Pink Peppermint Tea Cookies

In the kitchen baking once again. This time I've been bitten by the cookie bug. Or rather, I bit into a store bought peppermint tea cookie and thought I could do better. So I have! Besides, a batch of cookies are quite over due. I'm sure folks are starting to ponder their Christmas goodie-boxes and these are a festive play on those powdered tea cookie gems. 

Besides, I have a gnome demanding cookies of me. And no, I won't explain that. 

Spiced Apple Cider Caramels

Hope everyone had a good week.

For my part, I spent the week tinkering in the kitchen with batches of caramel and I have a wonderful new recipe to share with everyone. A caramel that tastes of freshly mulled apple cider. Oh yes, it's good.

Those of you going "Ppbbth, Caramels! I waited all week! Me want prizes!" I'll post the winner from last weeks giveaway of the big McCormick Halloween Goodie box too. Just zip down to the bottom of today's post.

For us candy makers, how about we get started on these apple cider caramels.

Now, just to be clear, "apple cider" around here is basically apple juice. I know it was wrong of us North Americans to adopt the term cider for a non-alcholic beverage, but we did it anyway. We just wanted to confuse everyone and I apologize. So just to be completely clear, we won't be using the fermented drink made from apples, no. Today we're working with a jug of fresh apple cider, which is essentially unfiltered apple juice. If you cannot get the fresh, cold pressed unfiltered stuff, go ahead and substitute the best quality/tasting apple juice you can find.

These caramels are a variation of my popular fleur de sel caramels, with a reduction of mulled apple cider. If you haven't tried them, you'll find that they're rich, smooth and far superior to those waxy squares you find in the supermarket.

Pumpkin Old Fashioned Donuts

It's Sunday and I'm back with pumpkin treats! Talk about deja vu, right?

When treats are good though, one can excuse repetitive use of ingredients. Besides, I've got pumpkin on the brain. Halloween is fast approaching and they're popping up everywhere--along with those 'fun sized' candy bars that will be my undoing.

So lets just get right down to how today's post came about. One of the added perks of being a blogger is you get lots of very friendly folks emailing you, offering to send you things to try. I tend pass on about 99% of these just because I'm a busy lady and I've got enough stuff to eat and store in my home without people sending me more and trying to finagle a blog post--and because no one has offered to send me an Audi TT (Audi, what gives?).

I do however like the opportunity to give things away to my readers. So today, thanks to the lovely folks at McCormick, I have a box of goodies for one lucky reader in the U.S. of A packed with goodies like McCormick vanilla extract & food colorings, and a few other little treats from Le Creuset, Mui, Wilton and Palderno World Cuisine to assist with your baking fun. 

For my part, I'm whipping up a Halloween themed post. I had several ideas, all utilizing the standard company of Halloween players. Some very cute, some scary and some complicated. In the end though, I settled on tasty. Tasty and pumpkin-y. 

Besides, my last pumpkin recipe didn't use exactly one can of pumpkin and that made those with the small cans of pumpkin, like commenter Katie, go all sad-emoticon.

That makes me :( too. 

I also had leftover pumpkin, so today we're using it and we're making a batch of festive fall donuts.

: ) @

See what I did there?

Pumpkin Spice Cake with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

Hello, Cake.

I have a wonderful pumpkin cake to share today! 


About this time last year I had gone on a pumpkin cake baking spree. It never resulted in a blog post as I was disappointed with nearly every recipe that I tried. Some cakes were good, but not so good that I felt they warranted an endorsement.  I had some rather particular ideas of what a pumpkin cake should be like: moist, tender and with just enough spice to provide those fall warm and fuzzy feelings. 

Unfortunately though, I wasn't feeling so warm and fuzzy after baking and tasting all those cakes.  You see, the more recipes I tried, the worse the cakes seemed to get. Some were heavy with spices, which I thought I would enjoy, but often found they gave the cakes a harsh edge. Other cakes I found a bit soapy, which I attributed to the citrus or too much cardamom or ginger in the base. One particular horror to emerge from my ovens was a cake that managed to taste of baking soda and metal.  In all, it was a disappointing run.

So I gave up and moved onto other baking projects to populate the blog. I figured I would pick up the quest again when my desire to eat pumpkin cake returned. Well, along with the damp fall Seattle weather, that desire has returned and this time I found the cake. When I tasted it, I knew no tweaking on my part would improve upon it.  It was just right.  Delightfully moist and echoing the flavors of a pumpkin pie.

