Let me start by saying I have never been a fan of caramel. Kind of a funny way to start a blog right? Not if I say that this recipe made me love caramel! There are quite a few blogs with caramel recipes. I looked at few and kind of made a combination of all of them. :)
If you have never made homemade caramel sauce then you will NEVER want to buy store bought again after trying this recipe!
Ingrediants:
1 cup sugar
1/4 water
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
In a saucepan, combine the water and sugar. Over medium heat stir until sugar dissolves; about 5 minutes. Once the sugar is dissolved raise the heat to medium high and swirl the pan occasionally until the sugar starts to show an amber color. It can take about 7-10 minutes. It's important not to scrape the sides of the pan or splash the sugar water up the sides.
While you are waiting on the sugar to turn amber, get all of your other ingredients ready to pour in because the next steps happen really fast. Once it is Amber, add the butter into the pan and lightly stir the butter to get it to dissolve. As soon as it has melted remove it from heat and quickly add the cream and vanilla. Lightly stir again (Don't scrape the sides!). Prepare for it to sputter and splash when you add the last few ingredients. It's perfectly normal, just be careful not to burn yourself. Wait for it to cool and put it in a jar or bottle of your choice. Refrigerate and enjoy.
I used a small Kerr jar with the idea of warming it up in hot water on my stove top.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Monday, October 15, 2012
Yummy butternut squash soup!
This recipe for butternut squash soup made quite a hit at my house.
Ingredients:
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
1 onion
4 cups butternut squash-cubed
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
Prepare:
Heat oil in large soup pot and cook diced carrots, celery and onions for 3-5 minutes until onion is translucent. Stir in remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until squash is tender (about 30 minutes). Use a hand blender to puree soup or puree soup in batches in traditional blender once cooled.
Enjoy.
Ingredients:
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
1 onion
4 cups butternut squash-cubed
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
Prepare:
Heat oil in large soup pot and cook diced carrots, celery and onions for 3-5 minutes until onion is translucent. Stir in remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until squash is tender (about 30 minutes). Use a hand blender to puree soup or puree soup in batches in traditional blender once cooled.
Enjoy.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
London Fog Latte
Homemade London Fog Tea Latte:
8-oz strong Tazo Earl Grey Tea, hot
4-oz milk
3 tbsp vanilla syrup
Pour hot Earl Grey tea into a large mug or other serving glass. Stir in vanilla syrup. Steam milk, or heat it in the microwave and whisk until very frothy, and pour it into the sweetened tea.
Serve immediately and enjoy.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Spongebob Cake
So for my Aiden's birthday (big #5!) I decided to make him a spongebob cake. I will post the links to the fondant recipe below. For now, here are some shots..
This cake was actually quite simple to make. It was VERY time consuming though. I started by baking two 9x11 cakes. I used a wilton cake pan to make sure it was nice and flat. (Look at the difference in the bake pans and you will see what I mean!) I then rolled the white fondant out and kneeded some yellow dye into it. Make sure you grease your countertops very well to avoid sticking! Once it was nice and yellow i rolled it flat and layed it on the (frosted) cakes. The rest was just details. Made some brown fondant, then red then blue...I used cookie cutters and random shapes in my kitchen to cut out the details on his face. To get the fondant to stay put you can grab a brush and wet the surface you want to stick. It will make the fondant sticky.
Ingredients:
*Two 9x11 cakes (any flavor)
*Cake board
*Frosting
*Food coloring (yellow, brown, red, l.blue, black)
*White fondant (my recipe)
*Rolling pin
*Powdered sugar (to keep the fondant from getting sticky)
*Food safe gloves (if you don't want food dye on your hands)
*Two 9x11 cakes (any flavor)
*Cake board
*Frosting
*Food coloring (yellow, brown, red, l.blue, black)
*White fondant (my recipe)
*Rolling pin
*Powdered sugar (to keep the fondant from getting sticky)
*Food safe gloves (if you don't want food dye on your hands)
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Black Fondant Recipe
I found this recipe when I was trying to find out how to make your own Black Fondant.
True Black MMF
Ingredients
* 6 oz. of semi sweet chocolate chips (about half of a bag)
1 bag of mini marshmallows
3 tbsp. of clear Karo syrup
3 tbsp. water
1 1lb. bag of powdered sugar
gel black food coloring
Crisco
Instructions
1. Put your marshmallows in a microwave safe bowl, add the water, and microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir mixture, and microwave for another minute. When marshmallows come out they will be HOT, stir again, scraping the sides with a scraper. Immerdiately add your chocolate chips, and stir until the chips are completely melted. Add your karo syrup and stir again this time with a butter knife, making sure that all of your syrup is incorporated. Add a good amount of black gel food coloring, and stir again with your knife, making sure that you scrape around the edges. Once your mixture is the blackest black that you can get, (I added about 1-2 tsp. of the gel coloring) then add about half of your bag of powdered sugar, and stir until the mixture is thick, with your knife. Grease your hands liberally with Crisco and add the rest of the powdered sugar* to the bowl. Knead your fondant until all of the powdered sugar is gone.
