Sponge Toffee Candy

This recipe is for a special childhood treat that is like the inside of a Cadbury's Crunchie candy bar. [I wonder if those only sold in Canada?] It is light as air and tinged with honey flavor. Dipped in chocolate or plain, this was yummy as well as fun to make. Words of caution: Make sure you are strong enough to lift the pot and its contents. I used a heavy dutch oven to make this and when it came time to dump it into the pan, I found myself struggling with the pot - filled with scorching hot sugar - because it was so heavy. Thankfully, I manoevered it without any injury, but next time I would definitely use a second pair of hands to help with this step.

Sponge Toffee Candy or Seafoam Candy1 1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup corn syrup
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup water
2 teaspoons baking soda, finely sifted
chocolate, for coating (optional)

1. In a saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup, honey, and water, and using a wooden spoon, stir constantly over low heat until the sugar is fully dissolved.

2. Put candy thermometer into the mixture to monitor temperature, increase the heat and boil mixture to exactly 270 degrees F (132C).

3. Reduce heat to as low as possible and maintain the temperature 270F for exactly 15 minutes.

4. It is very important that the temperature of the mixture does not fluctuate; if the temperature begins to rise, remove the pan from heat occasionally to reduce the heat.

5. After the temperature has been maintained for 15 minutes, remove the pan from heat, take out the thermometer, and allow the bubbles to subside.

6. Using a wooden spoon, quickly stir in finely sifted baking soda.

7. Immediately and quickly pour the mixture into a large oiled baking dish.

8. (Please note, important: the pouring step requires strength and you'll be handling extremely hot liquids; if you're not strong and agile enough you might want to leave that step to a strong and able assistant.) When candy has completely cooled, remove from pan and break into pieces and dip into chocolate if desired.

Peanut Butter Pretzel Truffles

I am so sorry I haven't updated for almost a month! Life has been going way too fast for me. It's MAY already! Exactly 7 months until the wedding and I feel like there is so much stuff left to do. Mainly the details like the menu and the invitations and centerpieces and flowers. Just the kinds of things I do NOT like doing. I'm more of a big picture kind of girl. When it comes down to the details I'm just glad there are people like my sister and my future mother in law to help me out :)



I have not even been able to do much baking lately. The closest I got was making these no-bake peanut butter pretzel truffles. Much like cake balls, you just crush the pretzels, mix with peanut butter, shape into balls and cover with chocolate. mmm!!! Maybe I could make a (cuter) version of these for the wedding! Then again, witih all the peanut allergies I might want to stay away from nuts, lol.

We are going to do an early afternoon ceremony with an afternoon champagne and hors d'oeuvres reception immediately after. Anyone have any ideas for easy foods we could serve? We are going to do a dessert table (of course!). I just hope I have enough time to do the baking without getting too stressed out close to the wedding date.

Peanut Butter-Pretzel Truffles
Makes 2 dozen

1 1/2 cups pretzel pieces
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
Pinch of salt
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 cup milk or semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening

1. Put the pretzel pieces into a resealable plastic bag and crush into very small bits (a rolling pin works great for this or a food processor).

2. In a small bowl, combine the peanut butter, butter, brown sugar and salt. Stir until all of the ingredients are completely blended and smooth. Add the pretzel bits to the peanut butter mixture and mix thoroughly. Add the powdered sugar and mix until completely combined.

3. Line a small baking sheet with wax paper. Using a small cookie scoop, or about 2 teaspoons worth of peanut butter mixture, gently shape into a ball with your fingertips. Place the ball on the wax paper-lined cookie sheet and repeat with the remaining peanut butter mixture. Place the baking sheet into the refrigerator and chill for at least 30 minutes.

4. When ready to dip the truffles, microwave the chocolate chips and vegetable shortening together in a small bowl at 50% power in 30-second increments, stirring after each, until completely melted and smooth.

5. Working one at a time, dip one peanut butter-pretzel ball into the melted chocolate and use a fork to roll it around, ensuring that it is completely coated with chocolate. Let any extra chocolate drip off and place back on the wax paper-lined sheet. Repeat with all of the peanut butter-pretzel balls.

