but those looks can be deceiving. I completed the cookies in about 5 stages. First I piped the 'outline' of each cross. Second came the flooding. that provided a plain white 'background' for each cookie. I let those sit over night so I'd be working on a nice firm surface the next day. (this would also be the best practice if I were thinking about using colors on top of the white. if the white is not completely dry, you will run a VERY high probability of the colors bleeding. I should know.)

Phase three had me doing the jacquard/scroll pattern on each cookie. I finally hit my 'groove' of this step around dozen number three or four. A VERY important reminder if you do something like this yourself is to go back over these cookies within a reasonable amount of time and 'trim' up the excess scrolling. This is particularly important for stage FOUR... where I once again piped the 'outline' of each cross.

SIDE NOTES:

without the 'trimming', the outlines ended up being either raised up or crooked, period. I also feared that with the raised up edges, they would be the first area of breakage when the cookies would be shipped. the textured cookies are adorable in all the various ways they can be done.. but cracko! first to go every time.

Also? Some may argue that the final 'outline' is not necessary, but personally i feel it lends a polished and profession touch to each cookie. Blame the engineer in me, but I like seeing definitive edges.

The final step for the cookies was to (after one more night of hardening/drying time) was to brush a luster dust over each cookie to give a pearlized sheen. (Note to self-- I NEED to get a bigger design brush.. using the little one took me FOREVER!)

During my 'down time' of waiting for the royal icing to dry.. I worked on the favor tags. I found some great pearlized green card stock that I used as the springboard for my design. (also why I chose to do the luster-dust on each cookie)

I printed the pertinent info on some heavy white card stock, then used one of those fancy-shmancy scissors to cut out and glue on to the green paper. Also? found a bucket of table confetti and glued a flower to each 'tag'. The flower confetti was also pearlized... so it was a perfect match.

Before I knew it, it was assembly time. Bag, tag, tie, pack. repeat 60 times.

I will also take a moment to note that the ribbon i used was squeezabley adorable. perfect color match, and just the right width. and who can resist a polka dot? AWESOME, I say!!

Finally, all 59 cookies were bagged and tagged. (yeah... one broke cause I'm clumsy and dropped it. I was bummed at first, but then I ate it. No sense mailing a broken cookie, and I was running low on energy, anyway. )

The most unsettling thing in this whole process for me is what came next... boxing up. Usually I shrink-wrap each cookie, but I opted for favor bags this time. I have no idea if they will 'behave' differently en route...but I definitely used about $20 worth of bubble wrap.

So that's it! the cookies have been mailed, and should arrive either tomorrow or Saturday. I toyed with the idea of driving them up myself, but my husband vetoed it on grounds of not being safe with the amount of time between MY class' mass and the one in New Jersey. I definitely put enough love in each cookie, so I'm sure the guest of honor will know how much we're missing her on her special day.

Love you, Laney-Bird! I hope you enjoy your cookies!

Citrus Inspiration

So in the springtime, I like to start thinking about lighter flavors. I use a lot more citrus fruits in my cooking, and consequently, the same holds true for my baking. I've recently become a big fan of these raspberry/lemon muffins, and plan on trying out the BLUEberry/lemon recipe very soon.

At any rate, with my thoughts on spring colors and lighter flavors, I thought it was time that I gave my Janes a fresh look for the season as well. During Lent I had plennnnty of time to think about what flavor combos I would try next, and while I still have 2 more up my sleeve, I wanted to share my two latest creations.

The first one stemmed from all those extra lemons I had kicking around. After whipping up a batch of buttercream filling, I added in some lemon extract and a heaping amount of lemon zest. After that filling sat over night, (I wanted the buttercream to REALLY absorb the lemony zing from the zest) I piped the filling on to some vanilla cookie rounds.

The rest came easy as pie. Lemon meringue pie, that is! Each treat got a dunk in white chocolate, then topped with a few of my 'home-made' lemon sprinkles. Sweet, tart, and refreshing... all in one little Jane!

I call this one "Dang Meringue"

My husband Troy is a big fan of orange, so the next Jane was kind of for him. I *like* oranges... but Troy? forget about it! Orange water, orange soda, sherbert, creamsicles, gatorade... BLEH! he likes all of that!

So I copied the lemon filling concept, but switched it out for orange extract and orange zest. After 'resting' over night... I also piped that filling on the vanilla cookie rounds.

