I learned something very new and interesting with this recipe which I know you are going to file away for future reference.  The original recipe was pretty poorly written, so when I saw that it called for cornstarch to be incorporated into the cream cheese, I was seriously skeptical.  It certainly wasn’t a type-o, but sounded weird.  So, I Googled it.  Sure enough, adding cornstarch into a cheesecake recipe does not affect the taste but it will prevent the top from cracking – basically the cornstarch prevents the egg proteins from “over coagulating” and everything stays nice and smooth.  Huh.  I never heard of that before, but I gave it a shot.  Sure enough, my cheesecake had not a single crack on the top.  (And no I did not use a water bath in the oven either.  I find that to be too tedious.)  Picture below to prove it!  This is one of the first, if not perhaps the VERY first time that I had an absolutely picture perfect cheesecake top.  Granted, I normally don’t care – I put some pretty sauce on top and nobody knows there are cracks underneath (and I encourage you all to adopt this attitude) and it still tastes awesome.  But, to have such a great result was pretty fun and, as you can see by this post, brag-worthy.

Needless to say, I’ll probably put cornstarch in all of my cheesecakes from now on.

Blackberry Chocolate Cheesecake

16  lowfat milk chocolate sandwich cream cookies (Oreos), crushed
5 T chopped almonds, toasted
5 T butter, melted
24 oz cream cheese
¾ c sugar
¼ c lowfat sour cream
5 t cornstarch
3 large eggs
1 egg yolk
1/3 c blackberry schnapps
1 t grated lemon peel
1 t vanilla extract
1 t almond extract
½ t ground cinnamon
½ c fresh blackberries
3 oz semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
¼ c blackberry preserves
fresh blackberries

Chocolate Cookie Crust

• In a small bowl stir together crushed cookies and toasted almonds. Stir in melted butter until well combined. Press crumb mix onto the bottom and slightly up the sides of a greased 9-inch springform pan.

Blackberry Filling

• In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, lowfat sour cream, and cornstarch. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Add in eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in Blackberry Schnapps, lemon peel, vanilla extract, almond extract, and cinnamon. Fold in blackberries by hand.
• Pour the cream cheese mixture over the crust.
• Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Lower the temperature to 225 and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until the center is only slightly jiggly.
• Remove the cake from the oven and run a knife around the inside edge of the pan.  Turn the oven off; return the cake to the oven for an additional 30 minutes and then remove from oven. Chill, uncovered, overnight.

Chocolate Blackberry Topping

• In a double boiler or microwave, melt chocolate, stirring constantly. Stir in blackberry preserves.
• Spread the hot chocolate topping over the cake. Garnish with fresh blackberries.
• Refrigerate until serving time.

serves: 14-18
calories: 340

My package has not arrived at its destination yet.  So, when my friend sees this post he’ll know what’s coming his way.  Oh well, surprise ruined but it’ll still taste yummy.

Nutella Peanut Butter Chip Cookies
Source: A Kitchen Addiction

½ c butter, softened
½ c brown sugar
⅓ c sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla extract
½ c Nutella
1½ c all-purpose flour
2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
1 t baking soda
¼ t salt
½ c peanut butter chips

• Preheat oven to 350. Lightly spray cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray or line with slipat.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Add egg and vanilla and beat until creamy. Beat in Nutella until combined, scraping down sides as needed.
• In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and beat until just combined.
• Stir in peanut butter chips by hand.
• Drop by tablespoon-full onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until edges are set. Centers will look slightly under done.
• Cool on cookie sheets for 2 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Store in an airtight container.

Makes: approx. 30 cookies
calories:  120 per cookie

I know I haven’t shared a recipe in some time.  I spent two weeks of May in Croatia and Bosnia on a much-deserved vacation.  Now I’m back home and back in the kitchen.  I’m playing catch-up on several recipes that I wanted to try as well as creating new flavors for the Sweet Jumbles line of Marshmallows.  I’ve recently created Piña Colada, Blackberry (ohmygosh!), and Caramel just to name a few.

