Showing off

I went with my friend Kelly to a "Hello Cupcake" class (you should take a look at the books, they are incredible) taught by the authors a few weeks ago. We made a bunch of amazing cupcakes out of their new book. Here's a picture of all of my creations (Yeah, I really did make these!):

Butterfly Cupcakes

A surprisingly easy treat just using melting chocolate wafers again from the hello cupcake book. Outlined the wings in brown chocolate, filled it in with orange, and then used a toothpick to pull the brown chocolate into the orange. Made antennae too, but they kept breaking so I gave up.

Grandma's Knitting, Sewing, and Beading Birthday Cake

 

Grandma has always been a knitter and a sewer, and recently has gotten into beading. So we took all her favorite things and put them on a cake. Here's some notes about how we did it ...

Big General Hints: 

• Adhere the complicated pieces on to thin pieces of rolled out "rolled fondant" so that you can play around with the layout before sticking it to the icing. A pastry wheel is a great tool to cut out wavy lines of fondant so your pieces look nice before placing. Took me a long time to figure out how to lay everything out (our cake was too small) and having stuff on fondant made a big difference. In retrospect the beads were probably a bit too much, but the kids had worked so hard on them we couldn't leave them out.
• To make holes in beads, you can use a drinking straw, or a metal pastry bag decorating tip
• Rolling pin rings let really little kids do all the rolling they want without making the pastry (or in this case, "rolled fondant" ) too thin. Actually, I use them even when I don't have kids helping!
• We made this cake over a two week period and froze lots of the components as we made them, only defrosting at the end to put the whole thing together. 
• Now that I'm officially obsessed with cupcake and cake making, I bought a cupcake carrier. I was torn between the Chefmate one (which is a Target home brand, though it seems to be also available as an oneida one) and the Wilton ultimate 3-in-1 cake caddy. The Chefmate/Oneida one holds 24 standard cupcakes (but nothing else). The Wilton one is designed to carry 12 regular cupcakes, 24 mini cupcakes, or a regular cake and also seems somewhat sturdier. The big downside of the Wilton is that the cupcake supports are really shallow, while the Chefmate/Oneida holes are much deeper. So I bought the Chefmate one. You can put an aluminum 1/4 sheet pan (which is slightly smaller than a 13x9 pan) into it if you fold up the edges. I also got a thin flexible placemat that I trimmed to the size of the base, and a cake could sit on that without the pan. We left our cake in the pan in the end because we had to really cram bits on it.

Spool of Thread:

• To make the spool: "Glue" (with melted chocolate chips) two mini nilla wafers onto a tootsie roll.
• Use  "rolled fondant" like playdough and make something that looks like a needle. I used a toothpick to make the eye of the needle.
• To make the thread: Roll out "rolled fondant" thin and then slice it into narrow strips with the straight edge of a pastry wheel. Roll it around the needle and spool.

 Knitting Needles and Balls of Wool:

• Go out and buy What's New Cupcake? -- directions are in there, but the basics are as follows:
• Needles:  Pringles "stix" (or pocky) dipped in melted chocolate with a (american style) smartie "glued" on the end with melted chocolate (somehwhat of a challenge) and then redipped.
• Wool: mini cupcake iced, then melting wafer in the middle and pipe melted chocolate wafers back and forth in lines (my 8-year-old did much of this)

Knitting:

• Just used melted chocolate wafers in a zip lock bag and piped the design one loopy row at a time. 
• I actually tried to knit licorice laces on chopsticks for "true" knitting and it was a total flop (you can knit them, but they don't lay flat). Next time (ha ha) I'm going to try these laces that were recommended by a friend.

Mega beads:

• I made a bunch of these (and they're yummy) but they were too big for the necklace by the time I started laying everything out, so I just stuck a couple on the cake in the end. 
• Cut half inch slices of pound cake, and use mini-cookie-cutters to cut out shapes. Make a hole in the middle with a drinking straw and dip in melting chocolate.
• Getting them out of the melted chocolate was tough. Next time I'm going to try freezing them first.

