It's the most wonderful time of the year

When Kim of The TomKat Studio asked me to contribute a recipe to her annual gift guide I knew instantly what I wanted to share. I've been making these butter toffee peanuts to accompany a chocolate cake at my day job as pastry chef at Zut! and they have been a huge hit. They make the perfect party favor or hostess gift for the holidays - they're easy to make, they stay fresh for a long time and they are completely addictive. For the recipe (and lots of other amazing goodies), download the 2013 TomKat Holiday Guide.

Best wishes for a peaceful & fun-filled holiday season to all!

Download the printable labels here
The adorable jars are available from the TomKat Studio here.

An Easter collage

We had a lovely Easter brunch...

with bunny scones

and homemade Nutella, lemon curd and strawberry preserves

and easy-peasy morning buns (recipe to come soon)

and royal icing bird nests a la Sprinkle Bakes

and macarons made with Italian meringue (my first time)

and neon bunny cookies in sweet bunny bags

and homemade Cadbury Creme Eggs (reserved for the grown-ups)

and cute cousins all dressed up for an egg hunt.

How about you?

Pinned it, made it: Cadbury Creme Eggs

I've never been a big fan of eating Cadbury Creme Eggs, but they have always fascinated me. How did they get the sugary yolk inside there? Well, it turns out to be pretty easy! When I saw this recipe on Pinterest, I knew I had to give it a try.

The recipe gives two methods of making the eggs - rolling by hand or using a chocolate mold. The later seemed much simpler, so I choose that route. I also piped the "whites" and "yolks" into the chocolate shell rather than rolling them like in the recipe.

The result was quite delicious! Everyone who tried them said the were better than the original and not as cloyingly sweet. Next time, I might make them using bittersweet chocolate to offset the sweetness of the filling even more (and there will definitely be a next time!)

Happy Easter, to all my peeps!

xoxo, Michele

Lollipop, lollipop, oh my little lollipop

 I spotted these little lollipops  sold by Sweet Style in Australia and was charmed by their simplicity and size. I did a little searching and wasn’t able to find them available stateside, so I thought “what the heck, the laundry can wait another day, I’m making lollipops!” There are a lot awesome things about making these yourself – you can control the color, size and most importantly what goes in them. I am not a fan of artificial flavorings, so I used Boyajian natural orange oil that made these taste as good as they look. I added a pinch of Disco Dust to add a little sparkle (fullfilling my New Year’s resolution to be more sparkley).

A few words about working with really hot sugar: Working with sugar is super fun, but can also be a bit dangerous (maybe that’s why I like it!). This recipe is best attempted when you can give it your full attention – no kiddos running underfoot or multitasking on your Iphone. When you get about 10° below the desired temperature, do not take your eyes of the thermometer, because it will go rather fast. Take care not to get touch the very hot sugar – there’s nothing worse than a sugar burn!

 

Handmade Swirl lollipops – yield 12-18 lollipops depending on size.
Recipe adapted from here
2 cups of granulated sugar
1/2 cup of light corn syrup
1/2 cup of water
1/4 tsp. of cream of tartar
½ tsp. of natural flavored oil (or ¾ tsp extract)
¼ tsp of citric acid
2 drops of gel food coloring
1 pinch of Disco Dust (if desired)
White lollipop sticks

1. Add the sugar, corn syrup, water and cream of tartar into a large saucepan. Stir the mixture together until it is well combined, and the sugar is dissolved completely.

2. Insert the candy thermometer into the mixture and cook the mixture until the temperature on the candy thermometer reads 265 degrees F. Do not stir the mixture while it is cooking.
3. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the food color, flavoring, citric acid and disco dust (if using), stir to incorporate.
4. Pour the hot candy mixture onto a sheet pan covered with a Silpat (preferably) or sprayed parchment paper. As the candy cools, gently fold it on itself with a heat proof spatula.
5. When the candy is cool enough to touch, lightly spray your hands with pan spray and pull off a small portion of the candy mixture. Kneed the candy until it is opaque and roll it into a rope.
6. Create the circle swirl shape by coiling the candy rope around itself until you've achieved the desired size.
7. Place the candy swirl onto another Silpat covered sheet pan and press a lollipop stick firmly into the candy. Repeat with remaining candy. If it becomes to hard to work with, microwave a bit at a time for 5 seconds or until pliable.
8. Allow the candy to cool completely, until it is hard and set, then enjoy!