It was the perfect base for my whipped cream cheese frosting.  I guarantee a generous slice will provide those warm and fuzzy feelings. 

Golden Raspberry-Rose Chocolates

It's getting close to that time of the year again, Valentine's day.

Since last year's post was a wee bit bitter, I'll provide some actual sweets for your sweetheart over these next few weeks. Starting with these raspberry and rose flavored chocolates (appropriate, right?), only bitter for their use of rich dark chocolate.

Raspberry and bittersweet chocolate is a common combination in the candy making universe. However, add a little rose oil (or rose water) and you have something very unique and delicious. The raspberry ganache centers in these chocolates finish with a wonderfully fruity-floral rose note without being perfumey.

As an added bit of fun, I'm going to teach you all how to turn your chocolates (or any chocolate) brilliant gold. (No pesky gold leaf required)

Caramel Wrapped Marshmallows

Few things woo me back into the kitchen like candy making. Not only is it fun and delicious, when making candy I always have this devious, subversive feeling come over me. As though I've thwarted some natural law by bringing the special, highly rationed substance CANDY into existence with my own humble hands.

Grasshopper Mint Macaron

Happy St Patrick's Day! I come bearing green food.

Fortified with plenty of medication, I whipped these macarons out last night. Macarons were not exactly what I had originally planned for today, but they're quick and can easily be made green. Perfect for the sick food blogger who wants to get back into bed asap.

I should note that these are my French meringue macarons, I think these are the first photos of my French meringue that I've posted on the blog. For folks looking for my French meringue recipe, it's coming, just not today. I'll probably post my French meringue recipe when I do my post on Macarons 101: French Meringue. I still want to thoroughly test all the variables when it comes to the French meringue method.

It seems that baking French meringue is less straight forward than Italian meringue. Or at least, that is how folks make it out to be. Everyone seems to have their own peculiar method. Some start out in a hot oven then drop the temperature. Others leave the door ajar during the last 5-10 minutes. Some use the convection, others don't. I should have all this worked out soon, I would like to do my French meringue 101 within the next few weeks.

So far my recipe has evolved quite nicely. I've been able to produce macarons with attractive shells, soft interiors (without the hollows that can be a problem with Italian meringue) and high tight feet. Best of all, they're so tasty.

Honestly, French meringue mac's are my favorite to eat. They're not quite as sweet as the Italian meringue and their texture is preferable. Combined with mint bittersweet chocolate ganache and you've got a cookie winner.



While I might be holding off on the macaron recipe, I can share the yummy chocolate mint ganache.

Grasshopper Ganache
fills 3-4 dozen macarons
200 grams semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
100 grams heavy cream
2-3 drops peppermint oil

Place the chopped chocolate into a heat safe bowl.

In a small pan, bring the heavy cream to a simmer. Pour over the chocolate, giving the bowl a little wiggle to submerge the chocolate. Allow to stand for one minute before stirring. Stir to combine the cream with the chocolate, add a few drops of peppermint oil (you can also use extract, just use slightly more) to taste.

Once smooth and uniform, leave at room temperature until it has cooled slightly and thickened. Pipe or drop spoonfuls of the ganache onto your macarons and top with another shell.

Note: If you attempt to speed ganache's cooking in the refrigerator, watch it carefully. If it gets too cool it will be too thick to pipe easily and you will need to warm it again.

Bittersweet Chocolate Tart

Happy Valentine's Day!

I do hope everyone had a pleasant day. I spent part of my Valentine's day with my family rummaging around Sur la Table gathering up goodies, free from any tongue clucking from my husband over my desire to acquire yet another cake stand. Eight cake stands isn't too many, right? They're all different! Certainly eight similar cake stands would be absurd, but eight different ones, well that is completely reasonable.

Just nod your heads in agreement. Thanks.

So then we came home, I basked briefly in the glow of my new toys and started baking.

Naturally, I made something that didn't require a cake stand.

Since it is Valentine's day, I decided to make a chocolate tart. Rich and bitter with dark chocolate, drizzled with a little tart red raspberry. Appropriate, wouldn't you agree?




Not So Humble Bittersweet Chocolate Tart

Crust:
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup Hershey's Special Dark cocoa
1/2 cup almond meal or ground almonds
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 large egg
pinch kosher salt

In your food processor, blend the butter and dry ingredients together until it resembles a fine meal. Add the egg and pulse until the mixture comes together. Press into a 14 x 4.5 x 1 inch tart pan and place in the freezer for a minimum of two hours.