6. Return the baking sheet to the refrigerator and again chill for at least 30 minutes. Garnish with a drizzle of melted chocolate, if desired. Store airtight in the refrigerator.

Copycat Almond Roca

It was Christmas Eve and my boyfriend and I we were in Fred Meyer picking up some stuff to make dinner when we decided to make some Almond Roca. He usually makes it with his mom, so he called her up and got the super easy recipe, picked up the ingredients and off we went. Note: This is his first time cooking for me and it was delicious!

I have made toffee before and have vivid memories of it sticking to the pan. I was very skeptical when he said we don't have to grease the pan, but he was right! The almonds are used to line the pan and the toffee gets poured over top of the almonds. When it comes time to break into pieces and serve, it peels right off the pan.



Copycat Almond Roca
Makes 24 - 1" Pieces

1 cup butter
1 cups sugar
3 tablespoons water
1 cup sliced almonds
1 – 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread almonds out in an even layer in a rimmed baking sheet. You do not need to grease the pan. The almonds should cover the pan fully. Toast in preheated oven until golden brown. Watch carefully as they can burn quickly.

2. Over Medium heat, melt butter in a large pot. Add water and sugar to pot and cook until the mixture becomes the color of a brown paper bag (approximately 290 degrees). Stir constantly with a wooden spoon (mixture will rise and bubble). Remove from heat and pour evenly over toasted almonds. You will not be able to cover all the almonds but that’s OK as the uncovered almonds will be crumbled on top of the chocolate layer later.

3. Let the toffee set for just a few minutes, then sprinkle the chocolate chips on top and let them melt from the heat of the toffee. Once softened, use a rubber spatula to spread out the melted chocolate chips to form an even layer on top of the toffee.

4. Around the edges of the toffee there will be almonds that are not covered in toffee. Take these and crumble them on top of the chocolate while it is still warm. Set aside and allow candy to cool completely and chocolate to harden before breaking apart and serving.

Oreo Truffle Bites

We have just over 2 weeks to go until Christmas! This weekend coming up is the last shopping weekend. I am starting to panic about all the stuff I still have to do. I have not baked a single Christmas cookie this year, nor have we done a gingerbread house. I feel guilty about slacking - never before have I left it to this late - but somehow this year feels busier than before.

It's a good thing these adorable Oreo bites are so simple and non-time-consuming. I love how cute they are too. I made them with my 4-year old. He had a blast crushing the cookies with a rolling pin in a Zip-lock bag. You can create a million different varieties by using different cookies instead of Oreos. I also like Nutter Butters! For a more festive touch of color you could use colored melting wafers for dipping instead of chocolate.

Oreo Truffle Bites
Makes approximately 42

1 (16 ounce) pkg Oreo Cookies
1 (8 oz.) brick cream cheese, softened
8 oz semisweet chocolate, melted
8 oz white chocolate or white almond bark, melted
Sprinkles, Nuts, Etc. (for decorating)

1. Remove 9 of the cookies from the package. You will not need these. Crush remaining 36 cookies to fine crumbs (in food processor or in a ziplock bag with a rolling pin). Place crumbs in medium bowl. Add cream cheese; mix until well blended. Roll cookie mixture into 42 balls, about 1" in diameter.

2. Dip balls in melted chocolate; place on wax paper-covered baking sheet. Do some in white and some in the dark chocolate. Decorate as you wish, with sprinkles or roll in chopped nuts or drizzled with the opposite chocolate color. Any leftover chocolate can be stored at room temperature for another use.

3. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. Store covered in refrigerator.

Candy Bar Bars

With their crispy, buttery, sweet crust, these are more like candy than like cookies. They remind me of Twix bars - gooey caramel on top of a cookie base covered in chocolate. Using a cake mix for the base made the process go really quickly while creating a nice, sturdy base for all that caramel and chocolate to rest on. The recipe comes from one of my favorite books called Bars and Squares: More than 200 Recipes.

