candy

Butterscotch and Milky Way Tapioca Pudding | Amish Recipe

June 29, 2012 by Rebecca 10 Comments

I’ve told you about my friends, Ada and Anna, in the Maple Sandwich Cookies post. What I haven’t told you about these ladies is that we are constitutionally incapable of having a conversation without it somehow turning to food and lots of it. We talk about every kind of food we can think of, but our favourite topic is always dessert.

About three months ago, we were chatting about pudding (like you do) and Anna said, “Mom, you’ve told Rebecca about our butterscotch tapioca, right?” Whenever Anna says that, my ears perk up, and they did. “No…,” said I. “I don’t believe you have!”

What happened next is etched in my brain for all of eternity because I never had heard of such a glorious, decadent, unapologetically desserty dessert in all of my time.

Ada: Well, you start with cooking tapioca with brown sugar…

Anna: And then you add in white sugar, egg and milk.

Ada: Stir it so it doesn’t scorch!

Anna: Then you stir in butter and vanilla. Now you have to let it cool. Then you fold in whipped cream. Lots of whipped cream.

Ada: And chopped Milky Way bars.

Anna: And little tiny pieces of cream cheese. That’s it!

Ada: No, that’s not quite it. We sometimes serve it with caramel ice cream topping.

THUD. That was the sound my jaw made as it hit the floor. I was speechless. I was mesmerized. I was so befuddled that I walked out of their store with neither the recipe nor the requisite pearl tapioca.

I couldn’t really head back up the hill to see them again for about a week, and when I finally got there no one was home. I left a beseeching and desperate note pinned to their front door, “Dreaming about your tapioca! Would you be so kind as to write it down for me? We can exchange it the next time we see each other!” I’m pretty sure I drew some smiley faces and hearts, too.

Two weeks after that, Ada and Anna pulled their buggy into my driveway to chat about helping me paint my fence and porch. Their horse was a bit lame that day, so they didn’t stay long, and it wasn’t until they were out of the drive and halfway up the road that I remembered the pudding.

Just three days ago I finally got my hands on the recipe that Anna had copied over for me by hand. They called it “Butterscotch Tapioca” but I had to add the Milky Ways to the title of the recipe because, well, MILKY WAYS ARE IN THE PUDDING. Holy cow. If you’re not clutching your keyboard in anticipation by now you never will be.

It was absolutely everything I was waiting for and more. Normally, I prefer my tapioca warm with fruit, but this stuff is served cold. Warm is not optional; it needs to be cold. You want the whipped cream and candy bars to hold their integrity and if you fold those into warm pudding it’ll just go phllllllbbbbbt. You want a bowl full of this in the refrigerator just so you can walk by with a spoon and turn back and get a big old mouthful.

Even my three tapioca-averse children hoovered this with wild abandon. The two who like tapioca under normal circumstances? Forget about it. They were so blissed out they couldn’t even speak. And my husband… He walked up and said, “Tapioca in the summer? I don’t know about that… It’s more of a winter…” as he lifted the spoon to his mouth. The next words out of his mouth were, “Oh my. I need another bite. Boys, can you get me a bowl?”

Behold the power of Ada and Anna and their magical Butterscotch (AND MILKY WAY) Tapioca Pudding.

Butterscotch and Milky Way Tapioca Pudding | Amish Recipe

In this recipe from my Amish friends, Ada and Anna, tapioca pudding takes a turn for the spectacular when cooked with a brown sugar custard then loaded with folded-in whipped cream and oodles of chopped Milky Way candy bars and little tiny bits of cream cheese.

Ingredients

1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups small pearl tapioca
6 cups water
1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
2 eggs, well beaten
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup milk
1 stick butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups whipping cream (or heavy cream) whipped to firm peaks (or 3 cups of Cool Whip)
15 "fun size" Milky Way bars or 2 King Size Milky Way bars, roughly chopped
4 ounces cream cheese, cut into small pieces

Instructions

Bring the tapioca, water and salt to a boil in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking.

Add the brown sugar and stir well. Continue simmering until the tapioca is cooked all the way through (clear or just a tiny white speck at the center of each tapioca pearl.), stirring quite frequently to prevent scorching. My small pearl tapioca purchased at Ada and Anna's store took close to 40 minutes to reach this point.

In a 4 cup measuring cup, whisk together the milk, sugar and beaten eggs. Ladle about a cup of the hot tapioca mixture into the egg mixture and whisk until smooth, then return that to the pan whisking constantly. Bring to a hard simmer and then turn off the heat. Add the butter and vanilla, stirring until the butter is melted and incorporated. Cover tightly and refrigerate until cool.

Stir the cooled tapioca well to loosen it up. Add 1 cup of the whipped cream and stir it in. Add the remaining whipped cream and fold it in gently. After the whipped cream is incorporated and the mixture is even, fold in the chopped Milky Way bars and small pieces of cream cheese. Serve immediately or refrigerate, with a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding and also tightly covered for up to a week.

Ada and Anna suggest serving this with caramel ice cream topping if you want!