Preheat your oven to 350°F

Place a piece of parchment into the frozen tart and add plenty of pie weights (or dried beans). Bake for 8 minutes and remove the weights. Bake for another 3-5 minutes until the bottom of the tart is dry and has lightened in color.

Allow the tart to cool on a wire rack and begin work on the ganache filling.

Filling:
(Feel free to flavor the ganache. You can add just about anything: almond or peanut butters, fruit purees, spices, or liqueurs. Basically anything you can dream up. If you add a 1/4 cup of puree or liqueur (etc), reduce the cream by an equal amount and add it to the finished ganache.)

11 oz good quality dark chocolate (54% cacao) finely chopped
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Place the finely chopped chocolate into a heat safe bowl and set aside.

Bring the heavy cream to a simmer over medium heat and pour it over the chocolate. Allow to stand for one minute and then mix until smooth and the chocolate is completely melted.

Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a second bowl.

(Now would be the time to add flavorings to the ganache, if using).

Pour the ganache into the tart and allow to chill for at least four hours.




Optional Raspberry Sauce:
6 oz fresh raspberries
simple syrup

Purée raspberries in the blender and then strain through a fine mesh sieve, discarding the solids. Thin the purée with simple syrup to achieve the desired sweetness.

Before serving, drizzle the sauce over the tart and slice into one inch bars.

Bitter Sweets

Valentine's Day is coming up! Which means I'll be spending the next few weeks absorbing advertisements that imply my husband doesn't love me if I'm not surprised with over the top flowers, diamonds or a shiny new Lexus.

All us girls know how fun that is!

Of course this also has my husband as nervous as a schizophrenic parakeet on the fourth of July.

He can't win and he knows it.



It's really okay though, since I tend to be unfazed by those traditional displays of affection. I like quirky, I like different... I like bitter conversation heart cookies.

Nothing speaks to my sick sense of humor like a Valentine's day cookie that says "Die in a fire"

Am I weird?

Maybe...




Of course, if I got a box of bitter conversation heart cookies in a new Lexus, well that would be even better.



So, to make these bitter sweets, I took my usual sugar cookie recipe and decorated them with royal icing sayings like: Pre-nup, Daddy issues, Angst, You're No Edward, Don't Call, Table 4 One, Die in a fire, Wanker, Bite Me, Move On and so on...

Good luck keeping your hands steady while laughing.

Disclaimer: Ms. Humble is not responsible for any time spent sleeping on the couch due to poor reaction to Bitter Sweet cookies from your significant other.

Herbed Yorkshire Puddings

More holiday eats making their way onto the blog, this time a British import to our Northwest holiday meal: Herbed Yorkshire Puddings. The term "pudding" applied to something resembling a popover tends to confuse most Americans. However, I figure that the whole point of the British food naming scheme was to confuse and frighten foreigners. How else can one explain a 'toad in a hole' or 'spotted dick', right?

Anyway, this is one of the British imports I really love at the table. Another import is the traditional Christmas cracker, something that as a non-drinker I am probably never inebriated enough to enjoy properly. The type you pull, creating a large cloud of sulfur-tinged smoke in your dinning room. Yes, that kind of cracker.

In addition to lung damage, you get a prize, a bad joke and a paper/foil crown to wear throughout dinner. Mother Humble now has a large photo collection of me wearing theses silly crowns and I should probably make an effort to stay on her good side should she decide to blackmail me at a later date.

Let me simplify: Yorkshire puddings GOOD. Ms Humble photographed in silly paper crown BAD.

Good to have that settled, let's get to the puddings:

Herbed Yorkshire Puddings
From Epicurious.com
yield: Makes about 16
6 tablespoons reserved pan drippings from Roast Prime Rib or olive oil
3 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

Finely chop your herbs and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the milk and eggs together. Sift the flour and salt into egg mixture and mix until smooth. Once well blended, stir in the herbs and let the batter stand at room temperature at least 30 minutes (or refrigerate up to 3 hours). Mix once more right before using.

Preheat oven to 450°F. Place 16 standard (1/3 cup) metal muffin cups into the oven to oven heat for 10 minutes. Place 1 teaspoon drippings from your rib roast (or olive oil) in each muffin cup . Return pan to oven until drippings are very hot, about 8 minutes. If it smells a little smokey don't worry, that is normal.

Immediately spoon 2 generous tablespoonfuls batter atop hot drippings in each muffin cup. Bake until the puddings are golden and puffy, about 12 minutes (puddings will sink in center but edges will stay puffy). Serve hot.

