Cookie party 2012

I haven't posted in a while but I have been busy!

We just had our cookie party Saturday and it was a hit! This year we made gingerbread houses. we made up the dough and Anja cut out templates for the house parts. we collected lots of candy and edible decorations for the houses.

this was the gingerbread recipe

Heat to boiling point:
2/3 c brown sugar, packed
2/3 c molasses
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves

remove from heat, and add:
2 1/4 tsp baking soda

Pour this over 2/3 c margarine in a bowl. Stir until margarine melts.

Add and blend thoroughly:
1 egg
4 1/2 c sifted flour (approximate)

Knead lightly (10-15 strokes on floured board)
Divide into 4 pieces and form into flattened balls. Wrap in plastic and let cool a bit.
Roll out about 1/4-3/8” thick and cut out each set twice (dorky’s note, this is the house pieces). Note: Do not make the dough too thick.
Bake at 350; on greased baking sheet or parchment for 15 minutes.

*note - it originally called to let chill a couple hours but when I did that I couldn't roll it out for nothing and had to add water and butter my hands to stop it from crumbling. So we ended up mostly just cutting it straight after kneading.

For the Royal Icing I use the Wilton recipe that uses meringue powder. it's really easy to make. Just be sure not to over beat it. Also allow the walls to harden and set before "gluing" on the roof. Royal icing get's rock hard and is a very effective (and tasty) glue

the decorations we used:
pull and peel twizlers
mini and regular m&m's
pretzel sticks
mini candy canes
mini Nilla wafers
cashews
holiday "drops"
jelly beans
sprinkles
gummy bears
fruity twizlers
Jolly ranchers
peppermints
powdered sugar for snow

we melted the jolly ranchers in a low, 250ºF oven in silicone ice cube trays (the type that have sort of a gem shape to the bottom) to make gems. Lots of the people used them to make windows. We also melted the jolly ranchers on silicone pan liners so that they would spread out flat which is what you see as the roof tiles on one house and "stepping stones" in front. We melted the peppermints as well on the silicone liners. the silicone kind of grabs the bottom of the mit and it melted in really neat ways as the candy ran.

Christmas cookie party

So this year I invited friends and family over again for cookie decorating. But instead of regular Christmas cookies I made a cookie tree for each family to decorate. This ment I had to make 7 trees! I have a cookie cutter set that is 10 star cutters in stepped sizes and you make 2 of each and stack them into a tree.

Now I will suggest if anyone is thinking of making these trees. Start with making the smallest stars 1st. that way if you run out of dough or energy you can stop and have a smaller tree but still in proportion. I made the bottoms and than tops so was committed to making all the cookies in between. And it took me 6 batches of dough to make 7 trees

before we got started

Peanut Brittle

So, here's the steps and recipe for the best peanut brittle ever (seriously, this is what many PPL say about it)! I have found out that you can get the silicone baking liners and use them and this eliminates the need to line and grease the pans.

Another thing about candy. Hard candy is dry candy. it's hard because you have cooked out the water. So, if you make hard candy on a humid day it will adsorb the moisture from the air and get tacky Which is why it's really popular in winter (the air is dry). This is also why it is important to make sure you keep it covered. And do not store softer candies along with hard candies. I did this once and my brittle got soft and tacky due to the moisture in the other candies.

Peanut Brittle

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Candies Holiday recipes

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 cup light corn syrup
3 tablespoons butter
1 pound peanuts -- raw

1. Heat oven to 200°F. Grease 2 cookie sheets, 15 ½ by 12 inches and keep in warm oven. This makes the brittle easier to spread. Grease long metal spatula, or the back of a metal spoon and set aside.

2. Mix baking soda, 1 tsp. water and the vanilla; set aside. Mix sugar, 1 cup. water and the corn syrup in 3-quart sauce pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, to 240°F on candy thermometer (soft ball stage).

3. Stir in butter and peanuts. Cook, stirring constantly, to 300°F (hard crack stage). Watch carefully so mixture does not burn. Immediately remove from heat. Quickly stir in baking soda mixture until light and foamy.

4. Pour half the candy mixture onto each cookie sheet and quickly spread with buttered spatula about ¼" thick. Cool completely, at least 1 hour. Break into pieces with butter knife handle and store in covered container.

Source:
"Betty Crocker cook book"
Yield:
"2 pounds"
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Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 4978 Calories; 258g Fat (43.9%
calories from fat); 117g Protein; 625g Carbohydrate; 39g Dietary Fiber;
93mg Cholesterol; 2728mg Sodium. Exchanges: 4 1/2 Grain(Starch); 15 Lean
Meat; 42 1/2 Fat; 37 Other Carbohydrates.