Just a little heads up: When I went to remove these from the pan, my heart just about stopped. I thought they were totally and completely stuck to the pan and I would be left with a pile of cookie crumbs rather than cookie bars. There was no way I could have cut these in the pan. I ended up scoring the top as deeply as I could then breaking the bars along the scored lines. I often skip the step of lining my pans with parchment, but for these bars I definitely, definitely recommend lining your pan.

Candy Bar Bars
9 x 13 inch pan | adapted from Jill Snider

1 pkg white or yellow cake mix (18.25 oz)
3/4 cup butter, melted

14 oz. soft caramels, unwrapped (approx 60 pc)
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup butter
1 2/3 cup confectioner's sugar
1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and line VERY WELL a 9 x 13 inch pan. Do not skip this step!
2. Combine cake mix with melted butter. Press into prepared pan and bake for 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden.
3. While crust is baking, melt the soft caramels, milk and butter together, stirring frequently. Stir in powdered sugar and walnuts. Spread evenly over hot crust and bake for 5-10 minutes.
4. Immediately sprinkle with chocolate chips. Let it sit for a few minutes to soften the chips then spread the chocolate out evenly over the bars with an offset spatula. Score them deeply to make it easier to break into pieces once it is fully cool (several hours).

Saltine Toffee Cookies

I am in love with these cookies. Kinda like Heath Bars. You have probably heard of them before or made them in home ec class. They are the easiest thing in the world to make. The effort is minimal and the results are delicious. The soda cracker base gives a light, airy texture and their slight saltiness plays off the sweetness of the chocolate and caramel. The crackers absorb the caramel and creates a delightfully flaky, sticky, chewy cookie. Then they are covered in melted chocolate and chopped nuts.

This recipe is easily doubled, but if I were you, I would quadruple it because they are really addictive! I like to make a ton of them at once and store them airtight in a glass jar. They look pretty, keep for a long time and are always a nice treat to have on hand or to take to potlucks.

Saltine Toffee Cookies

4 dozen

4 ounces lightly salted or unsalted saltine crackers
1 cup butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped pecans, walnuts or almonds

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with a silicone liner or parchment paper. Place a single layer of saltine crackers on the cookie sheet.

2. In a saucepan, combine sugar and butter. Bring to a boil and boil for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and pour evenly over crackers. Bake 5-6 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the chocolate chips. Let sit for 5 minutes to soften chocolate. Spread the melted chips on the crackers and top with chopped pecans.

3. Cool completely (a few hours) and break into pieces to serve.

Heath Bar-Inspired English Toffee

Make your own English Toffee Bits (like Heath or Skor bars) for a fraction of the cost! Plus, it's fun to take out a little of your energy by pounding the toffee to little pieces in a heavy duty zipper-lock bag. Don't let the words "candy thermometer" scare you like they used to scare me. Just be watchful that it doesn't burn and take it off the heat when it gets near the right color as the candy will keep cooking from the residual heat.

I don't have a picture of the toffee crushed up into bits. I kinda forgot to do that, but you get the idea. You can either put the chocolate on or leave ir off. I like the chocolate on for snacking but if I'm just using the toffee in baking then I leave it off.



Homemade Toffee Bits
Makes 1 tray

1 cup sugar
1 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup water

1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

1. Heat sugar, butter and water to boiling in heavy 2-quart saucepan, stirring constantly; reduce heat to medium. Cook about 13 minutes, stirring frequently, to 300 degrees F on candy thermometer or until small amount of mixture dropped into cup of very cold water separates into hard, brittle threads. (Watch carefully so mixture does not burn.)

2. Immediately pour toffee onto ungreased large cookie sheet. Quickly spread mixture to 1/4" thick. Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips on top if using. Let stand to soften then spread out evenly over the surface with an offset spatula.

3. Let stand until fully set and firm (overnight is best).

For baking bits: Break into pieces the place in a sturdy plastic bag and pound with rolling pin/meat tenderizing mallot/other heavy object until you have a toffee bits. Store in airtight container or use as you would use storebought ones.

DB: Piece Montée, deconstructed

The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.

I must apologize... I am under a ton of stress right now so I didn't make this the real Daring Baker's way. I did cream puffs and a separate batch of toffee that I crumbled into bits to sprinkle on top of the whipped cream/ice cream to serve.