Notes: Do not use large pearl tapioca in this pudding as it will take far too long to cook through. Ada and Anna suggest that if you're short on time, you can substitute granulated tapioca, but I have not tested this option. Additionally, when you have chilled the tapioca in preparation for adding the final ingredients, it's going to look like a big, brown lump. Don't fear! Just stir it well to loosen it up. It will lighten significantly in colour and texture as the whipped cream is folded in.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/06/29/butterscotch-and-milky-way-tapioca-pudding-amish-recipe/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Filed Under: Accessible Ethnic, Breakfast Foods, candy, Comfort Food, Desserts, Holiday Food, kid food, Party Food, Pudding, Rebecca, Recipes, Vegetarian

Bacon and Eggs Candy

April 22, 2011 by Rebecca 6 Comments

I love food with a sense of humour. Something silly that makes you giggle and screams, “EAT ME!” *

*Well, unless something is actually screaming “eat me” which would be more than just a little disconcerting.

It just doesn’t get much cuter than these little “Bacon and Eggs” candies that I saw years ago in Taste of Home and again at What Megan’s Making. And it doesn’t get much easier, either. You need three ingredients. Just three. You need about ten minutes, including clean-up. In short, you get a big, adorable pay-off for a very small commitment.

Let’s talk options, shall we? I’ve seen them made with white chocolate or white baking chips, but I’m not a big fan of either of those, so I substituted yogurt candy chips. These are often available in bulk sections of better stocked groceries or in candy making supply aisles in crafting stores. Of course, if you are a white chocolate lover, don’t knock yourself out sourcing the yogurt candy chips. It turns out looking just as cutesy with the white chocolate.

There is just one problem, though. They’re a little too easy to eat. May I suggest you make them before Easter to pop into baskets or take to fellowship hour so that you don’t eat them all yourself? Unless of course you have self-control, which I don’t. As soon as these little beasts were finished setting up, I bagged them and tied the bags with a double knot. I know myself. This was crucial.

One final note… About three quarters of the way through assembling the candies, I had a thought. I popped some orange M&Ms on a few to be “pastured eggs”. Those look much more like the eggs we get from our ladies…

For my fellow chicken owners, it’s two egg jokes (or yolks) in one. Orange you glad I did it? It’s a double yolker. I crack me up. You might want to tell me to stop now because I have some eggcellent puns. Alright. Now,shell you goo make yourself some candy? One, two, three: SCRAMBLE!

Bacon and Eggs Candy

Author: Rebecca Lindamood (adapted from Taste of Home)

Recipe type: Candy, Dessert

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 3 mins

Total time: 13 mins

Serves: 20

This uber-cute candy is done in about five minutes and only requires three ingredients. Tuck some into Easter baskets or surprise your favorite sweet-tooth with a plate of these tonight.

Ingredients

1 bag thin pretzel sticks
1 bag (about 1 pound) yogurt candy baking chips or discs (or white chocolate chips or white baking chips)
About 40-50 yellow and orange M&Ms

Instructions

Lay silpats, parchment paper or waxed paper on three cookie sheets.
Arrange pairs of pretzels side by side with a small space between them on the prepared cookie sheets.
Put yogurt candy baking chips (or white chocolate or white chips) into a microwave safe bowl.
Heat at about 70% power for 1 minute.
Remove from microwave, stir, and return to the microwave.
Heat at 70% power in 30 second bursts, stirring after each burst, until smooth.
Use a spoon or piping bag to spread about 2 teaspoons of the melted candy over the pairs of pretzel sticks in the rough shape of an egg.
Drop an M&M on top of the melted candy in the center of each pair of pretzels.
Let cool and firm completely before transferring to an airtight container for storage at room temperature.

Notes

Yogurt candy baking discs are found in the bulk or candy making sections at better stocked groceries and crafting stores. If you can’t find them, or don’t prefer them, use white chocolate or plain white baking chips or melting discs.

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Filed Under: candy, Recipes Tagged With: budget friendly, dessert, food gift, Frugal Food, frugal gifts, kid friendly, party food, Vegetarian

Homemade Twix Cookies

January 15, 2010 by Rebecca 43 Comments

Today’s post is Part III of the “Saving Money in the Kitchen” series that began Tuesday. You can read Part I here and Part II here.

Although I intended to hit points four through nine today, I think I should stick with four and five. Why? Between the tips, recipe and giveaway I once again had too much information to cover in one post but also my iron is low and I’m sleepy. So I’ll have a steak tonight, lick a few windowsills, chew on a couple rusty nails and try to cap off the ‘Better Living List’ tips on Monday. I’m sorry. Was that a TMI moment?

Don’t forget. There’s a giveaway at the end of the post. We’re also making these today.

How about a closer look.

Oh yes. We’re doing wild things with these…

Right. I ate so many of these that I’m now on a heavy-duty sugar buzz. Must. Focus. Let’s get back to the money saving, shall we? Got your notebook and pencil handy?

Plan your potential meals and make the most of what you already have available before you shop.

In order to plan the meals you will make you need to do three important things.