Whiskeyed Crab Soup

Mother Humble makes this soup every year for Christmas dinner. It is one of our Humble family traditions, along with making my brother (who cooks professionally) clean and shell crabs Christmas morning. Poor guy.

This is might be a somewhat eccentric Northwest addition to a typical holiday menu, but our local dungeness crab is delicious and quite possibly the best flavored crab on the planet. Anyone who disagrees with me can 'bring it' and we shall settle it mano a mano (or crabo a crabo) in the ring of crab combat!

(Mother Humble came over and dropped this enormous lump of crab into my soup when I was taking photos. She was clearly not impressed by my soup's 'little' crab meat garnish, as seen in the first photo.

Yup, that's my mom.)

Whiskeyed Crab Soup
Chandler's recipe taken from Recipezzar
Serves 6-8

Start by cleaning and shelling 2 1/2lbs of dungeness crabs (Or force a family member to do it). Reserve and refrigerate the meat for later and get to work on the stock with the shells.

Crab Stock
1 dungeness crab, shells
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup carrot, chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup celery, chopped
4 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup brandy or cognac
2 quarts cold water
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried tarragon


Heat the olive oil in a heavy stockpot. Add the crab shells, carrot, onion and celery; brown lightly. Add brandy and ignite

(Burn fingers while trying to take photos of the flaming pot). When flames have expired, add the water, garlic, bay leaf, tarragon and tomato paste.

Bring stock to a low simmer for 2 to 3 hours and reduce to 1 quart. Strain through a fine sieve and refrigerate until ready to use.

Whiskeyed Crab Soup
1 quart crab stock
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup flour
3 cups heavy cream
1/4 lemon
1 dash Tabasco sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
2 teaspoons whiskey
1 tablespoon sherry wine
2 tablespoons butter
salt, to taste

Make a roux in a heavy saucepan by melting 4 ounces (1 stick) butter over medium heat. When foam subsides, add the flour all at once. Stir constantly, reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring until it is blond-colored (about 5 minutes).

Add crab stock, cup by cup, whisking thoroughly after each addition. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes, skim frequently. Add heavy cream, juice from the lemon, Tabasco, Worcestershire, Old Bay and white pepper. Bring back to simmer for 10 minutes. Add the whiskey, sherry, 2 tablespoons butter and the reserved crab meat; cook 1 minute to heat through. Salt to taste.

Sprinkle with a little Old Bay seasoning and serve immediately.

'Tis The Season

My mother, in town for only 12 hours and already having her way with all my food.

Just a quick blog update, since we're verging on the holidays and Mother Humble arrived in Seattle this morning.

These events will likely contribute to somewhat sporadic posting to the blog this week. There is plenty to be done and I will be competing with my mother for kitchen time and of course, all my ingredients.

I also have a couple big baking project to work on. I'll be whipping up two cakes this week and their construction will likely take several days. So, I expect blog posts this week to be rather, you know, cake oriented.

What kind of cakes? Well, you'll just have to wait and see.

Sparkling Snowflake Sugar Cookies

Not all my cookies are nerdy; some are completely normal.

Here are some of the 200 cookies that kept me busy on Friday. These were packaged up in glass jars to be handed out as gifts. Others were laid out for munching at a holiday party this afternoon.

They were really simple to make (which is great when you're making hundreds), no food coloring needed, iced with a single tip and quickly decorated with scattered sugars and nonpareils.



To make these cookies I used my standard cookie and royal icing recipes (both are linked here). I used a few of my Fox Run Five Piece Snowflake Cookie Cutter Set to do the cut outs. I used the two largest cutters to do the cookies and then removed some of their centers with the two smallest cutters.



I made a batch of royal icing, and rather than mixing it to hold a stiff peak I added just a little more water. Not enough to make it suitable for flooding mind you, but just enough so that I could pipe my icing onto the cut out snowflakes and have it settle smoothly but not run off the edge. I filled my piping bag with this icing (reserving some for flooding) and used a small round #3 Ateco piping tip. On my cookies, I either piped the icing onto the entire surface or I did outlines and other simple designs. I then sprinkled some of my cookies with sanding sugar, coarse sanding sugar or nonpariels after I finished each one and set them aside to dry.



For the cookies without the cutouts I piped a border around the edge and flooded them with my remaining royal icing. I then either let these dry or sprinkled on more sanding sugar, coarse sanding sugar or nonpariels. For the cookies that I allowed to dry plain, I piped some additional designs ontop of the dry flood work (dots, stars, outlines and other simple designs). I then sprinkled these with sugar to help the designs stand out against the floodwork background.