Just days after I got home from my vacation, I spotted some rhubarb in one of my local farmers markets.  Some of you may recall that rhubarb is one of my all-time favorites.  (In the past I’ve blogged Rhubarb Apple Pie and Rhubarb Tart.)  Since this tends to be hard to find, I bought a lot.  I froze most of it, so you may see it come up again in future blog posts.

For my first rhubarb recipe of the season, I decided to make Rhubarb Muffins.  They were very moist, with a cinnamon topping and chunks of rhubarb throughout.  These would be a good breakfast muffin, though I ate them any time of the day.  :)  The recipe below is for 2 dozen muffins, though I halved it and everything worked out well.

As a quick aside, did you know that you can freeze buttermilk?  I always have extra (because why must they sell it only in the larger carton?) and hate throwing it away.  If you pour this into ice cube trays and then once frozen store in freezer bags, you can thaw it out for use later on.  I would only do this for a baking/cooking recipe – not like a salad dressing or anything like that – because there is slight separation.  But it’s perfectly safe and once it’s mixed and baked you’d never know!

Rhubarb Muffins
source: All Recipes

2 ½ c all-purpose flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
½ t salt
1 ¼ c brown sugar
½ c vegetable oil
1 egg
1 t vanilla extract
1 c buttermilk
1 ½ c diced rhubarb
½ c chopped walnuts
1 T melted butter
1/3 c white sugar
1 t ground cinnamon

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12 cup muffin pans with paper cups.

• In a medium bowl, stir together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

• In a separate bowl, beat the brown sugar, oil, egg, vanilla, and buttermilk with an electric mixer until smooth. Add in the dry ingredients and mix by hand just until blended. Stir in the rhubarb and walnuts.

• Spoon the batter into the prepared cups, filling almost to the top.

• In a small bowl, stir together the melted butter, white sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of this mixture on top of each muffin.

• Bake in the preheated oven until the tops of the muffins spring back when lightly pressed, about 25 minutes. Cool in the pans for at least 10 minutes before removing.

serves: 24
calories: 170

I should note that the recipe instructs that the dough be rolled to 1/8” thickness.  Evidently, I am a bad judge of thickness.  These crackers puff up considerably during baking.  So, don’t hesitate to make the crackers as thin as possible.  Thicker crackers result in almost a “puff”.  The puffs were excellent right out of the oven, but after a day or two the thin crackers were my preference.  Experiment with various thicknesses to see what you like!

I stored my crackers uncovered because the puff ones weren’t as crisp as I would have preferred.  They never got stale and stayed good for 3 days (until I ate the last one).

This recipe might be especially nice for those of you who have children but don’t want to feed them too many processed foods.  They are a great snack item and can be easily packed up for food on the go.

Cheese Crackers
Adapted from Culinary Concoctions from Peabody

1 c all-purpose flour
¾ t salt
Pinch of cayenne pepper, optional
4 T cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
8 oz grated cheddar cheese blend (or whatever cheese you want)
3-4 T water

• With a pastry cutter or in a food processor, combine the flour, salt and pepper, then add butter and combine until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add grated cheese a little at a time until the mixture again resembles coarse meal.
• Add in 3 to 4 tablespoons of water, one tablespoon at a time, and only enough so that the dough forms a ball.
• Remove, wrap in plastic, and chill for 20 minutes or up to 24 hours.
• Roll the dough out to 1/8^th-inch thickness. The dough will be drier than a pastry crust and you may need less flour on your surface.  Using a pizza cutter, cut crackers into your preferred size and shape.
• Bake at 350° F for 15-20 minutes or until crackers are golden brown. If some crackers are cooking faster than others, mix them up part way through cooking.
• Remove from oven, cool, and enjoy.