Determine how many days ahead you will plan. I think it is best to start with a smaller time frame –say, four days to a week- and move up to longer periods rather than preparing two weeks or more in advance. I learned this the hard way back in the day when I concluded that if most people could plan for a week, I’d quadruple the efficiency and plan for a month. I spent scads of money, packed my refrigerator, and abandoned the plan within 8 days. I was too fickle with my tastes to want what I thought I would want two weeks after planning it. Shoot. In that time I’d moved on from a French food obsession to a fixation on Mexican foods. Can you blame me? The point is that I wasted money (and food) by planning too far in advance.
Look through your refrigerator, pantry, cabinets, or wherever you stash your food. Take note of what you already have. Now look at list of potential meals you already made based on your family’s preferences. (You did make the list didn’t you?) Compare the lists. Do you have almost everything you need for any of those meals? Put those down as meals you’ll make in the next week.
How many more meals do you need to round out the number you have in mind? Did you account for breakfasts, lunches and snacks? Don’t forget snacks. I did twice. It was ugly. One time I simply forgot. Another time, though, I thought I’d leave them off the list to help improve our diet and cut costs. On the third day I buckled and ran to the store with all five kids. I raced up and down the aisles throwing fruit snacks, granola bars, bags of chips, rice cakes, candy bars and dry cereal in the cart. It did not end up improving us. If you plan snacks, you’re more likely to eat one that is at least semi-healthy. Carrot sticks or crackers with yogurt dill dip is friendlier both to your budget and your waistline than a bag of chips and a tub of French onion dip.

Now that you have the list of meals that you’ll have over the next few days you have some other things to consider.

Do you have any evening or weekend commitments that would require quicker meals? Put your fastest meals on those nights. Try to be realistic. Don’t put a meal that requires an hour and a half of work on a weeknight when you’re going to be whipped.
Do any of your meals require steps that have to be done a day or two in advance? Make note of that on your meal schedule.
Do you have to pack lunches for anyone? Make note of that and be sure to have them done the night before you need them.

Know what you need beyond what you have to make those meals.

Let’s say one of the meals on your list is broiled salmon with soba noodles, ginger scallion sauce and cucumber salad. Hypothetically, you have the salmon in the freezer, soba noodles on the pantry shelf, and everything but the ginger and scallions and cucumber for the sauce and salad. In this case, you simply need to add seedless cucumbers, ginger and scallions to the produce section of your list. Which brings me to a sidebar.*

*You need a standardized grocery list template. I keep one on the front of my refrigerator. When I run out of something or realize I will need it, I write it on the list. If the front of the refrigerator is too public for you, tape it inside a cabinet in your kitchen. Keep it and a- pencil- where you can get to it easily. The list I use is a simple table I put together years ago in a word processing program, but you can just as easily scrawl five boxes on a piece of paper. The boxes get the following headings: “Produce”, “Grocery”, “Dairy/Frozen”, “Meat/Deli”, and “Household/Miscellaneous”. When I say grocery, I mean shelf-stable items like dried pasta, canned tomatoes, flour, sugar, etc… The ‘Household/Miscellaneous” category is meant to hold all my cleaning supplies, paper goods, pet food, motor oil and other things that don’t quite fit into the food categories. Here’s a picture of the running list that is currently fixed to my refrigerator.

Once I’ve come down from my sugar high and grilled and eaten this giant flank steak on my counter top, I’ll get cracking on why it’s important to build flexibility and change into your plans and why, almost above all else, it’s important to not take any of this too seriously. But for now, I have a recipe and a giveaway to tackle.

First, I need to warn you a little about my homemade Twix cookie recipe. It makes quite a few, yes it does. That’s not the problem. The problem is that they’re little. And when food is little I feel justified in consuming many, many pieces. If we were talking about, say, little bitty salads this would not be a problem. But we’re not talking about salads. We’re talking about bite-sized golden butter shortbread cookies topped with real dairy caramel then dipped in a dark chocolate coating made with heavy cream and more butter, so help me God. Have mercy on my soul, they’re so very good. This has been a public service announcement from Foodie With Family.

If you are a better human than I am, you’ll stash these in the chill chest for a day before eating them. Don’t misunderstand, they’re good when they’re fresh. They’re too good as my now-burgeoning backside proves. But the depth of flavor they develop after sitting for twenty-four hours is astonishing.

For a photo-free, printer friendly version of this recipe, click here!

Homemade Twix Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, divided
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or ground vanilla
one batch dulce de leche (homemade or purchased)
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 Tablespoon heavy cream

Cream 1 cup of the butter, salt, sugar and vanilla together until thoroughly combined. Refrain from eating this. It’ll totally mess up your ratios…

Add the flour and blend until the mixture resembles moist sand with pieces the size of peas scattered throughout.

If you take a small handful and squeeze it, the mixture should hold together well.

Preheat the oven to 300°F.

Lightly butter or spray a 36 mini-muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray. Mound the dough mixture into each mini-muffin cup. Or have your sous chef do it. You can clean up their job later. This stuff is like sand. You can just flick it into the wells with your fingers.

Use a small wooden tamper or your hands to press down the dough.

When all have been firmed, carefully use the tamper to push a well into the center of each cookie.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden around the edges. Do not over bake. Remove the pan to a cooling rack and cool 10 minutes before removing. You may need to persuade the cookies to pop out. If this is the case, cool until they’re sturdy and use the dull end of a butter knife to apply pressure to one edge of the cookie. It should pop right out of the pan. Allow cookies to cool completely before filling.