Happy Birthday Grandma Sewing:

• I rolled the "rolled fondant" thin and then used a "letter press set" to make the outlines of the letters in the fondant. Then I piped melting chocolate to look like stitches.
• I tried hard to find a way to really sew licorice laces into the fondant, but it just kept tearing so eventually I gave up.

Necklace of Beads: 

• In addition to the mega-beads I made, the kids spent a lot of time making beads out of "rolled fondant" It's very much like playdough, with the added bonus that they have to knead it for a little bit, then knead in the  food coloring (which can result in colored hands too) and then make beads. Mostly with cookie cutters, but some just formed by hand. Poked holes in the middle with a drinking straw.
• Also bought lots of cookies, gummy savers, and other candy that we cut poke holes into. 
• Threaded them all onto the red licorice lace.
• Placing this on the cake was actually the most difficult layout task. Took two people, one holding the necklace in the air and the other pressing the beads into the icing.

Homemade Matza

Probably not for purists, but this is really fun to make and really easy.

First, watch this video on NY Times.com

You can find the recipe also on the NY times web page

The only difference that we did was to poke holes (using a fork) in the matza before baking so it doesn't puff up like in the video. Also before adding the oil & water to the flour, set a count down clock to 18 minutes ... it's got to be less than 18 minutes from mixing flour & liquid to being completely done. With two cookie sheets in the oven at all times, and 3 or 4 matzot on a sheet, we had (some) time to spare

Cat Cookies [Recipe]

We've been invited to a pot-luck dinner at our friends house ... they have four cats ... we decided to create some "cat cookies." Since valentine's day is coming up, we added some hearts.

Ingredients

Each Cat Uses:

• One oval vanilla sandwich cookie (We used Nabisco "Cameo")
• One "Nilla wafer"
• Three 2.5-inch segments of a twizzlers "pull-n-peel" candy (NOT regular twizzlers, but the kind that pull apart into little strings.) Or some licorice laces.
• Some white chocolate chips or melting chocolate
• Some milk chocolate chips *plus* more chips or melting chocolate
• (Optional) One "conversation heart"

Other Equipment:

• A cookie sheet or baking pan that will fit in your refrigerator lined with ...
• Parchment paper (waxed paper or foil will do, but parchment paper is really nice and non-stick)
• A couple of zip-lock bags

How to:

1. Put the parchment paper on the cookie sheet, and make sure there's a space in your refrigerator big enough to put it when you'll need to later.
   
   
2. Take one of the pull-n-peel twizzlers out of the bag. (Note that they seem to dry out if left out of the bag for too long, so don't try to do too many at once). Cut it into 2.5 inch (6 cm) segments. Then, pull apart (into 9 strands) one of these segments.
    
3. Carefully slice the sandwich cookies in half. It doesn't really matter whether the "creme" ends up on one or both halves, but do your best not to break either of the two cookies (though if you do break them, they're still usable, just not quite as aesthetically pleasing).
   
   
4. Put the white chips or melting chocolate into a very small microwave-safe bowl and melt them in the microwave. It takes a while to figure out how long you need to do this, so the first time you should have some patience. Essentially, you should zap them for 5 or 10 seconds, take them out of the microwave and stir with a spoon. Repeat. And repeat. And repeat. Note that the chips will get soft enough to stir LONG BEFORE they appear to be melting. Don't let them get too hot (and be sure to check the temperature before letting little fingers do the stirring!) When you stir it and it looks like melted white chocolate, you're ready for the next step.
    
5. Place a twizzer "tail" on the half of the cookie that has more creme and press it into the "creme" a bit (being careful not to crack the cookie!). Then, spread some of the melted white chocolate onto the other half of the cookie, and "reglue" the two halves back together, so the cat's "tail" sticks out. Repeat with some more cookies, and then put all of them into the fridge for a few minutes to solidify for 5 or 10 minutes. If you broke one or both of the cookies, a bit of extra white chocolate glue will usually allow you to reassemble the whole thing.
   