Boston Cream Pie
slightly adapted from Cook’s Illustrated

Pastry Cream
2 c half-and-half
6 large egg yolks
½ c sugar
pinch table salt
¼ c all-purpose flour
4 T cold unsalted butter, cut into four pieces
1 ½ t vanilla extract

Cake
1 ½ c all-purpose flour
1 ½ t baking powder
¾ t table salt
¾ c milk
6 T unsalted butter
1 ½ t vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 ½ c sugar

Glaze
½ c heavy cream
2 T light corn syrup
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine

• For the Pastry Cream: Heat half-and-half in medium saucepan over medium heat until just simmering. Meanwhile, whisk yolks, sugar, and salt in medium bowl until smooth. Add flour to yolk mixture and whisk until incorporated.
• Remove half-and-half from heat and, whisking constantly, slowly add ½ cup of the half-and-half to the yolk mixture to temper. Whisking constantly, return tempered yolk mixture to half-and-half in saucepan.
• Return saucepan to medium heat and cook, whisking constantly, until mixture thickens slightly, about 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to simmer, whisking constantly, 8 minutes.  You will almost certainly see curdled egg yolk.  Don’t sweat it – this will be strained out.
• Increase heat to medium and cook, whisking vigorously, until bubbles burst on surface, about 1 minute. Remove saucepan from heat; whisk in butter and vanilla until butter is melted and incorporated. Strain pastry cream through fine-mesh strainer set over medium bowl to eliminate the curdles. Press plastic wrap directly on surface and refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.
• For the Cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease two 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray and line with parchment. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl.
• Heat milk and butter in small saucepan over low heat until butter is melted. Remove from heat, add vanilla, and cover to keep warm.
• In stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whip eggs and sugar at high speed until light and airy, about 5 minutes. Remove mixer bowl from stand, add hot milk mixture, and whisk by hand until incorporated. Add dry ingredients and whisk until incorporated.
• Divide batter evenly between prepared pans. Bake until tops are light brown and toothpick inserted in center of cakes comes out clean, 20 to 22 minutes.
• Transfer cakes to wire rack and cool completely in pan, about 2 hours. Run small  knife around edge of pans, then invert cakes onto wire rack. Carefully remove parchment, then reinvert cakes.
• To Assemble: Place one cake round on large plate. Whisk pastry cream briefly (you may need to let it warm up just a bit first – if so, just set it on the counter for 10 minutes), then spoon onto center of cake. Using an offset spatula, spread evenly to cake edge. Place second layer on pastry cream, bottom side up, making sure layers line up properly. Press lightly on top of cake to level. Refrigerate cake while preparing glaze.
• For the Glaze: Bring cream and corn syrup to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and add chocolate. Whisk gently just for a few seconds to cover the chocolate. Let stand for 5 minutes, then whisk thoroughly until smooth.
• Pour glaze onto center of cake. Use offset spatula to spread glaze to edge of cake, letting excess drip decoratively down sides. Chill finished cake 3 hours before slicing. Cake may be made up to 24 hours before serving.

serves: 12
calories: 470

This coworker is known for her chocoholic tendencies, and she always enjoyed when I took my baking projects into the office for others to enjoy.  So, of course I had to make her something chocolate for her last day!  This was a great opportunity for me to tackle one of my more intense chocolate recipes, since I myself am not such a chocolate lover.

I settled on Midnight Sin Chocolate Cake.  I made a few minor tweaks to accommodate what I had on-hand, and it turned out fantastic.  If you are a chocolate lover, this will satisfy your taste buds.  You can’t make this cake if you are in a hurry, due to the fact that you have to let the cake cool completely and allow the mousse to set as well.  As such, I recommend making the cake and mousse on day 1, pop them both the fridge overnight, and then on day 2 you can assemble and make the ganache.  It’s really easy if you stick to this schedule.   I promise you that the recipe below looks long but it’s not that difficult.  Like I said, make the cake and mousse one day and day 2 will be a breeze.