When the cookies are cooled, fill each well with dulce de leche. Place each filled cookie on a clean rimmed pan lined with a silpat or parchment paper. When all the cookies have been filled, transfer the tray to the freezer for two hours.

Before removing the cookies from the freezer, put the remaining butter, heavy cream and chocolate chips in a microwave safe container. Microwave on high for 30 seconds. Stir with a silicone or rubber spatula and microwave at 10 second increments, stirring after each one, until the chocolate is melted and smooth.

Remove cookies from the freezer and work quickly to dip the bottom half of each cookie into the chocolate, allowing the excess to drip away before replacing on the tray.

When they have all been dipped, return the pan to the freezer for thirty minutes.

If the chocolate has set up while the cookies were chillin’ like Dylan, microwave in 10 second increments, again stirring after each, until the chocolate is fluid and smooth. Take the cookies from the freezer. Drizzle chocolate over each cookie or pick cookie up and dip half of it into the chocolate. You need to work quickly if you’re dipping the cookies as the dulce de leche will return to room temperature rather quickly which will make the process a great deal messier. An impromptu poll of my Facebook friends revealed that a minority of them wanted the whole cookie dipped in chocolate. I tried. Really I did. But it looked like a great lump of chocolate. (And I ate them before I could photograph them.)

Store leftover cookies loosely wrapped in the refrigerator. If you have ‘em.

Now the giveaway!

I want to help stock your pantry. There are a few things that make life a little more pleasant when you have them on hand. One of my favorites is cinnamon, specifically, Korintje Cinnamon. You may have seen teensy little bottles of this particular cinnamon sold at gold-standard prices at home kitchen gadget parties. I was given a bottle once and there was no looking back. This Indonesian cinnamon is sweet, fragrant and not-at-all bitter. It’s a revelation if you’re used to the 99-cent bottles of uncertain age. I want to give a full pound of Korintje Cinnamon from one of my favorite spice companies, Frontier Herbs. It contains fully 3% oil. It smells so, so good. And one pound of this should keep you in cinnamon for a while!

So what are the rules? It’s simple. Leave a comment on today’s post telling me some of your money saving tips. Don’t have any? No sweat. Tell me where you need the most help. Is it menu planning? Grocery shopping? Knowing what meals to make based on your family’s preferences? How to get your dog to stop eating garbage? (Well, maybe that’s my question. If anyone can help there I’d greatly appreciate it.) Is there any topic you’d like to see covered here on Foodie With Family? One entry per person, pretty please. Gots to keep it fair, you know. I’ll draw a name next Wednesday when I complete the ‘Better Living List’ part of our “Saving Money in the Kitchen” series.

Filed Under: candy, Desserts, Holiday Food, Instructional, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Stretching your dollars

Hot Chocolate on a Stick

December 2, 2009 by Rebecca Leave a Comment

Now that I have the attention of the entire state of Minnesota, please allow me to expound.

This is one of the most clever ideas I’ve seen out of the King Arthur Flour Baker’s Circle lately. (And they’re no creative slouches over at King Arthur.) In the most recent e-newsletter* from their test kitchen they included a recipe for Cocoa Blocks.

*If you’d like to receive their free e-newsletter, you can click this link and look for the sign-up box in the lower right hand corner of the page.

Oh sweet merciful heavens. Cocoa blocks. Very utilitarian name, no? Nothing against my King Arthur folks, because I really do love them, but I think the name doesn’t do justice to these little beauties. I’ve renamed them. Henceforth, they shall be called Hot Chocolate On A Stick.

Hot Chocolate on a Stick is a creamy chocolate confection that is much like an ultra-rich fudge. You can, as the new title indicates, put these blocks of chocolatey goodness on sticks for ease in swirling it in hot milk or nibbling.

Or, if you’re a rebel (or not from the Midwest), you can simply leave the squares alone and stir them into your hot drinks. Or you can go another step, as I am wont to do, and skewer a marshmallow on top of the block of chocolate.

And since we’re playing with marshmallows already, why not make them homemade*? That opens up the possibilities of all kinds of decadent flavor combinations; mocha chocolate with cocoa marshmallows, orange chocolate with vanilla marshmallows, plain chocolate with raspberry marshmallows, or pure chocolate and vanilla marshmallows.

~~~ ~~~

*Last year Val posted a homemade marshmallow recipe in our Homemade Christmas Gifts series. (See that post here!) Homemade marshmallows, if you’ve never had them, are a completely different animal than those little round foam-like jobbies you get in bags at the grocery store. They’re ethereally light, sweet and endlessly customizable. Have a hankering for an orange flavored marshmallow without the nasty food coloring? It can be done. Want a mocha marshmallow? (Just try finding THAT at your local mega-mart.) It’s only moments away. You get my drift, right?

So if you combine luscious, velvety, rich fudge with light-as-air homemade marshmallows it should follow that what you’ve created is heavenly. And it is. Oh, it is! Not to put too fine a point on it, but having these in my kitchen was the only thing standing between me and a potential sale of my children to the gypsies early career apprenticeship commitment for my children. I hid in the bathroom with a ‘Hot Chocolate on a Stick’ and nibbled my irritation away.

I could’ve taken a cup of hot milk to the bathroom with me, but I was in a hurry, people. I needed the chocolate and I needed it fast. The kids, on the other hand, found the stash while I was hiding (and small price to pay for the peace it brought me) and stirred theirs into hot cups of milk. I hear tell that they enjoyed it immensely. The chocolate rings around their mouths bore out their testimony.

Kid tested. Mother approved.