Before and after

It's amazing what a fresh coat of paint and some new hardware can do!

(and a great photo by Sherry Heck)

Pink + Gold + Glittery all over ~ the sweets

As always, collaborating with Becca of Cake. and Sherry Heck is a dream - a very, girly sparkly dream in this case. We shot these photos in my recently renovated office and I've been sweeping up plumes of glitter ever since (just how I like it!).  We shot these with Valentine's Day in mind, but color scheme would be equally lovely for a shower or birthday party. Enjoy the recipes and make something glittery today!

Vanilla Cupcakes with Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Cupcake Ingredients
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/4 cups whole milk

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Bring the eggs, milk & butter to room temperature (don’t skip this step, it’s very important!) In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and pale. Add in the eggs one at a time and mix until combined. Sift (yes you must, sift!) together flour, salt and baking powder together. Stir together vanilla and milk Alternately add dry ingredients and milk to mixing bowl, scraping down after each addition. Start and end with dry ingredients. Fill paper-lined muffin tins with batter 2/3 full. Bake at 350° for 18- 20 minutes.
recipe adapted from Amy Sedaris

Frosting Ingredients
1 lb unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
8 egg whites
1 cup crème friache or sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Seeds from 2 vanilla beans

Directions
Combine sugar & egg whites in mixer bowl and whisk together over simmering water until hot to the touch and all of the sugar has melted and no longer grainy. Transfer bowl to mixer stand and whip on high until fluffy & cool – about 10 minutes. With the mixer on low, add the softened butter 1 tablespoon at a time until incorporated. Add in vanilla, crème fraiche or sour cream, and vanilla beans. Beat until smooth (it may look curdled, but just continue to mix & it will be come together!).



Homemade Gumdrops

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1 cup corn syrup
3/4 cup water
1 box powdered fruit pectin (1.75 oz)
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp citric acid
¼ tsp natural citrus oil
a few drops of gel food coloring

Supplies
Pan spray Candy molds
Sugar for coating
Disco dust (if desired)

Directions
Prepare your molds (you can use chocolate or hard candy molds) by liberally coating them with pan spray. Mix the sugar & corn syrup together in a medium saucepan. Mix water, pectin & baking soda together in another saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Bring to a boil and cook for approximately 8 minutes, until the foam from the baking soda mixture has died down. Pour the baking soda mixture into the sugars and stir constantly for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the citric acid, citrus oil, and food coloring. Working quickly, fill your molds with the hot liquid. If you wait too long, the mixture will begin to gel and is difficult to pour. (Alternatively, you can pour the mixture into a 8” square cake pan and cut out shapes). Let your gum drop set up in the molds for several hours. When they are firm, coat them in sugar (with a pinch of Disco Dust for sparkle if desired). Enjoy!

recipe adapted from Sew Can Do

Truffle Pops
Ingredients
8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
½ cup whipping cream
2 oz Brandy (or other liquor, if desired)
Candy Melts in your color of choice
Oil food coloring (if desired)
Disco dust (if desired)

Directions
Place the chocolate in a heat proof mixing bowl. Bring the cream and brandy to a boil in a small sauce pan. Immediately pour the cream on the chocolate and let it stand for a few minutes. Sir the chocolate with a spatula until smooth. Leave the chocolate at room temperature, stirring occasionally until firm. This can take several hours. Once the chocolate is firm, roll into balls of your desired size. Insert lollipop stick and refrigerate until hard, preferably overnight. Melt the candy melts in a heat proof bowl over a double boiler. If desired, add a few drops of oil based food coloring. Holding your pops by the lollipop stick, dip them into the candy melts and swirl to coat completely. Remove from the chocolate and tap gently to remove excess. Insert into Styrofoam block to dry. When dry, sprinkle with disco dust.