Midnight Sin Chocolate Cake
adapted from Not So Humble Pie

The Cake

2 ¾ c granulated sugar
¾ t salt
¾ c cocoa powder
1 t baking soda
1 c boiling water
1 c vegetable oil
2 t vanilla extract
2 t instant espresso powder or crystals (optional)
1 ¾ c all purpose flour
4 large egg yolks
2 large eggs
¼ c buttermilk

• Preheat your oven to 350°F.
• Spray two 9″ or two 8″cake pans with non-stick cooking spray.  Line the bottoms with parchment to prevent sticking, and then spray the parchment with more non-stick spray.
• In a medium saucepan (but not on the stove), combine the sugar, cocoa, salt, and baking soda. Whisk until combined and then slowly add the boiling water while whisking. Once thoroughly mixed, place the saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and allow it to stand for at least 10 minutes.
• After 10 minutes, stir in the instant espresso powder. (I omitted this step/ingredient, and it turned out just fine.  Don’t sweat it.) Add the chocolate mixture to your stand mixer and mix on low speed for about 20 seconds. Add the flour and continue to mix on low until combined. With a minimum amount of beating, add the egg yolks, eggs, vanilla, vegetable oil, and buttermilk. The batter will be very thin.
• Divide the batter between your two pans and bake.  This will take 25-30 minutes for 9″ rounds; add 5-7 minutes for 8″ rounds.  When the center of the cake springs back when you touch it, it’s done.
• Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Run a thin knife around the edge of the cake to loosen and invert onto a flat dish lined with parchment.   Allow to cool completely at room temperature, then wrap the cakes individually in plastic and place them in the refrigerator to chill before assembling.

Frangelico Chocolate Mousse Filling

5 large egg yolks
½ c sugar
1/3 c Frangelico hazelnut liqueur (non-drinkers substitute 1/3 c water)
8 oz bittersweet chocolate (preferably 66% cacao), finely chopped
1 c heavy cream, chilled

• In a heat safe bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together until the mixture is uniform and light in color. Place over a double boiler and whisk until slightly thickened. A ribbon of the egg sugar mixture should flow back into the bowl when the whisk is lifted and the sugar should just be beginning to dissolve. Add the Frangelico (or water) and continue to whisk over the simmering water until the mixture hits roughly 160°F and coats the back of a spoon.
• Remove from heat and add the finely chopped chocolate. Stir until the mixture becomes cool to the touch (roughly 10 minutes).
• Set the chocolate aside and beat the heavy cream to soft peaks. Fold the cream into the chocolate, then cover and chill for at least 4 hours.

Ganache

1 c bittersweet chocolate, chopped (or just use chocolate chips)
1/3 c heavy cream
1 T butter

• **To make life easy, start assembling the cake before you begin to prepare the ganache.  I recommend going through the assembly steps below and making the ganache while the assembled cake is firming up in the fridge (see below).  Then you can pour on the ganache immediately.**
• Put the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl.
• Bring the butter and heavy cream to a low boil over medium-high heat and pour over the chocolate. Give the chocolate a shake to submerge and allow it to stand for 5 minutes without stirring. When the time has passed, gently stir the ganache until smooth.

Assembly

• Place the first cake face up (flat side down) on your dish.  If necessary, even the top out if a mound formed while baking.
• Reserve ¾ cup of the Frangelico Mousse and set aside.  Use the rest of the mousse to create a layer on top of the cake that you just prepared.  Smooth to the edges with an offset spatula or knife.
• Before topping the mousse, check your other (top) cake and see if it needs to be trimmed as well.  Once that is done, lay it top side down (bottom is facing up) on top of the mousse.  Clean up the mousse on the edges, if necessary.
• Briefly refrigerate to allow everything to set.  (**make the ganache now**)
• Pour the ganache on the cake, smoothing over the top with an offset spatula.
• Return the cake to the fridge and allow the ganache to cool.
• Once cool, you can put the finishing touches on the cake. Take the reserved chocolate mouse and fill a piping bag, fitted with a large star tip.  I created several stars of mousse around the perimeter of the cake, but use your imagination.
• Keep the cake chilled until ready to serve. Allow cake to stand for 10 minutes before cutting and serving. Store the cake in the refrigerator, covered to keep it from absorbing odors, for up to 5 days.