~~~ ~~~

May I recommend that you whip up a batch or two or three of these? Keep one batch for yourself. Wrap one batch in plastic and pretty ribbons for gift-giving. And that last batch? Well, give it away one at a time to your kids’ teachers, bus drivers, your preacher, the mail carrier, the elderly man or woman down the road who lost their spouse this year, the gal in the apartment two doors down who looks a little lonely, or anyone else who looks like they could use a good dose of seasonal cheer.

Let’s do a quick refresher on the marshmallows:

Homemade Marshmallows

Follow this link for the original post and a printable version of this recipe.

This is mainly Val’s recipe, but I’ve added a few of my own notes.

Ingredients:

.75-oz unflavored gelatin (3 envelopes of Knox gelatin)
1/2 cup cold water
2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cups light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (or other flavor extract)
Confectioners’ sugar

Line 9 x 9-inch or 8 x 8-inch pan with plastic wrap and lightly oil it using your fingers or non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water. Soak for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine sugar, corn syrup and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a rapid boil. As soon as it is boiling, set the timer and allow to boil hard for 1 minute.

Carefully pour the boiling syrup into soaked gelatin and turn on the mixer, using the whisk attachment, starting on low and moving up to high speed. Add the salt and beat for between 10 and 12 minutes, or until fluffy and mostly cooled to almost room temperature. After it reaches that stage, add in the extract and beat to incorporate.

Grease your hands and a rubber or silicone scraper with neutral oil and transfer marshmallow into the prepared pan. Use your greased hands to press the marshmallow into the pan evenly. Take another piece of lightly oiled plastic wrap and press lightly on top of the marshmallow, creating a seal. Let mixture sit for a few hours, or overnight, until cooled and firmly set.

Sprinkle a cutting surface very generously with confectioner’s sugar.

Remove marshmallow from pan and lay on top of the sugar.

Dust the top generously with sugar as well.

Use a large, sharp knife to cut into squares.

Separate pieces and toss to coat all surfaces with the sugar.
Store in an airtight container.

Now for the Hot Chocolate on a Stick!

Hot Chocolate on a Stick

Scroll to the bottom for an easy-print version of this recipe!

Ingredients:

½ cup heavy cream
14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk (1 1/4 cups)
3 cups semisweet chocolate (3 cups chopped chocolate bars or chips)
3/4 cup unsweetened baking chocolate (4 ounces)
wooden sticks, lollipop sticks, candy canes or bamboo skewers
optional, crushed candy canes, marshmallows and/or cocoa powder

Line an 8 x 8-inch pan or a 9 x 9-inch pan with foil and set aside.

Combine the cream and sweetened condensed milk in a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Heat until it is steaming, but not boiling, stirring occasionally to keep from scorching.

Add all of the chocolate and remove from the heat. Allow the chocolate to melt, undisturbed, for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, whisk firmly until it is thick and shiny. You can add a few drops of flavoring extract or oil at this point, or add some powdered espresso or vanilla. Whisk vigorously again to incorporate the flavoring (if used.)

Use a rubber or silicone spatula to spread the mixture out evenly in your prepared, foil-lined pan.

Allow to cool at room temperature 12 hours or overnight so that it firms slowly.

Take the fudge from the pan and remove the foil. Place on a cutting board.

Using a knife heated with hot water and wiped dry, cut the fudge into 36 equal-sized cubes. You can either stick a lollipop stick (or candy cane) into the center of each block or leave as is. Additionally, you can press the cut sides of the fudge into crushed candy canes, roll them in cocoa powder or top with marshmallows.

Eat immediately or wrap tightly and store at room temperature.

If you make more than one batch and use different flavorings for the marshmallows or chocolate, you can use different colored ribbons to indicate the flavors. Silver for mocha chocolate and vanilla marshmallows, gold for plain chocolate and raspberry marshmallows, for instance…

Hey… Someone’s snuck off with my raspberry marshmallow Hot Chocolate on a Stick…

Oh well, I’ll make more.

Remember, it’s Christmas time!

Hot Chocolate on a Stick

Author: Rebecca Lindamood Adapted from King Arthur Flour

Recipe type: dessert, candy

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 36

This creamy chocolate fudge confection can be nibbled in its pure form, skewered on a stick alone or with homemade marshmallows and simply eaten or swirled into hot milk for a hot chocolate that is second to none.

