Well, the kids are home and we had a full weekend. Then I had a food safety class (health dept) om mon & tues & took a test to get my health certificate (yeah!). Went to my flower class and realized rosebuds look like crap when I make them but appleblossoms & primroses are just too cute for words, and super easy! Came home from there & the kids & I made some chocolate cupcakes, then we filled the centers with buttercream filling, and topped them with a chocolate ganach type of topping (kinda fudgy tasting though) but, it did still get that nice harder top so we could use some royal icing & draw the trademark hostess swirly's on top. The loved it. Lukas especially loved dipping them in chocolate. Karl says they are yummy. My only concern is my cakes seemed almost too light and airy (hostess is more of a dense chocolate cake) so it made the filling and chocolate seem like it was in a chocolate air cupcake. karl says i'm too critical and the kids agreeded they were perfect, lol. Who complains about a light fluffy cake but me,lol!
Anyways, on to the next item on the list, Sponge candy (aka, seafoam ) depends on where you are from this is basically s super airy light candy that practically dissolves in your mouth and tastes best when covered in yummy chocolate. After reviewing my recipe & comparing it to others I found courtesy of google, I took the advice of others and boiled my mixture in a pot much larger than I thought I would need (thankfully because it did foam almost to the top) but since everyones measurements seemed accurate about the size pan to cool in it (8x8) i decided to use a 9x9 just in case (next time i need a 9x13 at least!) well, it went too far over the pan started to come out the top and in other spots it seems to have sunk in. I will know how that affects the taste in a while I am waiting on it to finish cooling enough to break it apart & dip into chocolate. I will advise this, use a DEEP pan. I barely covered an inch off the bottom of my pan with my ingredients & it was abt 12" high and after I added the baking soda it was to the top & thats when I decided to pour it into my pan to cool (for fear if I let it sit in the pot another min it would most assuredly boil over) . Also, since so many people's biggest complaint (not cooking related) was removing it from the pan, I lightly greased a silicone pan, hopefully this will be a success since it's so pliable I can hopefully just "pop out" my candy without having to scrape it off the side of a pan or peel off aluminum or wax paper from its creases. the trick to this candy is definatly waiting till it hits the "crack" stage (about 300 degrees) depending on humidity, your actual boilning temp , etc. I do feel I was absolutly sucessful (since I tasted it before i started typing this) I had some left in my pot and I have been nibbling what got left on the wisk & its just perfect!!!! Karl tasted it as well & I think adding the vanilla extract gave it just a little something extra to hide the vinager & soda tastes. oh i also used apple cidar vinager instead of just white vinager (recommended from a friend who shared her recipe & made this before). I also have a version I want to try that uses maple syrup that sounds yummy and i bet would be delish dipped in that orange chocolate.
I have decided I want to try making some candied fruits for the heck of it. they are yummy to munch on, look great on cakes & stuff, & what doest taste great dipped in chocolate. I figure I can expand on the dipped fruits instead of just cherries & strawberries, i can also have an assortment of orange & grapefruit, lemon, etc. candied (sugared) & dipped in chocolate. that and the sponge candy. I want a nice variety for the fair i'm doing in october so I can see what there is a demand for. also the candied fruits is perfect for the fall. to go with the pies & such. I like to bake with the seasons so soon it will be all about the pies & turnovers :-) I gotta say having a well stocked pantry is pretty awesome. I think of something, find a recipe, or have an idea and I can just open my cabinets, fridge, etc & make it! Gotta love a supportive husband. There have been other things I have wanted to try before and his support was anywhere between half-hearted to non existant, but I guess tell a man you want to cooK & he will be sure you have what you need to accomplish that, LOL! He did mention that i could always go to culinary school and cook "actual" food, lol. I told him that was just no fun. Its all about the sweets for me!
P.S. My dad is sending me his cheese strudle recipe (super yum!) i will tell you all how it turns out for me. I remember being a kid & helping him roll out the pastry with a rolling pin & he would get it soo thin and soo big it would roll out the length of our dining table (sat 8 people) about 6 ft long , and just layer it with the cream cheese mixture, then the butter mix, layer by layer till it was just a long thick pastry that looked about as big as a loaf of bread, but when it baked up & came out of the oven it was heaven!! Pure bliss that just melted in oyur mouth, so light, airy, just the perfet amount of everything!!!! It took all day to make, but I really cant say enough about how heavenly delish it was. well, the kids are at the pool with Karl so I'm gonna finish cleaning up & take a nap! Have a sweet day!!!
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