My stress is due to a HUGE due date coming up - the final report for my Accounting designation. If I pass this (last year's pass rate was 70%), I will be done done done with school. I will be a full fledged accountant!

I really enjoyed making the choux pastry and wondered why I don't make it more often! It's one of those little things that brings a smile to my face as the choux pastry "magically" rises in the oven into a light, fluffy, hollow pouf that is ready to be filled with whatever you can dream up. I've seen them used in savory applications although I think being the sugar-addict I am, I'll stick to sweet fillings.

I filled these with a simple vanilla pastry cream and made a separate batch of toffee brittle (instead of the hard caramel sauce). I think I'm going to fill the extra puffs with vanilla ice cream and freeze them for anytime-treats. I used Martha Stewart's recipes for both the pastry and pastry cream.

Check out the DB blogroll for real awesome croquembouches, unlike my cheater version.

Choux Pastry
Makes 2 dozen | Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
4 large eggs, plus 1 large egg white if needed

1. Bring butter, sugar, salt, and 1 cup water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Using a wooden spoon, quickly stir in flour. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture pulls away from sides and a film forms on bottom of pan, about 3 minutes.

2. Transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until slightly cooled, about 1 minute. Raise speed to medium; add whole eggs, 1 at a time, until a soft peak forms when batter is touched with your finger. If peak does not form, lightly beat remaining egg white, and mix it into batter a little at a time until it does. Use immediately.

3. Using a large plain piping tip, pipe 2" circles of pastry onto parchment paper or silicone-lined baking sheet. They don't need to be spaced very far apart as they don't spread, they just puff! Freeze for at least 30 minutes or once frozen, transfer to an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 weeks. Bake from frozen at 375 degrees F for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Store air tight at room temperature. You can also freeze these after they are baked and then to serve later, bring to room temperature and re-crisp in the oven for a few minutes.

4. Slice them in half and fill with sweetened whipped cream or pastry cream (recipe follows).

Pastry Cream
Makes 1 1/2 cups | Martha Stewart's Cupcakes

4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
Pinch of salt
2 cups milk
1 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Whisk egg yolks until smooth in a large bowl. Combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan, and heat over medium. Stirring constantly, gradually add milk in a slow, steady stream, and cook until mixture thickens and begins to bubble, about 5 minutes.

2. Whisking constantly, slowly pour one third of the milk mixture into egg yolks (this step is called tempering, which keeps the yolks from curdling). Pour mixture into remaining milk mixture in saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture comes to a full boil and is thick enough to hold its shape when lifted with a spoon, 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.

3. Strain mixture through a fine sieve into a heatproof bowl. Cover with parchment paper or plastic wrap, pressing it directly on surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled and firm, at least 2 hours (or up to 2 days).

Toffee Recipe from Recipezaar

Nutty Chocolate Crunch Candy Bars

These are salty, sweet, chocolaty and crunchy all at once. They remind me of a cross between a nut brittle and a fudge, even if that sounds kinda difficult to picture. Cut them in small pieces - they're rich!!!

Nutty Chocolate Crunch Candy Bars
9 x 13" pan | Adapted from Bars and Squares

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp corn syrup
2 cups semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped salted mixed nuts

1/4 cup slivered almonds, for sprinkling

1. Line a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with greased foil or a silicone baking mat. Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the prepared pan.

2. In a heavy bottomed saucepan melt the butter, sugar and corn syrup over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Turn up heat a little bit, watching carefully and stirring occasionally. When mixture begins to brown add in the chopped nuts. Continue heating until mixture turns a deep golden brown color - don't burn it!

3. Immediately remove from heat and pour over chocolate chips in pan. With a rubber spatula smooth out to desired thickness (I did mine 1/3"). Sprinkle immediately with slivered almonds, pressing into candy so they stick. Cool fully before scoring and cutting bars. You can cheat here and put them in the fridge to speed up the process if you like.

