Week 8 (Baking) - Raspberry White Chocolate Blossoms

Week 8 of the baking challenge was candy decorations which was a bit of a stumper for me -  not because candy is hard to add to baking because you can pretty much stick candy on the top of any cookie, cupcake, etc., and make it pretty - the challenge for me was, what could I do that was at least somewhat practical and also new or unique. Also I wanted a recipe that would use up some of the ridiculous amount of Valentine's day candy I had in the house from binge shopping the post holiday sales.

I decided to work on a recipe to utilize the raspberry white chocolate kisses we'd purchased but were just too sweet to chow on like other candies. I thought I'd do a play on traditional peanut butter blossoms and make raspberry sugar cookie blossoms instead. Unfortunately, these did not turn out as I had hoped, the problem wasn't the flavor - the taste was interesting and, dare I say, yummy - but the cookies spread out and were flaaaaat so the inserted kiss in the middle wasn't so cute.

The cookies were a basic sugar cookie with a raspberry twist, rolled in a mixture of pink sprinkles and sugar. The flavor and color were perfect, but the presentation was less than stellar. Perhaps I will give these another shot in the future but for now we'll have to let flavor win out over aesthetics.

Raspberry White Chocolate Blossoms
Recipe adapted from hershey's.com candy cane blossoms

• 1/2 c granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 packet raspberry crystal lite
• 1/4 c butter, softened
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tbsp milk 
• 1/8 tsp/pinch baking soda
• 1 cup flour
• Pinch of salt
• Extra granulated sugar for rolling
• Pink sprinkles for rolling (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°
2. Beat the butter, sugar, egg yolk, crystal lite, and vanilla on medium speed until well blended.
3. Stir together the flour, salt, baking soda.
4. Add the flour mixture and stir until completely combined.
   

   

   
   

   
   
5. Add the milk and stir again until fully incorporated.
6. In a small cup/bowl, stir together a small amount of granulated sugar and sprinkles.
7. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and roll in the sugar/sprinkle mix.
8. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
   
   
   
   
9. Repeat with remaining dough, allowing plenty of room between cookies.

Recipes yields approximately 12 cookies.

Week 7 (Baking) - Valentine's Day Treats

Week seven's theme was Valentine's Day and since I am not a lovey dovey Valentine's Day celebrating sort of gal I used this theme to share some love for strangers.

The Setup from one of the happy couples

Seriously, how cute are they?

As I believe I've mentioned in previous posts, I like to send out treats to strangers over on reddit. This month instead of giving out treats through RandomActsofCookies I decided to offer up Valentine's Day care packages to couples with the best/most interesting story. This opened the flood gates and when I thought I'd send out one, maybe two packages, I wound up fighting just to narrow down my selections to three deserving candidates.

My selection included; the most adorable high school couple I have ever seen, a young couple with a baby who's expenses were obviously tied up with thing less frivolous than the Hallmark holiday, and a college student who was down on her luck and solo for the holiday of love.

Each package was a little different based on my whims, but the goodies were as follows:

• Dark Chocolate Espresso Truffles
• Crunchy Peanut Butter Milk Chocolate Truffles
• Cake Batter Truffles
• White Chocolate Covered Pretzels 
• Red Velvet Cookies
• Crunchy Pink Heart Sugar Cookies 

Alone on Valentine's Day? More treats for you!

Dark Chocolate Espresso Truffles 

I've actually posted this recipe once before, for my Halloween 2011 post.  However, since that was when the blog was just starting to get off the ground and few people actually were reading at that time, I'll re-share the recipe here. 

• 8 oz Ghiradelli Intense Dark Espresso Escape
• 1/4 c heacy cream
• 1 tsp coffee powder (use a heaping teaspoon if you really love coffee flavoring, which I do)
• Approx. 1/2 c cocoa powder for rolling the truffles

1. Finely chop the chocolate, either by hand or in a food processor.
2. Combine the chocolate, cream, and coffee powder over a low flame, stirring often. Do not whip/over-stir this, just gently continue to mix as the chocolate melts. 
3. Once the mixture is fully melted and smooth, remove from heat. 
4. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate for 4+ hours, or freeze for 2. 
5. Remove from fridge/freezer, let stand at room temperatire until pliable, 20-40 minutes.
6. Pour cocoa powder into a bowl.
7. Dip hands in cocoa powder.
8. Scoop by generous teaspoon and roll into balls.
9. Roll ball cocoa powder until coated. Set on a baking sheet or flat plate.
10. Repeat for the remaining ganache*.



I forgot to take picture of the truffles,
so here's a pic of one of the happy couples instead. 

11. Refrigerate until ready to use, allow truffles to sit for 15 minutes at room temperature prior to serving.

Yields approximately 20 truffles.

*Ganache is any frosting, filling, etc. created from a mixture of cream and chocolate. 

Crunchy Peanut Butter Milk Chocolate Truffles

• 8 oz milk chocolate
• 1/4 c heavy cream
• Approx. 1 c crunchy peanut butter
• Approx. 1 1/2 c salted peanuts, ground up
• Approx. 1/4 c cocoa powder, for your hands

Notice how the truffles doubles in size?