Ingredients

½ cup heavy cream
14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk (1¼ cups)
3 cups semisweet chocolate (3 cups chopped chocolate bars or chips)
¾ cup unsweetened baking chocolate (4 ounces)
wooden sticks, lollipop sticks, candy canes or bamboo skewers
optional, crushed candy canes, marshmallows and/or cocoa powder

Instructions

Line an 8 x 8-inch pan or a 9 x 9-inch pan with foil and set aside.
Combine the cream and sweetened condensed milk in a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Heat until it is steaming, but not boiling, stirring occasionally to keep from scorching.
Add all of the chocolate and remove from the heat. Allow the chocolate to melt, undisturbed, for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, whisk firmly until it is thick and shiny. You can add a few drops of flavoring extract or oil at this point, or add some powdered espresso or vanilla. Whisk vigorously again to incorporate the flavoring (if used.)
Use a rubber or silicone spatula to spread the mixture out evenly in your prepared, foil-lined pan. Allow to cool at room temperature 12 hours or overnight so that it firms slowly.
Take the fudge from the pan and remove the foil. Place on a cutting board.
Using a knife heated with hot water and wiped dry, cut the fudge into 36 equal-sized cubes. You can either stick a lollipop stick (or candy cane) into the center of each block or leave as is. Additionally, you can press the cut sides of the fudge into crushed candy canes, roll them in cocoa powder or top with marshmallows.
Wrap tightly and store at room temperature.

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Filed Under: Beverages, candy, Chocolate, Desserts, Holiday Food, Instructional, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Rebecca, Recipes, Stretching your dollars

Bacon Toffee

February 25, 2009 by Rebecca 21 Comments

Did you see the Maple Bacon Cake over on Thursday Night Smackdown? Michelle, the proprietress of TNS, is a true lover of the bacon and made ample use of bacon toffee on her cake. I’ve been meaning to make a sweet bacon dish for about a year. A few months ago sweet bacon recipes started popping up all over the place. I drooled over the bacon ice creams and cried massive croccodile tears over the thought of munching on a pound of candied bacon. The only reason I didn’t make any of this stuff is because I made an error of epic proportions. I talked about the idea with The Evil Genius first.

Don’t get me wrong, he’s brilliant, but if there’s one place in his superhuman-smartitude that The Evil Genius has a blindspot it is the application of beloved foods in new and wonderful ways. By way of proof, I offer you the examples of him finally switching from Goya coffee (to which he swore fealty for many years) to Cafe Altura’s French Roast. I also offer this bacon-laden example.

Several months ago I pointed excitedly to a picture of bacon ice cream on Tastespotting and said, “Hey! Doesn’t that sound amazing? I might make that this weekend.” He pulled a face that can only be described as ‘blond puppy dog” and begged out of me a promise that I wouldn’t ‘go and ruin a perfect batch of vanilla ice cream that way.’ What can I say? When he looks at me with those gorgeous, evil blue eyes I melt like so much ice cream. I promised. And immediately regretted it as the bacon wave swept the blogosphere.

And then a couple days ago I saw Michelle’s Maple Bacon Cake. And I had enough. I had a pound of bacon, a pound of butter, sugar, and everything else that was necessary. I went to work. As my Grandfather was wont to say, “It’s easier to do and get forgiveness than to get permission first…” Besides, I knew the man would love the stuff. I mean, really, how can you go wrong with bacon?

I whipped up the batch, poured it onto my silpat and let it firm up. I broke little pieces off the edges as they firmed. Ohmygoodness. It was so much better than I had even imagined. And even though I used a whole pound of bacon in the toffee, the first thing you got when you bit into the toffee was not bacon. It went sweet, salty, smoky, bacon. It embodied ‘umami‘.

I am toffee. I am bacon. I am umami.

When Monsieur Le Evil Genius came home he used his spidey-sweets sense to find the tray in the kitchen and had stuck a piece in his mouth and commenced chewing before asking me what it was with a very blissful look on his face. “BACON TOFFEE!” I yelled triumphantly. With many verbal exclamation points. He stopped chewing, used his brilliant brain to calculate whether this was an appropriate time to express humility and said, “Wow. You were right. This is great!” Then he ate a half of a pound of it. I win. But I’m not rubbing it in much. Only when he eats it. Which is frequently. So I guess I am rubbing it in much.

Bacon Toffee

As made with the English Toffee recipe from Thursday Night Smackdown

1 pound of bacon, sliced into very thin strips, fried until very crispy and drained on paper towels
1 pound unsalted butter
2 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Line a rimmed half-sheet pan with a silpat or parchment paper. Set aside.

Put all the ingredients except the bacon into a large, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Go with a larger pot than you think you’ll need because the toffee has a tendency to boil up the sides. You really don’t want that to happen. Have you ever had hot toffee on your skin or tried to clean it off the stove? Don’t go there.

Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Cook until the mixture hits 300F on a candy thermometer. This goes fast once you hit about 200F, so don’t walk away from the pan. You will regret it if you do. Trust me and the big, sooty, burned sugar mess I had to clean up once.

Once the toffee mixture hits 300F, stir the crispy bacon in and pour immediately into the prepared pan. Use a silicone or offset spatula to gently spread the toffee into an even layer. And do not, no matter how BADLY you want to, lick that spatula if you want to keep your tongue. Again, I ask you to trust me here!