One last nerdy note, a few of these cookie cutters could pass as fractals. Mmmmm, duel use cookies cutters.

English Toffee

Small batch of English toffee coming out of the Humble kitchen today. It was a perfect batch and enjoyed by everyone.

Though, some folks did moan about the prolific, tempting and somewhat 'less than healthy' stream of treats that has been coming out of my kitchen lately. I got a request for "Broccoli Toffee". Yeah, too bad I'm out of broccoli right now. I do have 2 boxes of tofu sitting in my fridge though, maybe I can 'toffee' it. That will show them.

Anyway...

This stuff is so light, crisp and buttery. Yum! Fudge I can handle myself around, but I admit to having overindulged on the scraps from my toffee cutting today. I cannot resist the delicate snap of freshly made toffee, nothing out of a can ever comes close.



Not so Humble's English Toffee:
yields roughly 50 pieces

1 1/4 cups unsalted butter
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 cups finely chopped toasted almonds
10 ounces bitter sweet chocolate, chopped
vegetable oil (soybean or safflower)

Over low heat, melt the butter in a sauce pan. While waiting on your butter, rub a marble slab with a little vegetable oil. If you don't have a marble slab you can use something else that is at minimum 2 feet square, secure, flat, nonporous and heat resistant. Yes, ALL those things. Think safety here because you're going to be pouring your molten sugar out onto it later. Then grease a rolling pin and a pizza cutter with a little more vegetable oil.

When your butter has melted, add the sugar, corn syrup, salt and 1/4 cup of water. Bring this mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring gently with a wooden spoon or heat safe spatula. Attach your candy thermometer and continue stirring. After about 8-10 minutes your mixture should hit 260°F, then add 1/2 cup of the chopped toasted almonds. Continue stirring gently for another 8-10 minutes and bring the mixture to 305°F, then immediately pour the toffee onto your oiled slab. Being careful, because you're dealing with 300 degree molten sugar, roll the mixture out until thin. You're aiming for roughly 1/4 inch thick. Work quickly because you have to cut it before it hardens. Then using the pizza cutter, slice the toffee into squares or bars. After a few minutes the toffee will be cool enough to gather up and set aside. It will also be cool enough for nibbling... om nom.

Melt your chocolate (temper it too, ideally) and pour it into bowl and then dip the toffee, shaking off the excess. Place the toffee into a bowl with the remaining almonds and coat thoroughly. Place the finished toffee on a baking sheet to dry. Repeat with the rest of the toffee.

You don't have to chocolate coat all the toffee if you like it plain (it is good!). However if you do, store it in an air tight container as toffee absorbs moisture from the air and it will lose that light and crisp texture if left out.



There are additional tips for candy making in the comments section of this post, so check them out.

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Just a general blog note:

I'm going to be turning comment moderation on at night now. The spammers have been running amok and it is annoying to wake up and then have to purge all the ads for 'discount' designer clothing, performance enhancing drugs and links to girly sites. Comments will be approved first thing in the morning.

Fudge Part III: Chocolate Espresso & Pomegranate

Rolling out the last two flavors of fudge from Wednesday's candy making: Chocolate Espresso and Pomegranate.

Both of these also turned out great and the chocolate espresso fudge almost needed a little sign to tell folks to keep their hands off it, I was getting worried I wouldn't have enough to photograph today.

The Pomegranate is something new and I was debating what kind of chocolate to use for this recipe. I've made dark chocolate pomegranate truffles that were really good and I thought a fudge version would also go over well. However, I wanted something colorful on my fudge tray, so I went with white chocolate for just that reason and it looks and tastes great.

So without further ado, let's get to the fudge.

Chocolate Espresso Fudge



Not so Humble's Chocolate Espresso Fudge:
yields roughly 64 pieces

2 cups granulated sugar
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream (40% milk fat)
1/4 cup Kahlua coffee liqueur (or an additional 1/4 cup heavy cream)
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1-3 teaspoons instant espresso powder
7 ounce jar marshmallow creme

Line a 9x9 inch pan with foil and coat with a little nonstick spray.

Combine sugar, butter, Kahlua (if using) and cream into a heavy bottomed sauce pan-- again, recommending non-stick pan for candy making--and bring to a boil over medium heat stirring constantly. Once boiling, attach a candy thermometer and reduce the heat to a hair above medium low and continue to stir for 7-10 minutes until your thermometer reads 234°F.