2. Store for up to a month wrapped in plastic wrap, sealed in a gallon Ziploc, and stored in an airtight container.
3. *Depending on the humidity in your area it might take a little more powdered sugar, or even a little less to get the consistancy of fondant.
True Black MMF
Ingredients
* 6 oz. of semi sweet chocolate chips (about half of a bag)
1 bag of mini marshmallows
3 tbsp. of clear Karo syrup
3 tbsp. water
1 1lb. bag of powdered sugar
gel black food coloring
Crisco
Instructions
1. Put your marshmallows in a microwave safe bowl, add the water, and microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir mixture, and microwave for another minute. When marshmallows come out they will be HOT, stir again, scraping the sides with a scraper. Immerdiately add your chocolate chips, and stir until the chips are completely melted. Add your karo syrup and stir again this time with a butter knife, making sure that all of your syrup is incorporated. Add a good amount of black gel food coloring, and stir again with your knife, making sure that you scrape around the edges. Once your mixture is the blackest black that you can get, (I added about 1-2 tsp. of the gel coloring) then add about half of your bag of powdered sugar, and stir until the mixture is thick, with your knife. Grease your hands liberally with Crisco and add the rest of the powdered sugar* to the bowl. Knead your fondant until all of the powdered sugar is gone.
2. Store for up to a month wrapped in plastic wrap, sealed in a gallon Ziploc, and stored in an airtight container.
3. *Depending on the humidity in your area it might take a little more powdered sugar, or even a little less to get the consistancy of fondant.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Marshmallow Fondant Recipe
Recipe makes 1.5lbs of foundants.
Ingredients:
-8 ounces miniature marshmallows (4 cups not packed, or half of a 16-ounce bag)
-1 pound powdered sugar (4 cups), plus extra for dusting
-2 tbsp water
-Food coloring or flavored extracts, optional
1. Dust your counter with powdered sugar. Place the marshmallows and the water in a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 30 seconds, stir and repeat until the marshmallow mixture is entirely smooth and free of lumps.
2. Add the powdered sugar and begin to stir with the spatula. Stir until the sugar begins to incorporate and it becomes impossible to stir anymore.
3. Scrape the marshmallow-sugar mixture out onto the prepared work surface. It will be sticky and lumpy, with lots of sugar that has not been incorporated yet--this is normal. Dust your hands with powdered sugar, and begin to knead the fondant mixture like bread dough, working the sugar into the marshmallow with your hands.
4. Continue to knead the fondant until it smoothes out and loses its stickiness. Add more sugar if necessary, but stop adding sugar once it is smooth--too much sugar will make it stiff and difficult to work with. Once the fondant is a smooth ball, it is ready to be used. You can now roll it out, shape it, or wrap it in cling wrap to use later. Well-wrapped fondant can be stored in a cool room or in the refrigerator, and needs to be kneaded until supple before later use.
5. If you want to add coloring or flavoring to your fondant, flatten it into a round disc. You might want to wear gloves to avoid getting food coloring on your hands. Add your desired amount of coloring or flavoring to the center of the disc, and fold the disc over on itself so that the color or flavor is enclosed in the center of the fondant ball. Begin to knead the ball of fondant just like you did before. As you work it, you will begin to see streaks of color coming through from the center. Continue to knead until the streaks are gone and the fondant is a uniform color. Your fondant is now ready to be used or stored as outlined above.
Ingredients:
-8 ounces miniature marshmallows (4 cups not packed, or half of a 16-ounce bag)
-1 pound powdered sugar (4 cups), plus extra for dusting
-2 tbsp water
-Food coloring or flavored extracts, optional
1. Dust your counter with powdered sugar. Place the marshmallows and the water in a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 30 seconds, stir and repeat until the marshmallow mixture is entirely smooth and free of lumps.
2. Add the powdered sugar and begin to stir with the spatula. Stir until the sugar begins to incorporate and it becomes impossible to stir anymore.
3. Scrape the marshmallow-sugar mixture out onto the prepared work surface. It will be sticky and lumpy, with lots of sugar that has not been incorporated yet--this is normal. Dust your hands with powdered sugar, and begin to knead the fondant mixture like bread dough, working the sugar into the marshmallow with your hands.
4. Continue to knead the fondant until it smoothes out and loses its stickiness. Add more sugar if necessary, but stop adding sugar once it is smooth--too much sugar will make it stiff and difficult to work with. Once the fondant is a smooth ball, it is ready to be used. You can now roll it out, shape it, or wrap it in cling wrap to use later. Well-wrapped fondant can be stored in a cool room or in the refrigerator, and needs to be kneaded until supple before later use.
5. If you want to add coloring or flavoring to your fondant, flatten it into a round disc. You might want to wear gloves to avoid getting food coloring on your hands. Add your desired amount of coloring or flavoring to the center of the disc, and fold the disc over on itself so that the color or flavor is enclosed in the center of the fondant ball. Begin to knead the ball of fondant just like you did before. As you work it, you will begin to see streaks of color coming through from the center. Continue to knead until the streaks are gone and the fondant is a uniform color. Your fondant is now ready to be used or stored as outlined above.
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