My Baking Adventures

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I’m trying not to do too much today – it’s Sunday, after all – allegedly a day of “west and wewaxation” (thank you Elmer Fudd). I’ve got a pot of split pea soup bubbling in the slow cooker, and am anxiously awaiting a call back from Sabrina’s orthodontist. One of the wires on her braces is sticking out, and her bottom lip is completely torn up.

Not a pretty sight, I tell you.

In anticipation of my day of rest, I prepared a batch of Oreo Truffles for Alexander to take over to a friend’s house later on, and after I drop him off, I’m headed over to Sur La Table to look for a crown shaped cookie cutter. I can’t tell you why I need a crown shaped cookie cutter right now, but in due time, all the details will be revealed. (Dad, if you’re reading this, don’t tell Mom!)

Sounds mysterious, doesn’t it? mwah ha ha ha ha!

So this is how I spent an hour of my time this morning:

These truffles are super popular during the holidays – but one thing about kids, they love them all year long.

I personally don’t care for the candy coating, much less mushed up Oreos, however, the kids literally eat them up. I did some on sticks, and some without, and I find them so much easier to dip with the sticks – a lot easier to handle.

The original recipe calls for dipping the truffles into melted chocolate – but I had a large bag of white candy in the house, so  I decided to use that instead. Plus, I got to break out the Valentine’s sprinkles, chocolate sprinkles, and colored candy balls – and exercise a little creativity.

It may be the only exercise I get today.

Oreo Truffles - adapted from the Nestle website

3 cups Oreo cookies, finely crushed
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 lb. semi-sweet chocolate, melted or colored candy melts

Additional crushed cookies or sprinkles for decorating

Mix 3 cups of the cookie crumbs and the cream cheese until well blended. Shape into 42 (1-inch) balls. Chill for several hours until firm – or place in freezer for an hour.

Dip balls in melted chocolate or colored candy melts; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. While the chocolate (or candy) is still wet, sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs or sprinkles.

Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm. Store any leftover truffles in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

This post is going to be short and sweet, since I am in a huge rush today – the kids get out of school early and I am frantically wrapping their presents to avoid any potential mishaps with them finding their gifts before Christmas morning.

Can you believe Christmas is next Friday? (deep breath, deep breath!)

I am also 2 weeks behind with the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies – hopefully that post will be up later today. Sorry April!

But for now, I will leave you with this:

S’More’s On A Stick!

I made these last night for Alexander’s class party today – it’s a large marshmallow, dipped in chocolate, and then covered with graham cracker crumbs.

Ingenius, isn’t it? And while I wish I could take credit for such a marvelous creation, I actually saw it on Gimme Some Oven’s blog.

I especially appreciate the fact that these were so easy to make – in the time it took for Alexander to finish his homework, I had 30 of them made and ready to go. (pssst – his homework took about 40 minutes).

That’s all for now – I’ve got to run before I’m late!

I did it! I did it! I did it!

I made fudge! Without using marshmallows or sweetened condensed milk!

As you may know, fudge has been my nemesis for several years now. I’ve tried and tried but can never get it right. Either the consistency was wrong (i.e. it’s  grainy), or it doesn’t set properly.

However, thanks to the kind and generous people at C&H sugar, I can officially cross “homemade fudge” off my learn to do list.

When I was contacted by the company with an offer of a $20 gift card to help cover the cost of sugar (do you have any idea how much sugar I go through??) I jumped at the chance. The only stipulation? Select a recipe from their site.

Well, I didn’t think it would be too hard – but there is such a vast selection – what to choose first? Although I did contemplate making cookies, and printed out several recipes to try, making fudge was #1 on my list.

I am so glad I did – it was a tremendous sense of accomplishment to finally turn out a pan of perfect fudge. (Ok, so my cutting skills need a bit of work, but heed my advice – don’t try to cut this when it’s cold – it cracks and doesn’t look very attractive).

Of course, I had to tweak the recipe just a bit – I added peppermint extract to make it more holiday-ish. It has a hint of minty flavor that isn’t overpowering.

I’m going to be delivering this tomorrow to a few lucky recipients – and I hope they enjoy it as much as I did!

Thanks again, C&H!

Creamy Dream Hint ‘o Mint Fudge - adapted from C&H Sugar

1 cup butter
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup milk
2 lbs. C&H Powdered Sugar, sifted
½ tsp salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. peppermint extract

Butter a 13 x 9-inch pan. In a large, heavy saucepan melt butter. Add cocoa and blend well. Stir in milk. Gradually mix in powdered sugar and salt and continue cooking over medium-low heat until smooth and creamy. Stir in vanilla. Pour into prepared pan; refrigerate until firm. Cut into squares.

When you are a child, there are certain parts of the house that are off limits. Some parents forbid playing in the living room, because something might get broken. Or maybe sliding down the banister was banned – because although it was a faster way to get downstairs, your jeans took the finish off the wood.

In my house, however, it was the box of See’s Candy that was off limits. We’re talking set up on a pedestal, roped off and secured with a high tech alarm system.

Every year, without fail, steel vendors that worked for my dad would send big, 5 pound boxes of See’s Candy to the office at Christmastime. (We also received calendars, letter openers, and smoked turkeys, but the candy was better!)

Or, if we were really lucky, throughout the year we would get kids coming around that were selling the candy door-to-door as part of their school candy fundraisers.

And every year, without fail, my mom would commandeer the boxes and not let us kids have any.

We (ok, especially me) would beg and plead for a piece. And eventually, she would relent. Oh, but you weren’t allowed to just reach into the box and take any piece you wanted. There was a certain protocol to be followed. The candy had to be carefully pre-screened to make sure it wasn’t a piece she liked. And if she wasn’t sure? She would take a bite of it first.

If she liked it, you were out of luck, because she would just eat the whole thing in front of you. Then, in an act of unending generosity, she would take a bite of another piece, and the whole process would be repeated until she came across a piece she didn’t like. THEN you would get the piece of candy you so desperately wanted.

I tried to be sneaky one afternoon, while she was out shopping. I scaled the ropes, dismantled the alarm system, and opened the coveted box of candy. My eyes widened with glee, for here was the moment I had been waiting for – I could choose my own piece! How I had longed for this moment!

My euphoria was short lived however, when upon closer inspection, I realized that my mother had already gone through the entire box of candy. There were bites taken out of every single piece.

Every. Single. Piece.

One year, on Valentine’s Day, I was particularly sad because I had recently broken up with a boyfriend and therefore was alone. My father, ever the hero, swooped in with a heart shaped box of See’s Candy for me. Yay! My own box.

Within moments of unwrapping the beautiful box of candy, I could feel two laser beams burning a hole in the back of my head. You know, when you feel like you are being watched? I slowly turned around, and there was my mother, grinning like the Cheshire Cat (she is English, you know).

“So,” she said, “What’s in the box?”

Dang it! Foiled again!

When I received an email last week from Jon at See’s Candy, asking me if I’d like some chocolates of my own, the first thing I did was make sure my mother wasn’t within a 5 mile radius of the house. Ok, the coast is clear – she was in Oregon.

I quickly said yes, and lo and behold, look at what came for me.

It’s mine, all mine! And I’m not sharing.

Well, maybe I’ll take a bite first.