   
   
   
   
6. Remove the cookies from the fridge. Paint some melted white chocolate on the back of a nilla wafer, and "glue" it onto the cookie+tail combo. Repeat with the remaining cookies, then put everything back into the fridge to "set".
   
   
   
   
   
7. While the cookies are solidifying in the fridge, make the whiskers: take pairs of 2.5 inch twizzler pull-n-peel bits and squish them together with your fingers to form an "X". If you paid attention earlier and didn't take out too much at once, they'll still be nice and sticky. If not, squish them together as best you can -- it'll be OK if they don't totally stick, we'll be using more white-chocolate "glue" later that will make them stay in place.
   
   
   
   
   
8. This next step is kind of hard, possibly easier for an adult to do than the kids. Remove the cookies from the fridge. Coat the front of the nilla wafer part of the cookie-combo with melted white chocolate. I found it easiest to do this by flipping the cookie-combo over and rolling the nilla wafer in a spoon.
   
   
   
   
   
   
9. Place the "whiskers" in roughly the middle of the nilla wafer, and also "glue" down two chocolate chip "ears". Repeat with the remaining cookies and then put back in the fridge to solidify.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
10. 
    
    
    
    Put some dark chips in a small zip-lock bag and melt them in the microwave, using the same 5-or-10 second technique, but this time instead of stirring in between, you should just kneed the bag a bit. I usually leave the bag open, and just put the chips at the bottom of the bag.
    
    
    
11. This part is just for grown ups: once the chips in the bag are melty, squish most of the air out of the bag, zip it shut, and squish the chocolate away from one of the two bottom corners of the bag. Then snip as tiny a hole as you can in that corner. You're
    
    
    
    going to use this as a "pastry bag" to pipe a face on your cat. You may want to practice making faces and just get used to this piping technique by doing some drawing (that you'll just toss later) on waxed paper. Draw eyes, noses, and mouths on your cats. Back into the fridge to solidify. Note that milk chocolate chips seem to take a bit longer to harden than the white ones.
    
    
12. If you feel like it, melt some white chocolate chips in another zipper bag, cut a small hole, and squish some onto the back of a conversation heart. Paste the heart onto the cat.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

Chocolate Snowmen [Recipe]

I invented this recipe after being told we couldn't bring our chocolate dreidels to my daughter's winter party at school, because they didn't want anything religious at the party. I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out!

Ingredients

Each Snowman Uses:

• 1 Thin Pretzel Stick
• 1 Regular Marshmallow
• 1 Mini Marshmallow
  
• 1 Bite size 3 Musketeers Bar
• Some milk chocolate chips or melting wafers (probably there's something much better about the melting wafers, but I've found that the chips work fine and are easier and cheaper)
  
• Some white chocolate chips or melting wafers

Other Equipment:

• A cookie sheet or baking pan that will fit in your refrigerator lined with ...
• Parchment paper (waxed paper or foil will do, but parchment paper is really nice and non-stick)
• A very narrow straw (if you're totally obsessed you can buy "cocktail straws" at the supermarket) or a toothpick (optional)
  

How To

1. Put the parchment paper on the cookie sheet, and make sure there's a space in your refrigerator big enough to put it when you'll need to later.
   
   
   
2. Unwrap your 3 Musketeers Bars (note that if you're going to be making a big batch of these, it's a good idea to unwrap everything first since it's a pain to keep having to melt the dipping chocolate)
   
   
3. Put the white chips or melting chocolate into a very small microwave-safe bowl and melt them in the microwave. It takes a while to figure out how long you need to do this, so the first time you should have some patience. Essentially, you should zap them for 5 or 10 seconds, take them out of the microwave and stir with a spoon. Repeat. And repeat. And repeat. Note that the chips will get soft enough to stir LONG BEFORE they appear to be melting. Don't let them get too hot (and be sure to check the temperature before letting little fingers do the stirring!) When you stir it and it looks like melted white chocolate, you're ready for the next step.
   