Once your mixture hits the appropriate temperature, remove from heat and grab a wooden spoon. Add the chocolate chips stirring vigorously until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Sprinkle in the espresso powder while stirring, add more or less depending on how strong you like your coffee, or in this case, coffee fudge. Add the marshmallow creme and mix until well blended.

Pour the mixture into your pan and allow to cool for several hours, until firm.

This fudge would be even better with a chocolate covered espresso bean on top of each square, but alas, I couldn't find any in my pantry. Grr!

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Pomegranate Fudge



Not so Humble's Pomegranate Fudge:
yields roughly 64 pieces

3 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup POM wonderful 100% pomegranate juice
1/3 cup heavy cream (40% milk fat)
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon LorAnn's pomegranate flavor*
7 oz jar marshmallow creme
a little red and royal blue food coloring

Line a 9x9 inch pan with foil and coat with a little nonstick spray.

Combine sugar, butter, pomegranate juice and cream into a heavy bottomed sauce pan--once again, recommending non-stick pan for this--and bring to a boil over medium heat stirring constantly. Once boiling, attach a candy thermometer and reduce the heat to a hair above medium low and continue to stir for 7-10 minutes until your thermometer reads 234°F.

Once your mixture hits the appropriate temperature, remove from heat and grab a wooden spoon. Add the white chocolate chips stirring vigorously until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Add the flavoring, food coloring and marshmallow creme and mix until well blended.

Pour the mixture into your pan and allow to cool for several hours, until firm.

*1/2 teaspoon LorAnn's pomegranate flavor
This is a highly concentrated candy flavoring, found in most baking/candy making supply stores. You can also find it oneline here: Pomegranate Flavoring, 1 dram

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Alternatively you can cool both of these fudges in your fridge, if like me, you can't wait that long. Large chunks will also freeze well if tightly wrapped for a month or two.

I should also post a quick note on why I am such a fan of nonstick when it comes to my candy making as I continue to recommend it without any word as to why.

The primary reason for my use of a good quality nonstick pan for candy making is that it simply makes my job of keeping the sugar off the sides of the pan so much easier.

Undissolved and crystalized sugar can ruin a batch of candy, making it gritty. This is not grit from a few rogue grains of undissolved sugar in your syrup or a few specks of sugar clinging to the pan, but rather that these grains set off a chain reaction of crystallization in your saturated sugar syrup. The more concentrated the syrup, the easier it can crystalize.

Many candy recipes nowadays include corn syrup or some other form of sugar to help interfere with sugar's crystallization. With fudge, you often see marshmallow creme used because of its hefty payload of corn syrup effects not only the texture and sweetness but guards against gritty fudge.

By combining the marshmallow creme and a non-stick pan for my fudge recipes I don't have to worry about crystallization. Now for some of my recipes will no doubt call for washing down the sides of a pan with a damp pastry brush, but at least for these fudge recipes, you can get your candy without all the effort and anxiety.

Fudge Part II: Baileys Vanilla Bean & Peppermint Mocha

I wrapped up yesterday's all morning fudge making marathon with four flavors: Pomegranate, Espresso Chocolate, Baileys Vanilla Bean and Peppermint Mocha. I've recruited Mr. Humble to sample all the flavors and he is groaning, but I am pretty sure they are happy groans.


This is some great fudge. I am very happy with how all these recipes turned out, each has great flavor and texture. I'll post two recipes today and then the rest tomorrow. So... you know, stay tuned!

Let's get down to our first flavor, Peppermint Mocha:




Yes, I know there have been a lot of peppermint flavored items on the blog lately, what can I say, 'tis the season. Besides, I adore the occasional Starbucks peppermint mocha, so I need to create a fudge version.

Please note that this recipe calls for instant espresso powder, so don't try substituting instant coffee or worse, coffee grounds. Doing so will make me cry.

Not so Humble's Peppermint Mocha Fudge:
yields roughly 64 pieces

2 cups granulated sugar
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream (40% milk fat)
1/4 cup milk
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 drops peppermint oil
2-3 teaspoons instant espresso powder
7 ounce jar marshmallow creme
1/4-1/2 cup crushed candy canes

Line a 9x9 inch pan with foil and coat with a little nonstick spray.

Combine sugar, butter and milk and cream into a heavy bottomed sauce pan-- again I recommend non-stick--and bring to a boil over medium heat. Once boiling, attach a candy thermometer and reduce the heat to a hair above medium low and cook for 7-10 minutes until your thermometer reads 234°F , stirring constantly.

Once your mixture hits the appropriate temperature, remove from heat and grab a wooden spoon. Add the chocolate chips stirring vigorously until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Sprinkle in the espresso powder while stirring. Add the marshmallow creme and peppermint oil and mix until well blended.

