Homemade Conversation Hearts

My favorite Valentine's candy is hands down Conversation Hearts. My favorite brand being Brach's, but in a pinch Necco's Sweethearts will do. When my husband brought home my first box of Necco's, of this Valentine's season, I wondered if it was possible to make them myself. The answer came with a quick google of "homemade conversation hearts". There were a ton of posts with the same conversation heart recipe, so apparently that was the one I was going to use. Although the recipe was extremely easy, the process turned out to be time consuming. Maybe it was because I made 2 batches, but I started around 9:00am and finished at 4:30pm, with only periodic breaks of laying on the floor to relieve my aching back. (Literally.)

After 24 hours of air drying, the hearts were ready for their conversations. This was the fun part and were my pessimism can really be admired. Go ahead, analyze me, but it was so much easier to come up with snotty conversations than sweet. A trait that rubbed off on my daughter, because she too excelled with the negative when helping me write the messages. The results were amazing, I had about 400 hearts, in 8 different flavors that tasted just like Necco's Sweethearts. (Maybe next year I will be able to figure out Brach's secret.)

Conversation Hearts
from about.com

1 packet gelatin
1/2 cup water
2 tsp corn syrup
2 lbs powdered sugar + a few cups for kneading
flavor oils
food color
heart cookie cutters
food markers (found at Michaels or Cake supply stores)

Mix corn syrup, water, and gelatin in a microwave safe bowl, stir until the gelatin is well distributed. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir well.
Pour into a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
Adding 1 cup of sugar, turn mixer on low and mix until incorporated.  Continue to add the sugar one cup at a time, mixing thoroughly in between additions, until all two pounds are added. Stopping the mixer periodically and scraping the sides of the bowl. It will eventually transform from a liquid into a stiff dough. (I promises it will thicken.)

Transfer the dough to a work surface GENEROUSLY dusted with powdered sugar. Dust the top of the dough with powdered sugar and begin to knead like bread. Continue to add powdered sugar as needed to prevent dough from sticking to work surface and hands.(It took me a lot of extra powdered sugar.) Knead until the dough is satiny.

Note: Really think of your flavors and colors before you start, strawberry, bubblegum, cherry are all pink, so really think of what shades you will use to tell them apart when you are done.

Divide the dough by the number of colors/flavors, wrapping all but one ball with plastic wrap and set aside. Using one of the balls of dough, add food coloring and 2 cap-fulls of flavor oil. Fold the dough over and knead as before, until the color is uniform. Wrap in plastic wrap and continue with the rest of the balls of dough.

Dust work surface and rolling pin with powdered sugar. Roll dough out to desired thickness. Cut out with cookie cutters and transfer to a parchment lined cookie sheet. The dough can be a little tricky to get out of the cutter, I found a magic trick of tapping the cutter on each side, upside down, and then tap it out the bottom. Re-roll scraps and continue cutting out hearts. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

Allow to air dry for 24-48 hours before you write on them. Do not cheat, the moisture in the candy will cause the ink to run if they don't dry completely. Also dust off any remaining powdered sugar because it too will make the writing bleed.

Once they have dried use an edible marker to write your sweet or bitter messages. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

C U LATER :)

Chocolate Dipped Strawberry......Rice Krispie Treats

I stopped eating strawberries in high school when I read something about mold growing around the seeds. I will however eat strawberry flavored food and even strawberry jelly, but never jam, its too similar to strawberries, with chunks and seeds. Yuck! ("Jam tomorrow jam yesterday but never ever jam today" - Carol Channing, sorry I had too.) I wanted to come up with an alternative to chocolate dipped strawberries for Valentine's Day, and this is what I came up with at 12am, Strawberry Rice Krispie Treats shaped like strawberries then dipped in chocolate.
I found a few different options for making Strawberry Rice Krispie Treats: strawberry marshmallows, Jello, fruit puree, or jelly. I have tried using all Jello before, and it's pretty gross. I also have tried fruit puree and so far it has been the best, but it's hard to find and expensive. (Whole Foods carries it for around $10) This time I used a combination of jelly plus a little Jello, for a stronger strawberry flavor. Luckily, for the sake of my sanity, they turned out just as I had imagined, although I would use the strawberry puree recipe next time.(I will put the recipe at the bottom of this post.) I love them ♥

Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Rice Krispie Treats
makes 14 strawberries

20 large marshmallows
3 cups Rice Krispie cereal
2 Tbs butter
1/2 cup strawberry jelly
2 tsp strawberry Jello
red food coloring
14 green gum drops
dipping chocolate (recipe follows)
ice cube tray

Spray ice cube tray with non stick spray.
In a large pan melt butter, marshmallows, jelly and Jello over low heat. Stirring until melted.
Remove from heat, stir in a few drops of red food coloring. Add the Rice Krispie cereal. Stir until well coated.

Drop spoonfuls of cereal into greased ice cube trays, pressing firmly. Overfill "cups" making the tops rounded.

The stems. Using only the green gum drops, softly flatten with a spatula or dough scraper to about the size of a nickle. (Be careful not to smash too much, it will cause the gumdrop to stick to the work surface.) Using a sharp knife, cut out small pie shaped piece. Rotate to the opposite side of the gum drop and make another pie shape cut, continue around the gum drop.

Using a butter knife carefully remove the Rice Krispie Treats from the ice cube tray. Finish shaping with your hands, rounding the edges.

Now it's time for dipping! After struggling with tempering in the past, I decided to try a new "cheaters" way of covering things in chocolate. It may be cheating but it worked great.

Dipping Chocolate

8 oz chocolate
2 Tbs shortening

Place the chocolate and shortening in a microwave safe bowl, heat in 15 second intervals, stirring in between, until smooth.

Adding the final touch, the stem. Press the gum drop stem to the top of the strawberry, the stickiness of the gum drop and the Rice Krispie Treat will keep it attached.

Too cute, and the perfect Valentine's treat for a sugartarian.

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I made this recipe only once a long time ago, and don't remember what I changed if anything, so I can't guarantee the results :)

Strawberry Rice Krispie Treats
adapted from Thomas Keller

7 oz of marshmallows
1.5 oz butter
3.5 oz Rice Krispie cereal
1.25 oz strawberry puree
4 drops red food coloring

In a large pan melt butter, marshmallows, and strawberry puree over low heat. Stirring until melted.
Remove from heat. Add the Rice Krispie cereal. Stir until well coated.

Better Late Than Never

Every year during the holidays I go to San Francisco and order a peppermint sundae from the Ghirardelli Ice Cream shop. This year though, they decided not to offer them, instead I had a regular old brownie sundae and it just wasn't the same.
Well they can't hold this girl down. I was driving home from work this week, still craving a peppermint sundae when it hit me, duh, I can just make my own. Of coarse I'm not just going to buy peppermint ice cream, a bottle of chocolate syrup and a can of whipped cream, that would be a typical Saturday for me. This had to be the real deal with homemade fudge sauce and whipped cream. I knew exactly where to look for a fudge sauce recipe, my first confections cookbook called Candymaking. (Candymaking is the best cookbook for beginners, it has everything in it, even those grandma buttermints.) When it was all put together my sundae tasted EXACTLY like the Ghirardelli Peppermint Sundae.

Peppermint Sundae

Dryers Peppermint Ice Cream
Hot Fudge Sauce, recipe follows
Whipped Cream, recipe follows

Chocolate Fudge Sauce
from Candymaking

1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk * I used low fat to keep it healthy :)

1/2cup butter

3 oz unsweetened baking chocolate (Ghirardelli brand)

2 cups sugar

2 tsp vanilla 

In a saucepan, combine milk, butter, chocolate, and sugar. Place over medium heat and stir occasionally until it comes to a boil. Boil 5 to 10 minutes, stirring constantly until it thickens. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Let cool. Pour into jar and store in refrigerator.

