a shore thing.... candy clay shells

Much as I like what fondant does, I just can't get into the taste. I've been playing around with candy clay instead. Not quite as user friendly as fondant, and while, like fondant, it's super sweet, it's definitely better tasting than the alternative. I'll be sure to post more ideas on how to decorate with candy clay, but I started out with some sea things. (My great grandfather was a lighthouse keeper here, so I've a penchant for shore things. That and it's summer.)



Ideas for using candy clay shells:

• top store-bought cookies (adhere with a dab of light corn syrup)
• decorate cupcakes or cakes that have been topped with light brown sugar "sand"
  
• let stiffen overnight and wrap as party favors
• display with fruits on a dessert table

to make starfish candy you will need:
candy clay (recipe at the end of this post)
yellow food coloring (I used Americolor soft gel paste, Egg Yellow)
star cookie cutter (I used 3 inch, but you can use a smaller cutter if desired)
wax paper
rolling pin
lollipop stick or stirrer straw


how to make starfish candy
Take a handful of candy clay and knead a couple drops of yellow coloring very well into clay. Roll into a ball. Roll clay about 1/4 inch thick between two pieces of wax paper. Cut out a star. With your fingers, bend the tips of the star in different directions. With the lollipop stick or small straw, make imprints along the spokes. Place on a wax paper-lined baking tray to dry at room temperature several hours or overnight.


to make sand dollar candy you will need:
candy clay (recipe at the end of this post)
white food coloring (I used Americolor soft gel paste, Bright White)
circle cookie cutter (I used 2 1/2 inch)
wax paper
rolling pin
lollipop stick or stirrer straw


how to make sand dollar candy
Knead a handful of candy clay with a few drops of white coloring. Roll into a ball. Roll candy clay between two pieces of wax paper thinly. Cut out your circle. Place circle on a tray lined with wax paper. Insert end of stick or small straw to make five holes. Tips: I wiggled the stick a bit to elongate the opening. If candy clay cracks when making holes, re-mold with your fingers. I planned out my holes first by making light imprints with the lollipop stick, and I planned the spacing so the holes were in a circle.


to make shell candy you will need:
candy clay (recipe at the end of this post)
brown and pink food coloring (I used Americolor soft gel paste, Chocolate Brown, Egg Yellow and Electric Pink)
circle cookie cutter (I used 2 1/2 inch)
wax paper
rolling pin


how to make shell candy
Knead a handful of candy clay with a drop of brown coloring (I also added a touch of yellow coloring) to make light brown. Knead a handful of candy clay with a drop of pink to make light pink. Roll each into a ball. Roll each color thinly between two pieces of wax paper. Cut out a circle of each. Place a circle of pink candy clay on top of a circle of brown clay. Carefully (to avoid cracking), starting with the side of the circle, use your fingers to roll the candy clay into a tube. Pinch one end. Let stiffen on a wax paper lined baking tray.


recipe for candy clay
2 Tbsp. shortening
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
4 cups confectioner's sugar

Mix together the first 4 ingredients, then gradually blend in the confectioner's sugar. The mixture will be crumbly. Knead with your hands until smooth and pliable. You can add a few drops of water, or more corn syrup, if it's way too dry. Roll into a ball and store at room temperature in a sealed bag.

no room for cookie at the cool table?

The illustrious CakeSpy has raised an interesting question: "How do other sweets feel about the little cakes' popularity?" The artwork below suggests Cuppie should be weary of a pending cookie attack.
Well CakeSpy got me thinking. I can't speak for all cookies, but I do admit a wee bit o' jealousy at the cupcake's popularity. Brings me back to the middle school cafeteria.

Forgive the crudity of my cartoon. Without any real graphic design programs, I created it using pencil, marker, a scanner, and the paint program that came with my computer. But it's my answer to CakeSpy's question. You may not be able to see in the photo, but the cookie's having a glass of milk and a stick of butter for lunch. The much more popular cupcakes are having glasses of frosting and plates of sprinkles.

everybody else's red, white and blue

Since I was so lame in not making 4th of July cookies (maybe it's the ten years of decorating thousands of red, white and blue stars, Uncle Sams, flags and firecrackers HERE that did me in), I thought I'd give you a roundup of the incredible sweets these brilliant minds concocted.


1. Snap, Crackle, n' Pop Rocks Cookies from CakeSpy.

2. Flavored Ice from Family Fun.

3. Fruit kabobs from Make and Takes found via The Crafty Crow.

4. Red, White and Blue Cake Pops from Bakerella.

5. July 4th Cupcakes from Martha.

6. Fireworks Frosting from Dinner's on Me found via The Crafty Crow.

7. Ice Cream Cone Wrappers from Martha.

8. Fruit Flag from Katherine Marie Photography found via The Crafty Crow.

9. Berry Ice Cream Napoleons from Woman's Day.

10. Cinnamon Candied Apples from Better Homes and Gardens.

11. A Little Taste of Independence from 17 and Baking.

easy lollies

I've seen hard candies turned into lollipops all over the place, such as these Picasso Pops at Better Homes and Gardens. But I thought I'd share the results of my experimenting with this kid-friendly (except for the burning hot oven part) way of making lollipops.

you will need:

lollipop sticks
hard candies (I used Jolly Rancher hard candies)
baking tray
aluminum foil
parchment paper
optional: Ziploc bags, rolling pin, cutting board

step one: assemble your candy
If desired, you can crush hard candies by placing in a Ziploc bag and break up coarsely with a rolling pin on a cutting board. You can use crushed candies in whatever pattern you desire. I didn't crush the candy. I simply used three different colors of whole Jolly Rancher hard candies in a row.


step two: bake your candy
Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Line a baking tray with aluminum foil, then lay a piece of parchment paper on top of the foil. Assemble candies as desired. Only put about 4 lollipops per tray (to leave room for sticks later) and arrange a few inches apart. Bake about 6 minutes or until candies melt to desired effect. Make sure to keep your eye on the pops! Don't let them bake too long or they will be too thin and misshapen. Immediately proceed to step three.

step three: insert stick
As soon as you remove the lollipops from the oven, place stick on lolly at one end, rolling to coat stick with the melted candy. Let cool completely on tray, then carefully remove paper from back. Warning! Your lollies will likely not be perfect ovals or rectangles or whatever shape you hope to create. There will be imperfections, but that's what makes them lovely lollies, no?