Pour the mixture into your pan and sprinkle with the crushed candy canes. Allow to cool on a wire rack until room temperature.

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Baileys Vanilla Bean Fudge



This fudge came out great, rich and creamy with the flavor of Irish cream. Om nom nom.

Not so Humble's Baileys Vanilla Bean Fudge:
yields roughly 64 pieces

2 cups granulated sugar
1 stick unsalted butter
1/3 cup heavy cream (40% milk fat)
1/2 cup plus one tablespoon Baileys Irish cream
2 cups good quality white chocolate chips
1/2 vanilla bean scraped, reserving seeds
7 ounce jar marshmallow creme

Line a 9x9 inch pan with foil and coat with a little butter or nonstick spray.

Combine sugar, butter, heavy cream and Irish creme into a heavy bottomed sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Once boiling, attach a candy thermometer and reduce the heat to a hair above medium low and cook for 7-10 minutes until your thermometer reads 234°F , stirring constantly.

Once your mixture hits the appropriate temperature, remove from heat and add the white chocolate chips, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Add the vanilla bean and marshmallow creme and mix until well blended.

Pour the mixture into your prepared pan and allow to cool on a wire rack until room temperature.

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If you're in a rush you can also cool both of these in the fridge without any ill effects.

Both these fudges freeze well and are best stored in an air tight container or wrapped, at room temperature.

Homemade Snowman "Peeps"

Since I was making marshmallows today and had all the ingredients out, I decided to whip of a batch of homemade 'peeps' as well. I was trying to think of a suitably nerdy peep to create but I was just drawing a blank. (If anyone has any suggestions for nerd peeps, I'd love them) So lacking any nerdy alternatives, I just decided to make something seasonally appropriate. In this case, Snowman Peeps complete with fondant accessories.

Oh, and for you peep haters out there, you might want to give fresh homemade peeps a chance. They're actually edible.



Not so Humble Marshmallow Snowmen:
Makes approximately one dozen

1/4 oz unflavored gelatin
1 cup granulated sugar

royal icing
fondant
granulated sugar

Add 1/3 a cup of cold water to your stand mixer's bowl and sprinkle in the gelatin. Allow to bloom for 5 minutes.

In a small nonstick saucepan over medium heat, add 1/4 cup of water and the sugar. Stir the sugar until it has dissolved and then stop. Bring to a boil, attach your candy thermometer and heat to 235°F. You should wash down the sides of the pan with a damp pastry brush if you see any sugar clinging, as this recipe doesn't contain any corn syrup to help prevent crystallization.

Once it reaches 235°F, remove from heat and add to the softened gelatin. Gently whisk for a couple minutes to allow the mixture to cool down and the gelatin to dissolve. Then whisk on medium-high for 8 minutes until the mixture forms firm peaks and holds its shape without slumping.

Fill a piping bag outfitted with a large round tip with the marshmallow. In a wide shallow dish filled with granulated sugar, pipe mounds of marshmallow in three different sizes. These will make up the segments of the snowman's body. Use a damp finger to smooth down any unsightly peaks. Sprinkle more granulated sugar on top to coat the outsides completely and remove from the dish and set aside so that you can continue pipe more mounds.

Once you have all your pieces complete, give them about 10 minutes to cool and set up and then you can begin assembling the marshmallow snowmen.

Stack the snowman body segments on top of each other securing with a little royal icing, or just use a toothpick to make them extra sturdy.

Tint a small piece of fondant orange for the snowmen's carrot nose. Attach each with a small drop of royal icing. Use more royal icing to attach small pieces of black sanding sugar to make up the coal eyes or simply use black tinted royal icing.

Take roughly 1 ounce of fondant and divide it into two pieces. Tint one red and roll both into logs about the size and shape of your little finger. Cut each of the logs into 10-12 segments and stick them back together, alternating red and white. Roll this log out carefully into a flat sheet to cut out your snowman's scarves. If you feel so inclined, you can cut the ends of each scarf to make fringe.

Wrap the scarf around your snowman's neck and secure with a bit of royal icing.

To make the top hat, take some black tinted or chocolate fondant and roll it out and cut rounds. Place a small cylinder of fondant on each round, securing with a drop of royal icing. Curve up the sides of the top hat slightly and place on top of the snowman's head, securing with even more... thats right, royal icing.

Now they're ready to eat or even decorate one of your holiday desserts.

Peppermint Marshmallows

Homemade marshmallows, so perfectly light and springy. They just melt in your mouth.