Macarons
Ingredients
125 grams almond powder (ground blanched almonds)
225 grams powdered sugar
100 grams egg whites
25 grams of sugar
pinch of cream of tartar
Gel food coloring if desired

Directions
Separate the egg whites the day before you want to use them and leave them covered at room temperature. Put the almond powder & powdered sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade and pulse until well combined. Whip the egg whites, cream of tartar, sugar and 2 drops of food coloring (if desired) until glossy peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the almond mixture until combined – approximately 50 strokes. Pipe the batter into 1 1/2” diameter circles on a Silpat or parchment lined sheet pan. After piping out the macarons, give the baking sheet a whack on the counter and let them sit for about 30 minutes before baking (this helps develop their “feet”). Bake for approximately 15 minutes at 300°. After they are cooled, pipe center on 1 cookie with buttercream

Happy Holidays everyone!

snowflake sugar cookies for Graham's classmates

I've been busy, busy working and shopping and crafting and baking and candy making and party throwing, but unfortunately can't seem to do all those things and still take interesting photos and blog about it. Oh well, there's always next year...

In case you still have some baking to do, here are my favorite recipes from the season:
1. Homemade peanut butter cups - to D-I-E for! I used milk chocolate and topped off with crushed peanuts and Maldon Salt.
2. Peppermint Bark - I doubled the recipe for a 1/2 sheet pan and added half the oil. Make sure to wrap them it and store in the fridge.
3. Penuche fudge - I tried this recipe with both dark & light sugar and they were both equally as yummy. Make sure to not over cook or it will be crumbly.
4. Gingersnaps - I subbed the cardamon for black pepper and left out the fresh ginger because I didn't have any. I rolled the cookies in raw sugar before baking.
5. English toffee - Using chocolate chips makes this so easy, I prefer it will almonds
6. Mexican wedding cakes (or Russian tea cakes) - my husband's favorite. I added a 1/2 teaspoon of salt because every cookie should have salt.
7. Gingerbread caramels - Perfect!
8. Vanilla Bean marshmallows - I add the seeds from two vanilla beans as well as adding the extract.

I hope your holidays are merry and bright! See you next year...

xoxo,

Gingerbread Decorating

I hosted a gingerbread decorating class yesterday at Zut! and it was such a blast. I purchased fabulous prebuilt houses from Spun Sugar in Berkeley and provided bowls and bowls of festive candy. Each group was given a tool set and bowls and bags of royal icing. To be honest, I didn't have to do much teaching. After a few quick instructions on how to hold a pastry bag, everyone dug in and started creating their candy masterpieces. I was so impressed with the creativity and passion of each group. To give the houses a finishing touch, we dusted them with disco dust that made everything super sparkly. I can hardly wait to do it again next year! Special thanks to the front of the house crew at Zut! for scraping all the royal icing off the tables and cleaning up the sticky mess after we were all done.

Graham's Pumpkin Patch Party - part 1

I know that Halloween is soooo 3 days ago, but I am finally getting around to posting all the pictures from Graham's party. When we visited G&M farms with his preschool class last year, I decided it would be the perfect spot for a party. Their party "rooms" are an amazing deal (only $20 for 2 hours) and hosting it away from home meant I didn't have to clean up or plan any activities. When the kids arrived, they immediately ran off to the straw bale maze, petal cars and giant corn box (like a sand box, but with corn kernels). After a bit, I rounded up the kids to dig in to their "wicked good" boxed lunches that included PB & J, Pirates Booty, apples and juice. It was definitely a little tricky getting kids (especially mine) to eat their lunch when they were surrounded by goodies! For the sweets, I made chocolate + orange cupcakes, baked pumpkin donuts, and Halloween sugar cookies (the bats were my favorite). The orange cotton candy had unfortunately melted before anyone got to taste it, but the swirly lollipops were a hit. With the added energy from the sugar rush, the kids headed out with wagon in tow to pick out to the vast patch to pick their pumpkins. In addition to their pumpkin, the kids took home a muslin favor bag an adorable hand knit finger puppet, a ghost cookie and a cd of Halloween music.  Stay tuned for more pictures of the fun!

Credits:

Cake.:invitations, cd labels, & "wicked good" boxed lunch labels (available for purchase), assisted with styling 

Sherry Heck: photography
Cakewalk Baking: baked goods, concept & event styling
WeeKnit: hand knit finger puppets
G & M Farms: location