Slow Cooker Dulce de Leche

I am now officially totally infatuated with my slow cooker. Not because it helps me get dinner on the table. No ma'am. The newest reason my crockpot rocks my world is because for virtually no effort it transforms sweetened condensed milk into a decadent foolproof dulce de leche. 8 hours of crock pot magic and voilà - heaven in a can. This method makes it so there are no more worries about popping pressurized cans or watching the stove for hours and hours. The first time I made this I had no idea what to expect when I opened up the can. To put it mildly, I was nothing short of overjoyed. To little ole me, it was like magic!

Now my only problem is deciding what to use my dulce de leche for - so many options!!! If you make this and remember, please rate it here at Dulce de Leche on Recipezaar.

Slow Cooker Dulce de Leche

1 can sweetened condensed milk, unopened
Water

1. Wash and remove the labels from your cans of sweetened condensed milk. Make sure the cans are undented and unopened.
2. Stand your cans up in the slow cooker and pour water in to cover cans fully.
3. Cook on low for at least 8 hours (I've gone up to 12 hours once when I forgot about the cans, results were still good). You could probably do this on high for 4-5 hours but I haven't tried it.
4. Allow to cool fully before opening the can. Store in refrigerator.
5. If you open the can and find that it's not golden enough (highly unlikely), scoop out contents into a saucepan and simmer on low until desired color.

Almond Roca and 2010 Cooking Resolutions

Happy New Year!!! Welcome to 2010!!!

Can you believe it has been 1 whole decade since the 1999 to 2000 Y2K when we were worried about our computers blowing up and the world stopping?

I wanted to make a fancy shmancy cake for the new year but there was just such an abundance of food and dessert around already from the holidays that it would have been redundant. Plus, it doesn't help that our "holiday tradition" is to go shopping for discount Christmas chocolates the day after Christmas (...and Halloween, and Easter, and Valentine's day)!

This toffee is so easy and so addictive. It comes together quickly but needs to set and cool for several hours, so plan ahead. With under 10 ingredients, if you can boil water, you can surely make this. A candy thermometer is nice to have but not essential for this tecipe. However, you need a heavy vessel such as a cast iron skillet or a small/med dutch oven to better regulate the heat. A lightweight pot will scorch the sugar and you'll have less control over it.



This is my first post of the year so I'm going to outline some of my 2010 Baking Resolutions. In 2009 I conquered my fear of yeast and I expanded my horizons to include some cooking real food (as opposed to just baking & sweets). I also started getting purchase requests from co-workers and acquaintances for my baking! My cookbook collection has grown significsntly and I finally organized my printed and photocopied recipes into a 3" binder with dividers - one baking type.

1) Make Candy. I have only ever really made the almond roca toffee candy like the one in this post, which turned out great, but somehow the idea of candy making is still daunting. I'm going to challenge this fear and make use of my new Taylor heavy duty candy thermometer.

2) Laminated Doughs. I have never worked with croissant dough before but I have made puff pastry. My goal is to make a chocolate croissant or sticky buns from croissant dough.

3) Fondant and Cake Decorating. I have never worked with fondant before. Fondant covered cakes look so pretty and professional - I would love to be able to turn out something like that from my kitchen!

4) Use my dehydrator more. Ever since I received my dehydrator in July I have only used it twice. When summer hits this year I am determined to dry strawberries, cherries, peaches and blueberries so that I can take advantage of these summer fruits year-round.

5) Work my way through my cookbooks before buying more. I could devote a whole room to cook books and if I had the space, I probably would! Me and bookstores are like a moth to a flame. I can't help myself from gravitating towards the cookbooks!



Almond Roca
9 x 13 inch pan

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp water
1 tsp corn syrup

1 cup chopped almonds
1 cup bittersweet chocolate, chopped (or chocolate chips)

1. Have all ingredients ready before you begin. Line a 9x13 inch pan with parchment or silicone mat or lightly butter ir. Do not use foil or waxed paper because it sticks and is a bitch to peel off.

2. Melt butter in a cast iron/heavy pot. I use my 10" cast iron skillet or dutch oven. A heavy pot is key for heat regulation so it doesn't scorch.