The recipe that I have included below is an Eastern European bread that has many, many varieties.  Everyone from an Eastern European country will likely argue that their grandmother’s version is “correct,” but so far as I can tell, the “right” varieties are endless.

Consistent among all recipes is that the bread is rolled out very thin.  Because pie crusts still frustrate me, this initially worried me because the instructions are to roll the dough out so thin that you can read through it!  However, I was pleasantly surprised to find this particular dough easy to work with.

The next part is selecting your filling.  When I initially read this recipe, I saw that the filling was poppy seeds.  I didn’t read the amount of poppy seeds (oops) and when I got there realized that it calls for 3 cups.

WHAT?  3 CUPS of POPPY SEEDS?  My poppy seeds are sold in 1.25 oz jars, so that’s like…I don’t know, a LOT of jars.  Plus, I’m pretty sure that quantity of poppy seeds would certainly make me fail a drug test.  Not that I’m taking any drug tests, but I think you know what I’m talking about.

With further research, I discovered that walnuts (often with honey) are the most traditional filling for povitica.  Other options are cocoa, jam, raisins, honey, pecans, and cinnamon.  Because I had both orange marmalade and apricot preserves in my fridge waiting for some special use, I chose to make one loaf of each.  As you can see in my photos, the result is a swirled filling between very thin layers of bread.  If you use a darker filling, the swirls will be even better looking.

My coworker deemed this my best baking project yet.  Granted, she says that about 2-3 times per year, so take that for what it’s worth.   I will add to that, however, that 6 coworkers ate 2 loaves of bread in under 4 hours.  Yes, that is a testament to gluttony.  Nevertheless, I think you will really enjoy this bread – it’s easier to make than it sounds, there are infinite flavors as you imagine new fillings, and it’s just delicious!  The recipe below makes 2 loaves, so try 2 flavors!

Povitica
adapted from Alpineberry

To Activate the Yeast:
1 t sugar
½ t bread flour
¼ c warm water
1 T Dry Yeast

Dough:
1 c milk + ½ c  for brushing on top
6 T sugar + 2 T sugar for brushing on top
1 ½ t salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
¼ c unsalted butter, melted and cooled
4 c bread flour, measure first then sift, divided

filling:
jam/preserves of your choice

To Activate Yeast:

• In a small bowl, stir 1 teaspoon sugar, ½ teaspoon bread flour, and 1 tablespoon yeast into ¼ cup warm water and cover with plastic wrap.  Allow to stand for 5 minutes

To Make the Dough:

• In a medium saucepan, heat the milk up to just below boiling, stirring constantly so that a film does not form on the top of the milk. Allow to cool slightly.
• In a large bowl, mix the scalded milk, sugar, and the salt until combined.
• Add the beaten eggs, yeast mixture, melted & slightly cooled butter, and 1 cup of bread flour.  Blend thoroughly and slowly add remaining flour, mixing well until the dough starts to clean the bowl.
• Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead, gradually adding flour a little at a time, until smooth and does not stick. (Note: You may or may not use all 4 cups of flour.)
• Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces.  Place dough in 2 lightly oiled bowls, cover loosely with a layer of plastic wrap and then a kitchen towel and let rise an hour and a half in a warm place, until doubled in size.