Whipped Cream
from allrecipes.com
1 cup heavy cream
3 Tbs powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

In a chilled bowl beat cream on high speed until it begins to thicken. Add sugar and vanilla and continue to beat until stiff peak form.

Who needs Ghirardelli when you can make it yourself, well next time I am in San Francisco I probably will.

Eating Healthier In 2011

After being lectured about my diet by everyone who has ever seen me eat, I have decided that this year my New Year's resolution will be to eat healthier in 2011. Starting with carrot cake. Did you really think I was serious? I hate New Year's resolutions as much as I hate asparagus. Just because it's a new year doesn't mean all of a sudden I am going to exercise more, eat better, or not bite my nails. This recipe is simply for all the people concerned about my diet, just think of Carrot Cake Cupcakes as my small step into the vegetable world.

This was my second recipe out of my Indulge cookbook. I had high hopes, even though it was carrot cake, since the shortbread recipe turned out so fantastic. The recipe was incredibly easy, and came together quickly. Typically I have an adverse reaction to vegetables in my sweets, but these cupcakes were really good. I would make minor changes next time, by adding more cinnamon and less coconut. It is shocking for someone like me to want less coconut in anything, but the reason wasn't because of the flavor, it was the texture. Carrots in typical carrot cake soften when baked so you can't really tell they are in it, but by adding coconut it adds a texture of uncooked carrots, and it kind of freaks me out. The frosting was surprisingly delicious. Among my long list of food I don't like cream cheese is right up there. You are probably asking why would I make cupcakes with vegetables in it and cream cheese frosting? I have no idea, but the planets aligned and I really did like them.  People who actually like vegetables will definitely love these. 

Carrot Cake Cupcakes
adapted from Indulge

2 cups whole wheat flour
9 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
? shredded coconut
5 eggs
1 cup plus 2 tbs packed brown sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 Tbs vegetable oil
1 lb carrots, grated
4 1/2 oz raisins (Eww! I skipped this)

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare cupcake pan with baking cups.
Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg together, then stir in the coconut.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the eggs, sugar and oil on med-high speed for about 4 minutes, it should be pale and doubled in volume.
Gently fold in the dry ingredients, being careful not to over mix and deflate the egg mixture. Add the carrots, continuing to fold in carefully.
Pour into prepared pan and bake about 20 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting

4 1/2 oz cream cheese
13 oz powdered sugar
9 oz unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla

Beat all ingredients together until fluffy.
Pipe onto cupcakes.

The perfect way to add a food group to a sugartarians diet.

Celebrating With Pink Champagne Cupcakes

Happy New Year! I was inspired by one of my favorite shows I love to hate, Oprah. She is so out of touch, always interrupting her guests, and somehow turns every topic back to herself, yet I watch religiously.( I think I will start my own Oprah drinking game, every time she says me-mine-I you have to take a shot, by the time my husband gets home from work I will be passed out on the couch.) The other day she had the girls from DC Cupcakes on, an equally annoying TV show, and they were making champagne cupcakes for New Years. The dessert they made didn't sound that great, but it did make me think about making my own champagne cupcakes for New Year's Eve. Using a mix of recipes and a crazy idea I had, I made the perfect cupcakes to ring in the New Year. Pink Champagne Cupcakes topped with Strawberry Pop Rocks. The Pop Rocks were my idea to give the cupcakes the fizz of champagne. When I first started I was immediately worried, because when I opened the bottle of champagne, I poured the tiniest drop into a glass to taste it and thought I was going to die. I continued on, but in fear that I was poisoning the entire batch with champagne. It turns out champagne tastes great when you add a few cups of sugar to it. The cupcakes tasted the way I always hoped champagne would taste, sweet and fruity with just the slightest hint of alcohol. I would make these cupcakes again in a second, they were so perfect. I am thinking Valentine's Day, bridal showers, or just for something girly. Maybe now I will experiment with other types of alcohol. Do I see a real pina colada cupcake in 2011, I think so.