Allow to rest at room temperature until the toffee has cooled and firmed completely. When completely cool, break into pieces with your hands. Store, refrigerated, in a zipper top bag in the back of the fridge to discourage people from snitching it when they think you’re not looking.

What to do with this bounty of bacon toffee? Well, I’m going to make some bacon toffee chocolate chip cookies, and some bacon toffee vanilla ice cream, and I’m going to eat a lot of it all by itself. Just because I can.

Keeps in the fridge for weeks.

Ain't it pretty folks?

Filed Under: candy, Instructional, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Meat, Rebecca, Recipes, Valerie Tagged With: bacon candy, unusual uses for bacon

Honey Caramel and Coconut Chocolate Bars: Foodie Gift #20

December 23, 2008 by Rebecca 1 Comment

I think this might be a case of saving best for near the last, except that I didn’t know they’d be so dadburned good when I made them last night. I didn’t even really plan on making them, but I had to play with some coconut I had in the pantry. My sister’s kids have some serious dietary restrictions and I was trying to come up with a really decadent Christmas treat that I could give them. My aunties plied me with sweets and I’m nothing if I’m not a slave to tradition. Corn syrup was out so I boiled honey for long enough to begin caramelizing it, threw my bag of unsweetened dried coconut in, stirred vigorously, pressed it into a pan and waited with baited breath. Actually I waited with pizza breath, but really, that just doesn’t sound good.

I’m not usually a real coconut lover so I figured if I found it palatable the kids would lurve it. I sliced the slab-o-coconut and honey caramel into blocks that were roughly one inch by two inches. I melted dark chocolate, dunked away and stashed the tray in the fridge for an hour. The peanut gallery hovered around the fridge waiting to see if the candy was even edible. (This from my six year old, Ty, who said, “Do people even eat this stuff?” while dangerously waving my open bag of flaked coconut.) They were hopeful because, as Ty also said, “If it’s in chocolate, it can’t be half bad, right Mom? I can at least lick off the chocolate even if the inside’s nasty.” Such a ray of sunshine, this child.

The tray came out of the fridge and before I could blink it was half emptied. Two candy bars were in each little set of hands hand and three were in the big mitts that belong to The Evil Genius. And the ultimate testament to this candy? They ate it slowly. They actually savored it. I will repeat myself. They ate it slowly because they enjoyed it. so. much. Normally, Hoover has nothing on my family for sheer speed of food consumption. It is a wonder they ever taste anything at all with the vitesse with which they ingest. This candy made them slow down and make happy noises. I’d say that’s danged good for a couple minutes of work.

The honey caramel is chewy and sweet and perfect and the coconut gives it wonderful texture and nutty flavor. And topping it with dark chocolate? Shave my legs and call me smoothie. They’re good enough to make your tongue slap your brain silly.

Make a tray of these and pop them on a cute little plate from the local dollar store or in a pretty cellophane bag closed with ribbon.

Honey Caramel and Coconut Chocolate Bars: Foodie Gift #20

Consider this fair warning. These are extremely addictive and horribly simple to make. Filled with honey and coconut these might almost be health food, though, so go for it. But, for the record, I did warn you.

Ingredients:

12 ounces dried coconut flakes (I used unsweetened, you can use sweetened if that’s your only option)
1 1/2 cups honey
16 ounces good dark chocolate, chopped or dark chocolate chips
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter

Line a cookie sheet with parchment or waxed paper. Set aside.

Put honey in a heavy saucepan over medium high heat. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil. Allow to boil for exactly one minute and thirty seconds. Turn off heat and stir in coconut until evenly moist. Scrape contents onto the lined cookie sheet. Use wet hands to firmly press the coconut and honey mixture into a square that is about 1/2′- 3/4″ thick. The shape is not something to fret, just approximate the square and thickness. Part of the charm of homemade candies is that they’re not always uniform.

Stash the cookie sheet in the freezer for an hour or two, just make sure it’s really firm and cold before proceeding. Scooch the parchment onto a cutting board and cut into desired sizes. I cut mine into bars that were about 1″ x 2.5″ but do whatever floats your boat. Separate the bars, re-line your cookie sheet with parchment and turn your attention to the chocolate.

In a microwave safe bowl, add the chocolate chips or chunks and the butter. Microwave on HIGH for about 45 seconds. Remove bowl, stir well, and return to microwave for another 15 second burst. Repeat until the chocolate is melted and smooth when you stir it.

Use two dinner forks to lower one bar at a time into the chocolate. Flip the bar so it’s completely coated, scrape across the lip of the bowl to remove excess and place on the parchment paper to set up. Repeat until all bars are coated or you run out of chocolate because little fingers keep dipping into your bowl.

Place pan back in fridge for one hour for the chocolate to firm up. Share with friends or hide in the bathroom and eat several of them yourself. Your call. I won’t judge.

Filed Under: candy, Desserts, Gifts, Rebecca, Recipes, Stretching your dollars, Vegetarian

No-Cook Mint Patties: Foodie Gift #16

December 21, 2008 by Valerie 3 Comments

I remember coming across this recipe years ago–it was an instant hit then, and its been the same in all the years I’ve shared it since. These creamy, buttery mints are easy to put together, store well, and make a lot, so there is plenty to share. I usually make a double batch at a time, since there is enough room on my table and cake racks to handle the drying needed for these candies.