1. Finely chop the chocolate, either by hand or in a food processor.
2. Combine the chocolate and cream over a low flame, stirring often. Do not whip/over-stir this, just gently continue to mix as the chocolate melts. 
3. Once the mixture is fully melted and smooth, remove from heat. 
4. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate for 4+ hours, or freeze for 2. 
5. Remove from fridge/freezer, let stand at room temperatire until pliable, 20-40 minutes.
6. Pour cocoa powder into a bowl.
7. Place crunchy peanut butter in microwave safe container and cook in 30 seconds intervals until soft and liquidy. Do NOT let the mixture get hot, otherwise the truffles will start melting. Eek!
8. Dip hands in cocoa powder.
9. Scoop by generous teaspoon and roll into balls.
10. Dip the truffle in the melted peanut butter, allow to drip for a few seconds.
11. Place the truffle in the ground up peanuts and roll around until coated. Set on a baking sheet for flat plate. 
12. Repeat for the remaining ganache*.
13. Refrigerate until ready to use, allow truffles to sit for 15 minutes at room temperature prior to serving.

Should yield approximately 20 truffles.

Cake Batter Truffles

Recipe from chef-in-training

Sadly for the time being I cannot access this recipe, the site is listed as fraudulent and my work computer is just not having it. They were delicious and very cute and I hope to rectify this in the near future, but for now I'll have to settle for some pictures.

The "truffles" before coating

Sprinkled and dipped

The delicate inside

White Chocolate Covered Pretzels

You don't really need a recipe for this, right? Well, just in case...

• White Chocolate 
• Pretzels
• Sprinkles

1. Melt the white chocolate. 
2. Dip the pretzels in the white chocolate, allowing to drip for a few seconds. 
3. Place on a grid cooling wrack over paper towels or wax paper.
4. Sprinkle.
5. Allow chocolate to set before removing. Store in an airtight container - if you can resist the urge to eat them right away.

This is the chocolatey sprinkled aftermath of the pretzels.

Red Velvet Cookies
Recipe from food.com

I'm sharing this recipe in hopes that someone else may find a way to tweak it/make it more delicious. These cookies were kind of a bust, at least in my opinion; they managed to be simultaneously dry and moist, and were quite lacking in the flavor department. Oh well, we can't win 'em all.

• 1 box red velvet cake mix
• 1/2 c vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• Approx. 1 c confectioner's sugar

Attractive looking batter, isn't it?

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. Combine the cake mix, vegetable oil, and eggs in a large bowl. Dough will be very thick and heavy.
3. Stir by hand just until combined.
4. Dust hands with confectioner's sugar and pinch off roughly 1" balls from the dough.
5. Roll each ball in the confectioner's sugar.
6. Place on ungreased baking sheet.
7. Repeat for remaining dough.
8. Bake 8-10 minutes. 
9. Remove from oven, allow to rest on cookie sheet around 2 minutes. 
10. Remove from cookie sheet to cooling wrack.
11. Allow to cool to room temperature, and store in an airtight container. 

Crunchy Sugar Cookies 
Recipe from bhg.com

This is a crispy delicious cookie that can be made in any shape using a cookie gun/press.

• 1 1/2 c butter, softened
• 1 c packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract






• 3 1/2 c all purpose flour

1. Preheat the oven to 375°.
2. Beat butter until fluffy.
3. Add in sugar and baking powder, beat until combined. 
4. Beat in egg, vanilla, and almond extract until combined. 
5. Mix in the flour slowly. 
6. Scoop dough into cookie gun with desired shape inserted. 
7. Follow the directions for your cookie gun to make shapes.
8. Bake 7-10 minutes, until a light golden brown.
9. Cool on the pan for 1 minute, then transfer to a cooling wrack to cool completely.
10. Finish with sprinkles or icing. 

In addition to the treats, my besty over at ThunderCrafts donated a handmade card and some spare PartyLite tealight candles to really romance up the care packages. I threw in some red streamers,, $1 heart table clothes, and heart shaped plates and Presto! Valentine's Day in a box.

In my excitement to pack the perfect Valentine's Day date box, I forgot to take pictures of most of the items. Luckily the receivers picked up my slack and sent me adorable pictures of their Valentine's Day festivities.

To see the entire Valentine's Day Album, click here!

Week 3 (Baking) - White Chocolate Cranberry Blondies

Week 3's baking theme was white chocolate. I knew right away I was going to do something with cranberries because I love the combination of these two. I've done white chocolate cranberry cookies in the past, so I was looking for something fresh and new when I stumbled across this recipe from Taste of Home; it sounded simply too scrumptious to pass up.

I've attempted blondies on only one other occasion and the results were less than stellar. However, unlike  my previous attempts, this was easy-peasey and I was more than pleas(ey)ed with the results. These bars are easy to keep out of sight, but it's a futile effort to put them out of your mind.

For the Base

• 3/4 c butter, cubed & melted
• 1 1/2 c packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 c flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Pinch ground cinnamon
• 1/2 c dried cranberries
• 6 oz white chocolate, coarsely chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. Line a 9x13 (or what we call in my house a frog pan, long story...) with tin foil or parchment paper.
   