Vanilla Cupcakes
from Billy's Bakery

1 3/4 cups cake flour

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes

4 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cupcake tins with liners. Set aside. 

In a large measuring cup, add the milk and vanilla. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add flours, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix on low speed until combined. 

Add butter one cube at a time until all the butter is coated with the flour.

With the mixer on medium speed add the eggs one at a time mixing until incorporated.

Add the milk in three parts, mixing for about 30 seconds between each addition.

Using a pastry bag (Just started doing it this way and love how clean it is.) fill each cup about 2/3 full.

Bake for 17-20 minutes.

Champagne Syrup

from Cupcake Project

2 cups champagne
1 cup powdered sugar

Bring the champagne and powdered sugar to a boil. Continue boiling for about 6 minutes, it will not be thick. Remove from the heat. Poke holes in the cupcakes with a toothpick or skewer. Using a spoon, drizzle the syrup over the cupcakes. When you have covered the last cupcake, start over drizzling more syrup on each cupcake.You may have to re-poke some of the holes to help the syrup get into the center of the cupcake. Let set while making the frosting.

Champagne Buttercream Frosting
adapted from DC Cupcakes 

1/2 cup good Champagne
16 Tbsp unsalted butter
6 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
red food coloring

In the bowl of a stand mixer add the butter and sugar, beat on medium until well incorporated.
Add the vanilla, milk, salt. On low speed, slowly add the Champagne. Turn to high speed and beat until light and fluffy. Add a tiny drop of red food coloring and mix well.

Pipe the frosting onto the cupcake using your favorite decorating tip.

Then add the piece de resistance, Strawberry Pop Rocks. As kids from the 80's all know, once Pop Rocks touch anything damp, your tongue, coke, the palm of your licked hand, they start exploding immediately, well that also includes frosting. So the trick is to sprinkle the Pop Rocks on the cupcakes as soon as you serve them, or you can do as I did and just have a bowl of Pop Rocks with a spoon sitting next to the cupcakes and let the guest put it on. It really does the trick of adding champagne fizz to the cupcake.

Cheers!

Induge On Shortbread Cookies

My new cookbook, Indulge, is written by Claire Clark, the head pastry chef at Thomas Keller's French Laundry. Out of all my trips to Yountville, I have never been to French Laundry, and probably never will because I can't find anything I would eat, except for the dessert. (Unless they have a children's menu I could order from) So the next best thing to visiting French Laundry for me is this cookbook. The very first recipe in the book, shortbread, seemed like a good non-intimidating start. The hardest part about the recipe, and all the recipes in the book, are the measurements which are by weight. I don't necessarily mind because I have a small cute scale that I use quite a bit, but it's not the most convenient. So, I made this recipe using the weight measurements and then converted them to the North American volume measurements for next time.

Shortbread Cookies
Adapted from Indulge Cookbook

1 2/3 cup plus 1 tbs flour
1/4 cup plus 1 Tbs granulated sugar, processed in food processor for 1 minute
1 Tbs vanilla paste
11 Tbs butter, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add butter and vanilla to the bowl. Rub butter into dry ingredients using your fingertips. When the mixture begins to come together, use your hands to help form into a ball.
On a lightly floured surface roll dough out to 1/2 inch thick. Cut and place on a lined baking sheet.
Bake for 15 minutes, then turn the baking sheet and continue to bake for another 10 minutes, or until the shortbread is golden brown. Remove from the oven and dust with a little granulated sugar.

While I am not a shortbread connoisseur, the only shortbread cookie I have had are from the Girl Scouts, these cookies turned out terrific. These are very delicate cookies that melts in your mouth. I would love to play around with them next time, covering in caramel, dipping in chocolate, or like I do with the Girl Scout Trefoils, sandwich them with chocolate frosting.