I have yet to find a store bought marshmallow that can beat homemade. Not even the absurdly priced marshmallows from Williams Sonoma ($16!) that Mother Humble left behind can quite equal them. Granted, those Williams Sonoma marshmallows are really good, but these are better.

Continuing my Chocolate-Peppermint theme, I've decided to make some hot cocoa tonight with homemade peppermint marshmallows. In just a minute these light and fluffy pillows turn an ordinary cup of hot cup of cocoa into a creamy, peppermint infused mug of the warm and fuzzies.



Not so Humble Peppermint Marshmallows:
Adapted from Marthastewart.com

2 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 oz unflavored gelatin (four packages)
2-3 drops peppermint oil
2 large egg whites
rice flour

Coat a 9x13 metal pan with nonstick spray. Place a piece of parchment into the bottom of the pan and coat it with nonstick spray as well. Separate your eggs and place the whites into your stand mixer or mixing bowl and set aside.

In a large heavy bottomed saucepan (the bigger the better) heat 3/4 cup of water, sugar and corn syrup over medium heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Once the mixture boils attach your candy thermometer and turn up the heat to almost medium high. Bring the mixture to 260°F without stirring, this should take roughly 7-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan bring two cups of water to a boil. Using a heat-safe bowl, add 3/4 cup cold water and sprinkle the gelatin on top. Allow the gelatin to bloom for about five minutes then move the bowl to the pot of simmering water. Set the bowl into the simmering water and whisk until gelatin has totally dissolved. Mix in the drops of peppermint oil and set aside. Now would also be the time to beat the egg whites to stiff but not dry peaks.

Once the sugar hits 260°F take it off the heat and slowly, while whisking, add the gelatin to the pot of sugar. It will bubble up. A lot. This is where you'll be happy you chose a pot with high sides. Take this mixture over to your egg whites and while beating slowly add it to your bowl. Beat the mixture on medium high speed for about 7-8 minutes until it has nearly tripled in volume and quickly move the mixture to your greased pan.

Working quickly, spread the marshmallow evenly into the pan and allow to cool for several hours.

Once cool cut around the outside of the pan and turn out onto a greased piece of parchment. It should pop right out. Using a long thin knife (or if you want really nice clean cuts, use a guitar string) and cut into pieces. Toss the pieces in a bowl of rice flour to remove any stickiness.

These are also yummy dipped in chocolate, rolled in crushed candy canes and then tossed into a hot cup of coffee or espresso. Mmmmm... peppermint mocha.

Fudge Part I: White Chocolate Eggnog Fudge

It has gotten chilly in Seattle! Which of course means it is time for hot cocoa, homemade marshmallows, soups, new tires on my car and lots n' lots of fudge making.

I wasn't sure where I would start my holiday fudge making marathon, but I knew I had to try my hand at eggnog fudge this year. This is my first time making eggnog fudge and I absolutely love the flavor. I am a sucker for nutmeg, what can I say. The texture is very smooth and a just smidgen softer than I am used to with fudge, but perhaps that is just because it just needs to sit a little longer to fully set. I fully admit that once It was set enough to cut, I dug in, so maybe I just need to be a little more patient. Regardless, this stuff is delicious.

To finish my fudge I cut it into squares and individually wrapped each in a small piece of waxed paper. They are cute, tidy little packages now, perfect for giving away... not that I am going to do that. These are all mine.

(Edit: I've since cooled the squares completely in my fridge and the texture is now perfect)



White Chocolate Eggnog Fudge:
Adapted from recipezaar
yields roughly 64 pieces

2 cups granulated sugar
1 stick unsalted butter
3/4 cup fresh eggnog
11 ounces chopped white chocolate
1/2 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
7 ounce jar marshmallow creme
1 teaspoon rum extract

nutmeg for sprinkling

Line a 9x9 inch pan with buttered foil.

Combine sugar, butter and eggnog into a heavy bottomed sauce pan--I almost always use nonstick for my candy making--and bring to a boil over medium heat. Once boiling, attach a candy thermometer and reduce the heat to a hair above medium low and cook for 10-15 minutes until your thermometer reads 234°F , stirring constantly.

Once your mixture hits the appropriate temperature, remove from heat and add chocolate stirring vigorously until chocolate is melted and smooth. Add the marshmallow creme, nutmeg and rum extract and mix until well blended.

Pour the mixture into your pan and sprinkle with more fresh ground nutmeg. Allow to cool on a wire rack until room temperature. Cut, wrap, and you're good to go.