   
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   I have this amazing springform 9x13 pan and I cannot tell you how happy it makes me. In addition to just being awesome, tt also makes lining the bottom of the pan a breeze. Just smooth the foil across the base, slide on the top, smooth any creases this creates, and lock in place. A-MA-ZING!
   
   
   
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3. Grease sides & lined bottom of pan with cooking spray.
   Set aside while combining ingredients.
4. Combine the melted butter & brown sugar. Allow to cool to room temperature before moving on.
   
   
   
   
   
5. Beat in the eggs & vanilla extract.
6. Combine the "drys" (flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon) and slowly mix into butter batter. - Isn't that fun to say? - butter batter -
   
   
   
   
   
7. Fold in the cranberries & white chocolate chunks. - I always prefer to do these things by hand -
   
   
   
   
   
8. Press dough firmly and evenly into the prepared pan.
   
   
   
   
   
9. Bake for 18-21 minutes - or so the original recipe says - Mine took about 25 minutes, but they were perfect golden brown and not even remotely overcooked.
   
   
   
   
   
10. Allow to cool completely before frosting. You can whip up the frosting while the blondies finish cooling. 

For the Frosting

• 8 oz neufchatel or cream cheese, softened
• 1 c powdered sugar
• 6 oz white chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 c dried cranberries, chopped

1. Melt the white chocolate.
   
   
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   I use the microwave on defrost setting in burst of 30 seconds, but go with whatever frosts your cupcake - Get it...instead of floats your boat, frosts your cupcake...no? Seriously though, take note: frosts your cupcake, it's going to be a thing.
   
   
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2. Whip the neufchatel until fluffy.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Mix in the powdered sugar and stir until fully blended.
4. Add in 1/2 the melted chocolate, stir to combine.
   
   
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   If using a springform, take the blondies out of the pan to frost, if not, you can frost/cut/etc in the pan. I personally hate doing that. Hence, springform.
   
   
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5. Frost the blondies.
   
   
   
   
   
6. Sprinkle the chopped cranberries across the frosting. Press down gently with your hand to secure them in the frosting.
   *Note I said press, not flatten/push/hulk-smash... just gentle pressure please.
   
   
   
7. Drizzle with the remaining white chocolate.
   
   Drizzling makes everything look fancy. Just look at it!
   
   
   
   
   
8. Cut however you see fit.
   I got 24 servings out of mine, the original recipe claims 30. I call BS. ;)
9. Serve & Enjoy.
   
   
   
   
   

Store these bad boys in the refrigerator when not in use. Don't worry about how long they keep, people will scarf these down long before you have to worry about that one. 

Strike A Pose - Model(ing) Chocolate

Short - and sweet - post about my recent decorating workshop adventure.

If the point hasn't been made abundantly clear yet, I have a love affair with all things cake.  I get my passion for the kitchen from my mother, and her mother before her, etc. My ever patient mom put up with many years of me doing unspeakably ugly things to cakes. Like dying them green - which turns pukey brown in the oven - or "baking" in the microwave. A few years ago my mom, my brother's girlfriend, my bestie, and I, took a cake decorating class together at Hobby Lobby which is what sparked my career as a part time cake decorating instructor. Being a bit of a Wilton Brands fangirl, I was more than pleased to discover a workshop starting in early 2012 for modeling chocolate. When it came time for holiday gift buying it was a no brainer to purchase a slot for my mom, and one for myself to keep her company. Couldn't have her getting lonely. ;)

The finished "cake."

Fast-forward to last weekend and we found ourselves heavily immersed in white chocolate "dough." The class was more than a little chaotic - as it turns out this was the first ever run through - so timing was off, the instructor was all over the place, and the chocolate was starting to dry out. No matter, it was a lot of fun and we learned some fun new techniques in the process. 

Sadly I forgot my camera at home so I wasn't able to take scene by scenes as we crafted the different blossoms, but luckily our display cakes made it home in one piece and we were able to snap some pictures then.

Oriental Lily.

In addition to learning the "recipe" for modeling chocolate, we also learned to make:

• Loopy bows
• Tie Bows
• Cymbidiums
• Phalaenopsis (Moth) Orchids
• Oriental Lillies
• Calla Lillies
• American Roses
• Leaves
• Pressed Pearl Strands

American Rose

Some of the pieces were prettier than others, but that's par for the course when learning a new medium. I had a  particularly difficult time because I come from a background in gum paste, which appears to be a similar medium, but is quite different in practice. I kept thinning my petals too much, which resulted  in saggage. Sad droopy flowers needed to be remade once or twice. I am NOT a fun person to be around when I get frustrated with myself. Apologies were owed to my poor mother for my dark mood while making the stamen of the (stupid f***ing) moth orchid. In the end I sorted it out by agreeing that I was not going to reach perfection on it that day, and sticking that flower where I didn't have to look at it. You know, the way an rational adult would handle the situation.

Cymbidium

Despite the misgivings we had from all the little snags, I am in love with modeling chocolate and can't wait for an excuse to work on a cake project with this fun new grown up Play D'oh.  I had a nice day, and (I hope) my mom did too.