To Roll and Assemble the Dough:

• Sprinkle with a couple of tablespoons to a handful of flour on your work surface.  Place the dough on the counter and roll the dough out with a rolling pin, starting in the middle and working your way out until it measures roughly 10-12 inches in diameter.
• Brush 1 to 1 ½ teaspoons of melted butter on top.
• Continue to roll out the dough until it is paper thin and uniformly opaque. You can also use your hands to stretch it, if you prefer.  As you work, continually check the dough to make sure that it isn’t sticking.  The dough is thin enough when you can read through it.
• Spoon your chosen filling evenly over dough until covered.
• Lift the long edge of the dough and gently roll like a jelly roll.
• Once the dough is rolled up into a rope, gently lift it up and place it into a greased loaf pan in the shape of a “U”, and then tuck the remaining dough into the middle to make a third segment. (If you forget to tuck it in, it will look like mine with a big bulb poking out of the top.)
• Repeat with remaining loaf, coiling each rope of dough in its own loaf pan.
• Brush the top of each loaf with a mixture of ¼ cup of cold milk and 1 tablespoon of sugar. (If you prefer, you can also use egg whites in place of this.)
• Cover pans lightly will plastic wrap and allow to rest for approximately 15 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Remove plastic wrap from dough and place into the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes.  Then, turn down the oven temperature to 300°F and bake for an additional 45 minutes, or until done.  Check the bread at 30 minutes to ensure that it is not getting too brown. You may cover the loaves with a sheet of aluminum foil if you need to.
• Remove bread from oven and brush with melted butter.
• Allow to cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes, still in the bread pan. Remove from bread pan and continue to cool for another 90 minutes.
• ENJOY!

It has been a busy two months, and with the launch of the Sweet Jumbles store, much of my baking time has been (at least temporarily) replaced with making marshmallows.

I also recently had the great opportunity to attend a Food Photography for Bloggers workshop, where I got some great tips on improving the pictures on my blog.  At this NYC event, I also met about a dozen other bloggers; it’s great to have a community of people with shared interests who you can share your tricks of the trade with or bounce ideas off of one another.

Despite missing the Valentine’s Day blog post opportunity, I made these Sand Dollar cookies just a few days before the holiday and my coworkers did enjoy them last week despite the fact that the cookies weren’t red & pink.  :)

Sand Dollar Cookies

1 c unsalted butter, softened
2 c powdered sugar
2 eggs + 2 eggs separated
2 t vanilla extract
2 pinches of kosher salt
3 ½ c all-purpose flour
½ t baking powder
cinnamon sugar
sliced almonds
flour

• In a large bowl, cream together the butter and powdered sugar.  Mix until creamy.
• Add the 2 whole eggs and 2 yolks only. Beat until well combined.
• Add vanilla and salt. Blend well.
• Add flour and baking powder.  Combine until the dough is soft.
• Form a ball with the dough, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours or overnight.
• After dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 350° F and line baking sheets with parchment paper or slipat.
• Roll out the dough to ¼″ thick on a floured surface and cut out 2 5/8” circles. (Or any size you want.)
• Brush the circles with the reserved egg whites and lightly sprinkle each circle with cinnamon sugar.  Press 5 almond slices into the center of each circle to make a sand dollar.
• Bake at 350° F for 3 minutes.  After 3 minutes, remove the baking sheet from the oven and with a spoon press the almonds in again, making slight indentations into the soft dough.  This helps them stick.  Optionally, you may add more cinnamon at this point if you need to adjust the overall coloring of the final cookie.
• Place the baking sheet back in the oven and bake until the edges are golden brown, another 10 minutes (this time will vary depending on how thick you cut the circles, so just keep an eye on them around the 7 minute mark).
• Remove from oven, let rest on baking sheet for 3 minutes, and then transfer to cooling racks to cool completely.
• Enjoy!

Serves: 30
Calories: 150

In the meantime, I realized it had been some time since my last post, so I wanted to touch base with all of my dedicated readers.