   
   
4. Dip one of the flat sides of the regular marshmallow into the melted white chocolate, wipe off the excess, and then use the melted white chocolate to "glue" the marshmallow onto the bite-sized 3 musketeers bar. Place the combination (bar side up) on your cookie sheet. Repeat with the rest of your big marshmallows/bite-sized bars. You may have to reheat the melting chocolate a bit and restir depending on how many you are making. Once your sheet is full, stick it in the fridge until the melting chocolate has solidified and the marshmallows are really stuck to the bars (10 minutes should be more than enough)
   
   
   
5. While the marshmallows/bite-sized bars are chilling, prepare your pretzel sticks: break them into roughly 1.5-inch long pieces.
   
   
   
6. Remelt the white chocolate / topping it up with chips if necessary. Then, holding the marshmallow/bar combo by the marshmallow, dip the bar part into the white chocolate to coat the whole bar (our chocolate isn't really deep enough in this picture) and then stand it up (marshmallow side down) on your cookie sheet. "Stick" a mini-marshmallow on top of the center of the bar to form the snowman's head.
   
   
7. Now comes the tricky part: push two pretzel sticks into two opposite sides of the bite-sized bar to form the snowman's arms. The snowman tends to tip over at this point if you're not careful -- it's much easier to do this if you have three hands: While one person holds the bottom of the big marshmallow for support, the other person can push two pretzel sticks into two opposite sides of the bite-sized bar (simultaneously) to form the snowman's arms. Then carefully put your creation back onto the cookie sheet so that it doesn't tip, and neither do any of its friends. Once you've processed all the pieces, carefully put the cookie sheet back in the fridge to let everything solidify again.
   
   
   
8. Once your snowmen are pretty solid, remelt the white chocolate chips or wafers. Take one (unmelted) milk chocolate chip, dip the bottom in the melted white chocolate, wipe off the excess, and "glue" it to the head of a snowman for his hat. Then back in the fridge they go.
   
   
   
9. Now you're going to draw the buttons and the face. There are two ways to do this. An adult can do the whole thing using the ziplock piping technique below, but the buttons are really easy for a kid to "draw" so you might want to do that first. Remelt the chocolate chips if necessary, and then using the narrowest straw you can find (or the widest toothpick, or possibly even a spare pretzel stick) dip the straw in the melted chocolate and then touch it to the snowman in 3 places to make 3 buttons.
   
   
   
10. Put some dark chips in a small zip-lock bag and melt them in the microwave, using the same 5-or-10 second technique, but this time instead of stirring in between, you should just kneed the bag a bit. I usually leave the bag open, and just put the chips at the bottom of the bag.
    
    
    
    
11. This part is just for grown ups: once the chips in the bag are melty, squish most of the air out of the bag, zip it shut, and squish the chocolate away from one of the two bottom corners of the bag. Then snip as tiny a hole as you can in that corner. You're going to use this as a "pastry bag" to pipe a face on your snowman. You may want to practice making faces and just get used to this piping technique by doing some drawing (that you'll just toss later) on waxed paper. Be careful not to smudge the buttons while you make the faces!
    
    
    
12. One final chill in the fridge, and voila, you're done!
    
    
    
    

Chocolate Dreidels [Recipe]

This recipe is based on a chocolate dreidel recipe from a Martha Stewart magazine that was sent to me by my friend Emily, who, together with another friend Kelly, started me on this candy & cupcake making extravaganza ... Martha used a marshmallow, but they look so much cooler and are much more interesting to adults if you use a bite-sized candy bar instead.


Ingredients

Each Dreidel Uses:

• 1/2 a Thin Pretzel Stick
• 1 Hershey Kiss
• 1 Bite size 3 Musketeers Bar
• Some milk chocolate chips or melting wafers (probably there's something much better about the melting wafers, but I've found that the chips work fine and are easier and cheaper)
  
• Some white chocolate chips or melting wafers

Other Equipment:

• A cookie sheet or baking pan that will fit in your refrigerator lined with ...
• Parchment paper (waxed paper or foil will do, but parchment paper is really nice and non-stick)

How To

1. Put the parchment paper on the cookie sheet, and make sure there's a space in your refrigerator big enough to put it when you'll need to later.
   
