Friday, October 23, 2009

Icing

I usually am not a fan of eating a cake with fondant icing. But this recipe is one that I am actually a fan of. This was my first time trying out fondant, and I must say I really enjoyed it! The cake I made is a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and fondant decorations. So today I'm posting the recipe for the chocolate frosting and the fondant.

First the chocolate frosting. My favorite recipe for chocolate frosting is the one on the back of Hershey's Cocoa (natural unsweetened). This recipe makes about 2 cups of frosting.

Ingredients:

1 stick (1/2 Cup) Butter
2/3 Cup Hershey's Cocoa
3 Cups Powdered Sugar
1/3 Cup Milk
1 tsp Vanilla

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating on medium speed to spreading consistency. Add more milk if consistency is too thick, add more powdered sugar if too runny. Stir in vanilla.

Click HERE for the link to the fondant tutorial I used. Fondant can also be used as a fun thing for your kids to play with, the consistency is similar to that of play dough, however they may end up eating more of it than you would like!

Ingredients:


16 ounces white mini-marshmallows (use a good quality brand)
2 to 5 tablespoons water
2 pounds icing sugar (use C&H Cane Powdered Sugar for the best results)
1/2 cup Crisco shortening (you will be digging into it so place in a very easily accessed bowl)



Directions:


NOTE:  Please be careful, this first stage can get hot. Take OFF jewelry such as rings!!!


Melt marshmallows and 2 tablespoons of water in a microwave or double boiler: Put the bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds, open microwave and stir, back in microwave for 30 seconds more, open microwave and stir again, and continue doing this until melted. It usually takes between 2-2 1/2 minutes total. Place 3/4 of the powdered sugar on the top of the melted marshmallow mix.
Now grease your hands GENEROUSLY (palms, backs, and in between fingers), then heavily grease the counter you will be using and dump the bowl of marshmallow/sugar mixture in the middle. Start kneading like you would bread dough.
Keep kneading, this stuff is sticky at this stage! Add the rest of the powdered sugar and knead some more. Re-grease your hands and counter when the fondant starts sticking. If the mix is tearing easily, it is to dry, so add water (about 1/2 tablespoon at a time and then knead it in). It usually takes at least 8 minutes to get a firm smooth elastic ball so that it will stretch without tearing when you apply it to the cake.
It is best if you can let it sit, double wrapped, overnight (but you can use it right away if there are no tiny bits of dry powdered sugar). If you do see them, you will need to knead and maybe add a few more drops of water.

Prepare the fondant for storing by coating it with a good layer of Crisco shortening, wrap in a plastic-type wrap product (Saran wrap) and then put it in a re-sealable or Ziploc bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible. 
MM Fondant will hold very well in the refrigerator for weeks. It is best to store the fondant in it's natural white color, some food coloring colors can change the consistency of the icing. Please go to the tutorial here to check out how to roll out the fondant and get it on the cake.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is my absolute FAVORITE chocolate chip cookie recipe! I adapted it from a recipe I found on allrecipes.com (one of my favorite recipe sites to browse through, mainly because it has reviews for it's recipes and the reviews are VERY helpful). Depending on the size of cookies you are making this recipe can make up to 6 dozen (these are small cookies), but if you are making cookies the size I like... it's probably closer to 3-4 dozen!

Ingredients

2 Cups Softened Butter
1 1/2 Cups Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Sugar
2 (3.4 oz) Packages Instant Vanilla Pudding
2 tsp Baking Soda
4 eggs
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
4 1/2 Cups Flour
1 (12 oz package, which is about 4 cups) Chocolate Chips**

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F.

In a large bowl cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding, baking soda, eggs, and vanilla until well blended. Add flour gradually until all mixed together. Finally stir in chocolate chips.

Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Make sure they are at least an inch apart (depending on how big of spoonfuls you are making you may need more space).

Bake for 9-12 minutes. Edges should be golden brown.


**DELICIOUS VARIATIONS**

Nutty:
If you like nuts you can just add 2 cups of nuts (I recommend using walnuts) to the above recipe.

White Chocolate Chip Cranberry:
This is one of my FAVORITE combinations and I feel better with adding the cranberries when I eat the cookies!!! For this variation use 1 (12 oz) package of white chocolate chips and 2 cups of dried sweetened cranberries.

For Kids:
When making chocolate chip cookies for kids I like to use the Mini-Morsels chocolate chips, then I make the cookies small and it's just right for them!

Everything but the kitchen sink:
Ok... for this one you add a little bit of everything, you can pick your favorites or add anything else you think sounds yummy!
1 Cup Heath pieces
1 Cup Butterscotch chocolate chips
1 Cup White Chocolate Chips
1 Cup Milk Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup Walnuts

Death by Chocolate
If you LOVE chocolate (like I do) you can use chocolate pudding instead of vanilla!