Mother Goose in cookies

I just found these pictures among the hundreds on my computer. They are from a cookie project I started and never quite finished. In my other life embedded in literary academia (two masters degrees because one useless degree is never enough) I studied Mother Goose a tad.

A brief history lesson.

• Though the name appeared in a French poem 50 years prior, Charles Perrault first mentions Mother Goose in a frontispiece for a folk tale collection intended for adults in 1697, "Contes de ma Mere l'Oye," translated in England as "Tales of Mother Goose." John Newbery used the notion to make verses and jingles, and Mother Goose became associated with a compilation of nursery rhymes in London, 1780.
  

• Pirated editions of Newbery's rhymes made it to America and Isaiah Thomas created an American version, "Mother Goose's Melodies," in 1786. By the next century, "Mother Goose" became a symbol of childhood in America thanks to subsequent, Americanized editions that tried to claim her as our own. One edition published by Munroe and Francis included a preface that likened President Andrew Jackson to a gander.

• One legend that attempted to Americanize Mother Goose suggested she was based on a Boston lady, Elizabeth Goose, the mother-in-law of printer Thomas Fleet. The legend was launched by Thomas Fleet's great grandson, John Fleet Eliot, who claimed in an 1860 article that his great grandfather printed the rhymes his mother-in-law told to children.

• Before a more romantic view of childhood emerged in the latter 19th century (thanks to the likes of Lewis Carroll and others who placed value on the imagination of children), the 18th and early 19th century viewed children as little adults. Original nursery rhymes often contained harsh words and warnings of danger to children. Think of the Hush a bye baby in the tree top, and down will come baby, cradle and all. Or poor Jack who had to patch his head with vinegar and paper after he broke his crown.
  

Some cookie versions of Mother Goose (forgive the picture quality... these were taken with my old camera. And you can't see in the picture, but the butcher, baker and candlestick maker are holding a butcher's knife, a baguette and a candle, respectively):

kid friendly crafts: cupcake toppers and candy necklaces

As guest blogger for kids craft week at celebrations.com, here are the two projects I came up with: candy pendants and cupcake toppers. Though meant for kids, the cupcake toppers were especially easy and would translate well to any grownup party. You can use any color card stock and any theme sticker. The candy pendants are made from Swedish Fish, Dots or Airheads Sour Belts.



Find the how-tos for crafting the cupcake toppers HERE and the candy pendants HERE.

smack dab in the middle (sandwich cookies)

If I really had my act together, I'd have made real live homemade Oreos from one of the yummy looking recipes I posted about HERE on my edible crafts column. I used the chocolate cookie and the frosting recipes from my book, which also worked well. I made these for my Dad's birthday, and he also got these square treats.

how to make colorful sandwich cookies
you will need
chocolate cookie dough (recipe at the end of this post, or use the "Oreo" recipes from the link above)
circle cookie cutter (I used a 1 1/2 inch cutter)
frosting (you can use store-bought, too)
food coloring (I used Americolor soft gel pastes, Sky Blue, Orange, Bright White and Electric Green)
1 disposable decorating bag for each color
1 coupler for each color
1 size "12" tip for each color
rubber bands

step one: bake your cookies
Roll out chilled chocolate cookie dough and cut out 1 1/2 inch circles. Bake on a parchment paper-lined baking tray according to recipe and let cool completely. TIP: Each time I had to roll out some dough, I cut out an even number of circles. That way, I could just pair up top and bottoms that were exactly the same thickness.

step two: prepare your frosting
When making frosting, make sure the consistency isn't so thick you can't work with it, but it should be stiff enough to keep its shape. Tint about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of frosting with each color you'd like (yes, I did actually tint the white, too). Prepare a frosting bag with size "12" tip, fill with frosting and tie closed tightly with a rubber band.

step three: assemble your sandwiches
Pair up all of your cookies on the tray so each pair is of similar thickness and diameter (in case of any oven spreading). Turn one cookie from each pair over and pipe frosting to cover the entire backside of the cookie. I started with piping a circle around the outer edge and continued to pipe in a spiral to the center. Top with the other cookie, making sure the back of the cookie sits on the frosting. Hence, the bottoms of the cookies are on the inside. Let dry overnight if packaging.

RECIPE: chocolate rolled cookies
1 cup (2 sticks) slightly softened, unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Cream butter and sugar. Add the egg and vanilla and blend. Mix together the dry ingredients and gradually add to the wet. Cover and refrigerate 1 to 2 hours. When chilled, roll out on a floured surface, cut out shapes, and bake on a parchment paper-lined baking tray in a preheated 375 degree oven. Bake 8 to 10 minutes for small cookies, 10 to 12 minutes for larger cookies, or until edges are crisp. TIP: In lieu of flour, which may show up on the surface, you can roll cookies between two pieces of wax paper.