   
2. Unwrap your Hershey Kisses & 3 Musketeers Bars (note that if you're going to be making a big batch of these, it's a good idea to unwrap everything first since it's a pain to keep having to melt the dipping chocolate
   
   
   
   
   
3. Put the chocolate chips or melting chocolate into a very small microwave-safe bowl and melt them in the microwave. It takes a while to figure out how long you need to do this, so the first time you should have some patience. Essentially, you should zap them for 5 or 10 seconds, take them out of the microwave and stir with a spoon. Repeat. And repeat. And repeat. Note that the chips will get soft enough to stir LONG BEFORE they appear to be melting. Don't let them get too hot (and be sure to check the temperature before letting little fingers do the stirring!) When you stir it and it looks like melted chocolate, you're ready for the next step.
   
   
   
4. Dip the flat side of the kiss into the melted chocolate, wipe off the excess, and then use the melted chocolate to "glue" the kiss onto the bite-sized 3 musketeers bar. Place the combination (kiss side up) on your cookie sheet. Repeat with the rest of your kisses/bite-sized bars. You may have to reheat the melting chocolate a bit and restir depending on how many you are making. Once your sheet is full, stick it in the fridge until the melting chocolate has solidified and the kisses are really stuck to the bars (10 minutes should be more than enough)
   
   
   
5. While the kisses/bite-sized bars are chilling, prepare your pretzel sticks: break them into roughly 2-inch long pieces.
   
   
   
6. When your kiss/bite-sized bar combos are done chilling in the fridge, take them out and push one pretzel stick into the center top of each bite-sized bar. Note that the pretzel stick pictured on the right is really too large, but my assistant insisted on using them that way. When you push the sticks in, make sure you apply pressure to the part of the pretzel closest to the candy bar, otherwise your pretzel is likely to break. You can push them until you meet some resistance when they hit the kiss. Finish inserting all the pretzels before moving on to the next step.
   
   
   
7. Top up your bowl of melted chocolate with some more chips (we really don't have enough in the picture to the right), remelt/stir/melt etc. Then, holding the pretzel stick, dip each "dreidel" into the melted chocolate so that the top of the bite-sized bar is covered, hold it over the bowl for a minute to let the excess drip off, and place it on your parchment-paper-covered baking sheet. Repeat for the rest of the dreidels, remelting as necessary. Once you've got all of them dipped, put them back in the fridge for another 10 minutes or so until they are all solid
   
   
   
8. Put your baking tray of solid dreidels on the counter.
   
   
   
9. Put some white chips in a small zip-lock bag and melt them in the microwave, using the same 5-or-10 second technique, but this time instead of stirring in between, you should just kneed the bag a bit. I usually leave the bag open, and just put the chips at the bottom of the bag. The white chips seem to melt at an even lower temperature than the brown ones, this happens pretty fast.
   
   
   
10. This part is just for grown ups: once the white chips in the bag are melty, squish most of the air out of the bag, zip it shut, and squish the chocolate away from one of the two bottom corners of the bag. Then snip as tiny a hole as you can in that corner. You're going to use this as a "pastry bag" to pipe Hebrew letters on your dreidel. You may want to practice making letters and just get used to this piping technique by doing some writing (that you'll just toss later) on waxed paper.
    
    
    
11. Write Nun, Gimel, Hay, and Shin on the sides of the dreidels using the white chocolate. Only label three of the four sides of each dreidel (don't try labeling the back, there's no point, it looks beautiful on a serving plate without it anyway, and I didn't have much success when I tried). Again, really this is an adult or at least much older kid part of the project. Put the dreidels back on the baking sheet, and then into the fridge to chill one last time.