From Cooks.com, here is the recipe (with a couple of my own tweaks included):

NO COOK MINT PATTIES

Printed from COOKS.COM

1/2 c. light corn syrup
1/4 c. butter, softened
1 tsp. peppermint extract
4 c. sifted powdered sugar
2 drops red food coloring
2 drops green food coloring

In small bowl combine corn syrup, butter and peppermint. Beat until well combined.

Gradually add 2 cups of sugar beating well. Stir in as much of the remaining sugar you can to mix with a spoon. Turn out onto a surface lightly coated with powdered sugar. Knead in remaining sugar-enough to make a stiff dough that is smooth. Divide into thirds.

Leaving one of the three white (I actually used yellow food coloring for the third portion)-Knead in food coloring-red and green-in the other two.

Shape into 3/4 inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Press with fork. Let dry several hours (or overnight), then move to a cooling rack to complete the drying process (usually 24 hours is enough). Place in an airtight container and store in a cool place.

Filed Under: candy, Gifts, Recipes, Valerie Tagged With: candy, food gift, mint, no-cook

Grandma’s English Toffee: Foodie Christmas Gift #2.

December 3, 2008 by Rebecca 4 Comments

Foodie With Family Gift #2: Grandma’s English Toffee

English Toffee. In it’s simplest and most refined form it is the perfect marriage of butter, sugar and chocolate. And my Grandma’s toffee is toffee at it’s best. I’m not bragging. I’m stating a fact. The toffee itself has only two ingredients: butter and sugar. She tops it with a layer of good chocolate and occasionally showers the top with a coat of finely chopped, toasted nuts. It is sublime.

I know from personal experience that when you give a batch of this toffee as a gift you’ve just started your own fan club. Many years ago my husband began working at his office just before Christmas. As an icebreaker, he took up a plate filled with Christmas cookies and this toffee to share with his new co-workers. He brought home an empty plate and I forgot all about it.

Six months later, the kids and I dropped by his office in the middle of the work day. As the Evil Genius introduced me for the first time, at least five people said some variation of, “You’re the one with the toffee! Can I have that recipe?” And now, I know the holiday season has begun when my husband passes along requests for ‘some more of that amazing toffee’ from office mates.

I can’t guarantee this toffee will bring peace on earth, but it’ll at least buy you goodwill among men!

Time Required For Project:

The toffee takes about 30 minutes of cooking time and then requires a couple hours of setting-up time for the chocolate to firm. You should count on at least 3 hours of firming time, depending on the warmth of your room. Your best bet is to make it the day before it’s needed.

The Cost Breakdown:

$1.99 for 1 pound of butter

$0.75 (generous estimate) for 2 cups of sugar

$1.99 for a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips (Ghiradelli is available at Wegman’s for this price)

$0.75 (depending on whether you use them) for 1/2 cup of chopped nuts

Grand Total: $5.48 for 2 1/2 pounds of English Toffee

“Homemade” vs. “Purchased” Price Comparison:

Homemade: $5.28 for 40 ounces = $0.14 per ounce
Purchased: $14.99 for 20 ounces of Wisconsin Cheeseman’s English Butter Toffee= $0.75 per ounce
Purchased: $69.50 for 80 ounces + $9.58 for shipping of Asher’s Chocolates English Toffee Slabs= $0.99 per ounce

Foodie With Family’s Grandma’s English Toffee

Yield: 2 and 1/2 pounds.

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar (no substitutes)
2 cups butter (no substitutes)
12 ounces semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips, optional
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, almonds, peanuts or other nuts, optional

Method:

Line a 15″ x 10″ x 1″ jellyroll pan (or half sheet pan) with waxed paper. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan that holds at least 4 quarts, combine butter and sugar over low heat.

Stir occasionally until a small amount of the mixture dropped in ice water forms brittle strands (or until it reaches 300°F on a candy thermometer. This process usually takes 25-30 minutes. DO NOT TRY TO SPEED IT ALONG BY RAISING THE HEAT UNDER THE PAN!

Please excuse my type-screaming, but it’s important. Patience, Grasshopper.

Equally important in a more ‘how to stay out of the burn unit” way is the following warning. Be careful!!!! This stuff is like lava. And not only is it incredibly hot, but it sticks because it’s loaded with sugar and fat. So I’ll say it again to keep myself from worrying that someone will be running to the ER with Grandma’s toffee stuck to them. Be careful! And specifically, do not try to eat just a little bit of the hot toffee off the spoon after pouring it. You, your lips, and your tongue will regret it. Trust me!

As soon as the mixture reaches 300°F, pour onto waxed paper lined pan and quickly spread as evenly as you can. Eyeball your candy. If it looks like the fat has separated out (which will look like pools of oil around the outside edge of your toffee) let the candy stand for five minutes then -carefully holding the waxed paper to keep your toffee from sliding into a messy heap- pour the oil off from the pan into a clean bowl. Otherwise just proceed to the next step.

Sprinkle the chocolate chips gently and evenly over the top.