NOTES : It is easier to spread the hot brittle by pouring it out onto the sheets and then shaking and rocking to make it flow thin. You do not need a greased spatula or spoon this way. Click on any image if you like for an expanded view.
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In this photo the sugar has just dissolved. Because brittle does not have the dairy in it like caramels, you do not need to tend to the pot as often because it will not boil up and over making a mess. Just keep an eye on the temperature.
Here it has reached 240ºF and is ready to have the peanuts and butter added. Make sure you have RAW peanuts because they will cook in the syrup for quite a while and roasted ones will simply burn. 1lb of raw peanuts equals just a bit over 2 cups. You can see the syrup has begun to yellow and the bubbles are a bit thicker. In the cup with the small spatula is my vanilla, water, baking soda mix for later.
Here i have added the peanuts and butter. This will greatly cool down the syrup and it can be a bit stiff to stir as it gets back up to temp. Once the peanuts are in it you will want to keep it moving. More so after they start to cook and darken so they cook evenly. I only use real butter. When it comes to candy, there are so few ingredients I don't dare cut corners!
Here it has reached 300ºF. At this point you will want to work fast! You can see how brown/dark the brittle has gotten and the peanuts are also quite dark. This is good! And by this time your house will be filled with the wonderful smell of roasted peanuts.
Remove it form the heat and take out the thermometer (you will be siring very fast and dumping out the syrup). Pour in your vanilla (again, I only use real vanilla extract), water and baking soda mixture and mix fast and hard. It will froth up as you see in this image. It's quite a neat process. This is how the brittle gets light, bubbly and crunchy. Without the baking soda it would just be a hard lolly pop type substance w/peanuts in it.
As soon as it is all evenly mixed quickly pour it out onto your pans and spread. Make sure you are pouring it onto a flexible surface (don't use pyres or stoneware for example). Candy makers use marble slabs and the candy cools on contact. When it is cooled and done break up and store.

This brittle is light and crunchy with rich flavors. IT does not tack to your teeth or hurt to bite it.
Cleanup is easy! This is just hardened sugar. So, no matter how bad your mess is, just soak in water and give it a bit of time and it will be easy to wash your pans.

home made caramels

So, it's that time of year again! Every year I make candy for sale and kick it off with a donation of caramels to the United Way silent auction at work. I though I would document the process incise anyone is interested. It's not hard but does take time. A great project for the evening hours when you don't have much planed anyway.

The recipe is relay simple
Caramels


Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1/2 cup nuts -- finely chopped (optional)
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 cups heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup light corn syrup
4 x 4.5 wax squares

1. Line a square pan, 8 x 8 x 2 with parchment paper or foil and grease the lining with butter or margarine.

2. Spread nuts in bottom of pan. *nuts are optional

3. Heat remaining ingredients to boiling in 3 quart heavy sauce pan over medium heat, stirring constantly. Cook, stirring frequently to 245ºF on candy thermometer or until small amount of mixture dropped into very cold water forms a firm ball that holds it's shape until pressed. Immediately spread over pecans; cool

4. When completly cooled remove from pan and cut into 1 inch squares, a pizza slicer works best for this. Wrap individually in waxed paper squares.



Source:
"Betty Crocker's new Cook Book"
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Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 79 Calories; 5g Fat (52.3% calories
from fat); trace Protein; 10g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 14mg
Cholesterol; 22mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0
Non-Fat Milk; 1 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

NOTES : CHOCOLATE CARAMELS: Heat 2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate with the sugar mixture. If you use a 8x8x2 silicone pan you do not need to line or grease the pan, caramels unmold fine. DO NOT substute for the butter or sugar!


Candy making is best done on a cool evening as it will heat up your house. Also candy is susceptible to humidity. And don't rush the process or your caramel will be soft. I have in the past when a batch came out to soft, throw it back in the pot and cook it some more. As these are stored the oils will seep out making them rather oily. They will taste fine. IF you need to store them for a long period of time, keep them in the refrigerator and just bring to room temp before eating (or they will be hard cold).

So here it is. I have added all the ingredients together (excluding nuts). and here it is in the melting stage. I like to have my fire set at about 3 on my burner (using the medium sized burners, my stove has 3 burner sizes). (you can click on any of these for a large, high quality image). Caramel takes time. And you don't really have to hover over it BUT at the beginning when it starts to boil it can easily overflow if not tended to (like in this picture). This happens to me a lot because I tend to get sidetracked. But no problem, just carry on. you may need to reduce the heat at this point till it thickens up and is out of the lava stage. Caramel seems to jump to about 200ºF fairly fast but hols there between 200ºF & 225ºF for a really long time as it cooks down.
Here it has thickened (or reduced) enough that you can walk away and just check on it occasionally and give it a quick stir. You see the bubbles are still find but thicker and the color is darkening.
At this time it's a good idea to prep your pans. I like to use silicone pans because i don't have to grease them or line them. If you use a regular pan you must line it with either foil or parchment paper that has been greased. DO NOT use wax paper. it will permanently stick to the entire batch and you cannot get it off. Seems obvious right? well I did try it and it was suck a disappointment. Just spread your nuts out on the bottom of the pan.

Now your caramel is ready. it has reached a temperature of 245ºF which is soft ball stage. You can also test this by dropping some of the hot syrup into a very cold dish of water and seeing how it forms a ball. As you see the bubbles are thick and large and the caramel is a wonderful color.Now just pour the caramel into the pans slowly and let cool. the nuts (if you have decided to use them) will float through the caramel as it sits in the pan. I like to make my caramel one day and wrap it the next day. I cut it with a pizza slicer and wrap it with squares of waxed paper about 4.5" x 4". cleanup is easy (even if you have lava). water does the trick and will dissolve even the worse messes.

this makes wonderful gifts for the holidays as well.

I will chronicle my peanut brittle recipe as it gets dryer out side.