Pretending to be a fan of creamsicles, I colored some white chocolate with some orange color gel, and gave the girls a dunk. A few (store-bought this time.. I got lazy!) sprinkles for garnish later, and another Jane was born.

I had a hard time coming up with a name for this creation. My 4 year old daughter tried one and upon finding out this particular combination was title-less, insisted that I name them "Orange Peels". It's not a bad name.. and for now that's what I'll call them. Feel free to make a name suggestion, though. you never know when I might take a liking to it and send you some of your own Happy Janes as a way of thanking you.

"Orange Peel" Happy Janes

I hope you're all enjoying your springs, as well as the fresh colors and flavors the season offers!

Stay tuned, cause I have some new things with key limes and raspberries on my list of fruit to make bad for you!

Heart-Shaped Genius

Sometimes, when I'm in the zone of making and creating... I think I come across a stroke of genius. perhaps it's a throw back to the days when I used to work, and part of my job was to come up with engineered solutions to a myriad of things.


I'm really not one to boast... (ok, maybe a little!) but when I get these 'great ideas', I certainly like to share them. Then I blog about them! (ok.. so maybe I am a bit more than a little boastful!) but it's certainly validating to tell someone (or post about) my great idea or creation and get some positive feedback. Besides.. it's not like my kids are all that interested in what I'm doing. At least not process-wise. to them, it's all "show me the cupcakes!"


At any rate.. I HAVE to share my latest "ah-hah!" moment. Granted.. it's not a pretty sight. in fact... I SHOULD make the disclaimer that I swear I am not making any illegal drugs in these pictures.... despite the appearance otherwise.




Yesterday, I made sprinkles. Lemon-flavored, heart (and circle!) shaped SPRINKLES.


Originally, I was going to take some gumpaste, dye it yellow, add in some lemon extract, roll it out, and attempt to cut out some cute shapes so I could apply them to my newest Happy Jane flavor. but then it hit me..... STARBURSTS!!!



They were SO awesome to shape into veggies when I made Danny's birthday cake... why not melt them down and do the same thing here? So that's exactly what I did. Melted, coated with corn starch to reduce the stickiness... rolled them flat, then used my piping tips to cut out some circles...





and used a heart-shaped hole punch to get the heart sprinkles. GENIUS!





I was so happy with the results, I just HAD to blog about it. I mean.. the color was vibrant! the FLAVOR was perfect in this case... and the hole-punch was just too too easy. TOTALLY worth my $5 hunch I had when I bought the puncher. I can't wait to go and buy more shapes now. The cupcakes, janes, and cakes (as well as pancakes!! and ice cream!!) I imagine waiting to be sprinkled now are endless.


I'm sure I will eventually use the gumpaste with color and flavor to match my occasion.. but if starburst makes a color and flavor... you can bet I'll use them in a heart beat. (get it? HEART beat??)



I love it when a plan comes together!

Because "Intense Chocolate" Makes Me Happy

So thank GOODNESS Lent is over! I have missed baking!!!

Mind you, I have NOT missed EATING this week... I am certainly doing my share of indulging on all the things I fasted from the past few weeks.

This weekend, we had some friends over for dinner, and I wanted to try my hand at a recipe I had done a year ago or so.

It's called Intensely Chocolate Mousse Cake, and it's a recipe I found over on the Kraft website.

I had made this recipe before, as I said.. but this time around, I decided to change up the recipe just a little. For example... instead of just pouring the mousse mixture into my spring form pan... I decided to lay down a chocolate-cookie crust first.

I used some of my un-decorated chocolate butter cookies, but if you don't have those? chocolate graham crackers crushed up would work just as well. Just be sure to mix in some melted butter so it pats down nicely.

Another change I made was to use cocoa powder in preparing my spring form pan. Flour works just as well, but leaves a white residue on the finished product. Take it from me.. if you're making a chocolate cake... use the cocoa powder. it'll look THAT much nicer when you're finished.

I also used my favorite chocolate for baking.. the dark chocolate pound-plus bars from Trader Joe's. if you use YOUR favorite chocolate... stick with about 9 ounces.

I served it up with some nice cold whipped cream, and that was a good pairing, since the title is no lie.. it is a VERY intensely chocolate cake.

just.. don't judge me when I tell you that NEXT time I make this??? I'm totally gonna add chocolate CHUNKS to the mousse filling. huminuh huminuh.. now THAT'LL be intense!