This post is less of a recipe and more of a secret tip with regard to Royal Icing.  If you aren’t familiar with Royal Icing, it’s that really beautiful icing that hardens on cookies.  Bakers use it to do very intricate pieces of what can only be described as art.  But, even the novice can make some pretty good looking treats.  In the past, I’ve included them on this blog when I made baby shower themed cookies and fireworks cookies for the Fourth of July.  Other people go more bananas, such as this Honeycomb Sugar Cookie, which by all accounts is beautiful but 6 cookies for $108 seems a little bit WHO THE HECK ARE YOU SELLING TO?! crazy.

So, let’s imagine you decorated some normal (not $108) cookies just for the fun of it and you have leftovers.  I’m here to help.

You can go back to the Fireworks blog post for the Royal Icing recipe, but the truth is any royal icing recipe is about the same and it’s easy as 1-2-3.  The trick is learning how thick to make the icing and that is all a matter of getting your hands sticky and figuring it out.

Now, as for that leftover icing…. Maybe you always know exactly how much to make and you don’t have leftovers.  If so, good for you but I inevitably have leftovers.  Sometimes a lot.  Until recently, I threw that stuff away…but not anymore!

There are (at least) two really cool things you can do with those leftovers.  For both, you need to get out a big ol’ cookie sheet and line it with waxed paper/parchment paper/slipat.  Ready?

Now, item #1 is cupcake toppers.  You can make fun designs or shapes with your leftover royal icing and down the road plop them on top of your cupcakes for decoration.  You can make whatever you want, including seasonal shapes (hearts, for example).  Let these sit for 24 hours before touching them.  If you want a dual layer – that is, a background and a raised foreground – you need to wait at least a few hours and preferably more before doing the top layer.  Store in an airtight container and they will last until the apocalypse.  (Maybe not but I’ve had mine for a few months and they’re still good.)

Item #2 is jimmies (or, depending on where you are from in the country, “sprinkles”).  You know, the little sugary things you throw on top of an ice cream sundae (or cupcake, or cookie…).  To make these, pipe long, thin lines of royal icing on your prepared surface side by side, in relatively straight lines.  Wait 24 hours.  I’m not kidding.  Don’t wait 12, you’ll regret it.  Then, chop them into little segments just like the jimmies you are used to buying at the store…or longer, or shorter, whatever you want.  Again, store until the apocalypse.

Now your royal icing leftovers aren’t wasted and you have sundae toppings and cupcake toppings to impress your friends!  Yum yum!

On the marshmallow front, after a whirlwind month of December fulfilling Christmas and New Year’s Eve orders, January is much quieter.  This lull is proving to be a great opportunity to try new recipes and prepare for Valentine’s Day, which will be here before you know it.

Sweet Jumbles did have the honor of being mentioned (and pictured) on The Flair Exchange, a blog featuring really unique and classy party decor.  Check them out!

In keeping with the “low maintenance” mood, this week I made Craisin Nests – a super easy and foolproof recipe.  (Plus, I love cranberries….)  There is also a lot of room for adjustment in this recipe.  You can use any flavor of Craisin (I used the original), and for the granola I happened to find Archer Farms Blueberry Granola, which sounded like a good pairing with Craisins.  The choices are up to you!

Craisin Nests
Adapted from Ocean Spray

¼ c honey
¼ c heavy cream
12 oz white chocolate baking chips
3 c chow mein noodles
1 c Craisins (any flavor)
1 c granola cereal
½ c slivered almonds (optional)

• Line 2 large baking sheets with waxed paper.  Set aside.
• Combine honey and heavy cream in a medium saucepan.  Cook over medium-low heat until bubbly.  Add chips and continue to cook, stirring regularly until chips are melted.
• Combine remaining ingredients in a large bowl.  Pour cream mixture over dry mixture and stir until evenly coated.
• Drop heaping tablespoonfuls onto waxed paper.  Let stand until set.
• Store loosely covered.

Serves: 30 cookies
Calories: 128 (varies considerably based on your granola choice)