3. Add sugar, water and corn syrup to melted butter on medium heat. Slowly bring mixture to 290-300 degrees F or until it darkens to a dark amber, stirring occasionally. Immediately remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup chopped almonds. Spread not mixture into pan and immediately sprinkle chocolate on top. Let stand for a few minutes before smoothing out evenly with a metal spatula. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup almonds over melted chocolate. Allow to cool fully before breaking into pieces.

Creamy Caramel Corn

Do you ever have something you want to make or a recipe that you want to try but for some reason you keep putting it off? That's how I felt about making caramel corn. I expected it to be time consuming, messy and to have a burned sugary mess on my hands. None of the above happened and it really couldn't be easier! The hands-on time is minimal, the clean-up was a cinch. The hardest part is waiting for it to bake in the oven.

All you do is pop your corn (I used my air-pop popcorn maker but you could use microwave popcorn or make it the stovetop way. My son had never seen popcorn being popped before. He was so excited as the little kernels rattled and swirled around the air popper then all of a sudden reached their popping temperature and all began exploding into puffy pieces of joy (in the eyes of an almost-3 year old). It was priceless and one of those unexpected yet utterly rewarding mother-child bonding experiences. Working full time means that I only see Zach 2-3 hours/day from Monday to Friday - between when I pick him up from daycare and before he goes bed. I miss the year of maternity leave I had where we got to connect with other parents at mom-baby events and do swimming lessons, spend a day at the park, etc.

Ok, back to the corn. :)
After your corn is popped it takes literally 5 minutes of boiling the caramel on the stove. Then you dump it over your popcorn, stir it, put it in the oven. It's so easy, cheap and so much better than storebought. Looking back now, it seems silly that I ever paid for caramel corn. Let alone the $10 they charge for a medium bag at Kernels Popcorn at the mall.

The best part about making your own is that you can CUSTOMIZE!!! This first batch I made was plain but you can bet that next time I am going to add pecans or honey roasted peanuts. Since I love my sweets I might also opt for a higher caramel to corn ratio, maybe doubling the caramel recipe. Seriously, if you like caramel corn, try this.



Caramel Corn
Makes 5 Quarts | adapted from Paula Deen

1 cup butter
2 cups light brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup light or golden corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
5 quarts popped popcorn (1/2 cup unpopped kernels)
1-2 cups nuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Set out 2 large roasting pans (or lasagna pans). Pick through the popcorn to remove any unpopped kernels. Place popcorn and nuts (optional) in a very large bowl.

2. Over medium heat, combine first 4 ingredients and boil for 5 minutes, stirring once or twice. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla. Pour over popped corn and stir to coat well. Divide the popcorn between the 2 roasting pans. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
**Tip**: Leave one pan in the oven while you stir the other so it doesn't cool and harden. Bake for longer if you like crisper popcorn.

3. Remove from oven to cool, breaking the popcorn apart when it is cool. Store airtight.

Chocolate Cake with Caramelized Sugar Spirals

This cake was baked for an old high school friend's birthday. I have not kept in touch with anybody from high school but somehow we all ended up getting together for this friend's birthday. It was a total catch-up-fest and a little awkward at first. "So... how have the last 7 years of your life been?"... It's almost like talking to strangers! It was fun though and hope not to let another 7 years go by before we meet again.

There were only 5 girls at the gettogether but the whole cake disappeared. Whatever wasn't finished was quickly divided up upon request so they could take it home. I love the feeling of a baking success and bringing home an empty plate. Here is the link to Anna Olson's Ultimate Chocolate Cake recipe which I frosted using my own recipe submission for Copycat Duncan Hines Frosting to allrecipes.com.

The most fun part of the decorating was making the swirly caramelized sugar spirals for decorating.

Caramelized Sugar Shapes

1. Heat 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 1 tsp water and 1 tsp light corn syrup in heavy pot over medium heat. Do not stir, just swirl pot around occasionally.
2. Bring temperature up to 295-310 degrees F (hard ball stage). Watch the thermometer closely as this can burn quickly if unattended. Mixture should be amber colored.
3. Immediately drizzle into desired shapes onto greased baking sheet. [I used a pointy grapefruit spoon to drizzle with). Let stand until set. Carefully remove from baking sheet. Can be stored airtight for a few weeks.

DB: Mallows

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

This is my first Daring Bakers challenge and I was super excited about making these. Lately I have had so little time to bake that I was glad to see that these fit in nicely with my schedule as they can be done in steps spread out over a period of time. I didn't make my own marshmallows either. Hmm... I guess that doesn't make me a very good "daring baker", eh? However, I did make my own caramels and I put a little dollop between the marshmallow and the cookie, although you can't tell from the pix. I topped each with an almond sliver to pretty them up.

I wonder if anyone else experienced this, but I think the recipe calls for too much oil in the glaze. Mine never set up properly and they had to be served cold, directly from the fridge or else the chocolate dripped off. Nobody complained, but next time I would only use 1 tsp or so of oil in the glaze, so I changed the recipe included here to reflect that. The cookie base worked really well with the Mallows but on their own, they aren't very tasty.

Mallows (Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies)
Adapted from Gale Gand, Food Network | Makes 3 dozen

• 3 cups (375grams/13.23oz) all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (112.5grams/3.97oz) white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter
• 3 eggs, whisked together
• Homemade marshmallows***, recipe follows
• Chocolate glaze, recipe follows

1. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients. On low speed, add the butter and mix until sandy. Add the eggs and mix until combine. Form the dough into a disk, wrap with clingfilm or parchment and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
2. When ready to bake, grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a silicon mat. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, on a lightly floured surface. Use a 1 1/2 inches cookie cutter to cut out small rounds of dough. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.
3. Pipe a “kiss” of marshmallow onto each cookie. Let set at room temperature for 2 hours.
4. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicone mat. One at a time, gently drop the marshmallow-topped cookies into the hot chocolate glaze. Lift out with a fork and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl. Place on the prepared pan and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm, about 1 to 2 hours.

***Note: if you don’t want to make your own marshmallows, you can cut a large marshmallow in half and place on the cookie base. Heat in a preheated 350-degree oven to slump the marshmallow slightly, it will expand and brown a little. Let cool, then proceed with the chocolate dipping.

Homemade marshmallows:

• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 3/4 cup (168.76 grams/5.95oz) sugar
• 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 2 egg whites , room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In a saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage, or 235 degrees on a candy thermometer.
2. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve.
3. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix.
4. Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites.
5. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff.
6. Transfer to a pastry bag.

Chocolate glaze:

• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 1 tsp vegetable oil

Melt the 2 ingredients together in the top of a double boiler or a bowl set over barely simmering water.

Ice-Cream Cake

I'm a total daddy's girl. My dad is awesome. He's a quiet, soft-spoken guy who will do anything for his family. While my mom and I go head to head and battle it out, my dad and I rarely fight. To me, fighting with him would be like kicking a puppy because he's such a nice guy. It's funny how Mother's day seems like a much bigger deal than Father's day. I would guess that people probably spend more on their moms than on their dads, maybe because dads are more easygoing. I know my mother would get really upset if Ii don't make the day feel special enough for her, but my dad is just happy to go out for dinner as a family and have some cake.

For Father's Day I made a heart shaped ice-cream cake. The base is made out of chocolate chip cookie. The layers are: Rolo ice cream, mini Rolo candy pieces, a thin layer of vanilla ice cream followed by another layer of Rolo ice cream.The whole thing was so easy to throw together. The only thing I would change next time is to make a brownie crust or an Oreo cookie crumb crust because the chocolate chip cookie was a little difficult to cut through after being frozen.

I also made these super-cute sugar spirals. They are similar to spun sugar but less messy and easier to work with and keep.

Caramel Sugar Decorations

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Directions:

1. Dissolve sugar in water. Bring to a boil. Stir in cream of tartar. Brush side of pot with cold water occasionally to clean sugar crystals from building up. Continue to heat sugar to 312 degrees F or to desired caramel stage. Immediately plunge bottom of pot in ice water to stop the cooking.

2. Decorations are made by drizzling caramel sugar onto parchment paper in a decorative fashion. Let cool. Reserve. Spun sugar is made by drizzling sugar with a fork over a wooden spoon handle.