Friday, December 30, 2011

Year End Bundt

I have a Wilton Cascade pan...which is basically an uber fancy Bundt pan and I try to utilize it at least once a year when the occasion permits. It was exciting to see such a large cake unveil as I turned the pan upside down to release the cake onto the cooling rack.  I used yellow cake mix, and when it cooled surrounded it with fresh fruit.

Then cut it up for my guests….. it was missing something though...

There... all set!

Monday, December 26, 2011

Three Cheers for Three Tiers

The nice thing about entertaining a large group is that it encourages me to make more than one dessert. I know, who doesn’t like marshmallows, right? I like to please everyone though. So I took out my three tier glass dessert stand and got to work.
Top Tier – white chocolate marshmallow tea cups (this time I put chocolate with rainbow nonpareils on the bottom to act as the saucer)
Middle Tier – White chocolate covered marshmallows with Candy Snowflake Sugar Decals (super easy..and very elegant!)

Bottom Tier – home made almond and honey balls, simple sugar cookies and then around the back oatmeal cookies.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Marshmallow Army

<Singing> ‘Tis the season to be jolly, Fa la la la la, La la la lah
I made this very cute large army of mini-marshmallow carolers. I stacked a few mini-marshmallows together using white chocolate as the glue and used chocolate morsels for the hats. I was sooo excited to use my Americolor black edible writing pen to easily give the coal eyes and buttons on these frosty treats. Which ever holiday you celebrate this season may it be merry and bright! I think the two snowmen on the right are leaning in for a hug!

Friday, December 23, 2011

Deck the Halls with Bows of Marshmallows

I piped white chocolate into circles and put the mini-marshmallows around it and put mini-m&m’s on top. I made so many cute little ornaments and decorations to hang (and eat) everywhere.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Mugshot

A friend sent me a picture she saw in her daughters American Girl catalog. It was a marshmallow turned into a little mug. I love new marshmallow ideas so of course I dropped everything to try to make some. I broke the cane top off of a mini-candy cane and carefully pushed it into the soft marshmallow. Wow, this was so simple. Peppermint and marshmallows together, these would be great to drop the whole marshmallow mug right into your hot cocoa!

Monday, December 19, 2011

Gingerbread House Open House

I love making gingerbread houses out of graham crackers and I tend to do so every year around this time. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any more festive, Nabisco came out with gingerbread flavored grahams! Excellent! Everyone has their own special way to construct their house that they think is the best way. I think the best way is to first make a box, with a lid on it, and wait a few minutes before setting up the roof. Many people forget to put that ‘lid’ on, and that is a tasty piece of structural importance.  I also use lightweight sweets on the roof top (marshmallows!). Using lightweight materials helps keep it from getting too heavy and collapsing the house before it dries.

I love the little green m&m wreath in the gable and the ‘dripping’ icing on the roof eaves. 
Uh, Oh, look again, I think someone is trying to move in!

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Rudolf

For todays marshmallow I created some cute reindeer using two new tricks. First, I used broken pretzels as antlers (clever indeed), and secondly, to write the simple v-shaped mouth……… I used my new Americolor Gourmet Writer pen. It is sooo cool!  I recently purchased the food color pen online and I had it in the package for a few days now, it seemed really neat but I was not sure what to use it for. Today while making the reindeer I tried it out for the first time. It is soooo excellent. It’s a true edible ink PEN, not like the Betty Crocker Food Pens. Sorry Betty… your pens are more like crayons (which are good for coloring…so by no means is it a bad tool) but the Americolor Writer is a true PEN…for writing. It has a very fine point. I can’t wait to use it more.

Santa if your reading this: I reeeaaalllly want (need) the Americolor Gourmet Writer Pen 10 Color set. Yes, just black wont do, I need the whooooole rainbow of colors please!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Spring time feelings in the middle of December

I love Dolly Partons song “Christmas to Remember”…and no matter what holiday you celebrate this month there is nothing like ‘Spring time feelings in the middle of December’! I used my chocolate coated sunflower seeds to create this little spring time garden…its really cold outside and these little treats will stay blooming inside my warm house.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Marshmallow Snowflakes

This winter wonderland is sure to make you hungry! I printed up a few snowflake templates from the computer and placed parchment paper over the template. I traced the snowflake with white chocolate in my piping bag and carefully place the mini-marshmallows onto the chocolate. It was pretty cold in my kitchen so these became hard and set quickly. Then I strung them with some ribbon to hang up! I’m chilly and hungry just looking at this adorable little edible display!


Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Cute you are

I completely forgot to post these marshmallows. A few weeks ago I went to a ‘star wars’ birthday party which inspired me to create these little guys for display. This little Star Wars Jawa is so adorable with his teeny tiny little feet poking out. You’d never know he had a Jawa blaster under his robe. I made the light saber blue…does that mean it is Luke’s? I know that Darth Vaders was red…I can’t remember if Lukes was blue or green? Anyone know the answer?


Sunday, December 4, 2011

I heart marshmallows

I love pulling into my driveway and seeing an unexpected package, makes me feel so excited. I received a really great gift in the mail and thought I would share it. A tote bag that says “I heart marshmallows” …so cool! Thank you!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Easy Toffee Delights

This is a favorite recipe of mine. I hard boil butter and sugar and pour it over a pan of crackers. Put it in the oven for 5 minutes at 475 degrees then remove it from the oven. It will be bubbling still. Then top with semi sweet chocolate morsels…. The heat will melt the morsels and make it easy to spread. Then of course top it with mini marshmallows. When the pan cools you break it similar to brittle and eat the jagged pieces. I made an entire pan, and it only lasts a day before it is gone.  I think I will double the recipe next time as this dessert freezes really well

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!

What I really wanted to do for a Thanksgiving display was have a small cornucopia and fill it with marshmallows…but I just couldn’t find one small enough. I used what I had with pumpkins and faux vegetables to make a nice little display with this marshmallow turkey. I took one large marshmallow and ‘glued’ (with chocolate) smaller ones around it...and used candy coated sunflower seeds to provide the color.  Hope everyone has a wonderful thanksgiving surrounded by people you love!
 

Gobble, Gobble!

Friday, November 11, 2011

11/11/11 - A Cartoon Marshmallow

So in true 11/11/11 fashion I’m posting this cartoon marshmallow picture at 11:11am. I heard about this really cool site where it will cartoon your photos. Of course the purpose of the site is to take a picture of a PERSON and turn it into a cartoon. I however went and cartoon’d one of my marshmallows. This is one of the first marshmallows I ever made…  smooth white chocolate drenched over a soft marshmallow with simple nonpareil sprinkles on top. Then I put the picture into the cartoon program for a fun 11/11/11 posting.  Enjoy and make a wish today!

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Home-made Ice Cream Sandwiches

I had a bunch of left over chocolate chip cookies that I had stored in the freezer and thought of a great idea when I opened the freezer door today. I made my own ice cream sandwiches! Yum! I mixed up the ice cream with mini-marshmallows and spread it onto the cookie. Once I placed the top cookie onto the sandwich I dipped the edges in rainbow sprinkles.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Sunflower seeds… an Aahmazing decorating candy

I discovered a new embellishment today: Sunflower seeds. They are not just plain seeds though they are such colorful and tasty little things. The package said “Sunflower seeds drenched in cocoa & coated with a candy shell”….Ok, I was sold, so I bought a package to use on my chocolate covered marshmallows.
I made adorable flowers….


And here is another. I like the 5 petal flower the best.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween

Here is the last of my Halloween decorative tricks, until next year anyway. I made a plate of white chocolate covered marshmallows with M&M’s that I turned into spiders and ants and caterpillars crawling on my marshmallows!




And here is a close up of one of my M&M bugs… It would have been a bit scarier if I hadn’t tried to put a smiley face on it!

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Creepy treats with Marshmallows


Headed to a fun Halloween party, I only had time to BUY a batch of chocolate chip cookies (bad I know…). When I got home from the store I spruced them up home-made Halloween style by taking M&M’s and turning them into little spiders and bugs with chocolate legs. Then I took large marshmallows and painted them into ghosts with black food coloring. I used melted white chocolate and piped a spider web onto wax paper. When the web cooled I placed it onto the plate of cookies. Voila!! This is a great way to put a home made touch onto store bought goodies.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Marshmallow Krispy Pumpkins – (Yum)

I know I said earlier that I have a laundry list of various Halloween designs and ideas...well, I do indeed. Here are some Rice Krispy treat pumpkins that I made today. I made the krispy treat mixture and just before it cooled I molded them into pumpkin shape. I melted semi-sweet chocolate morsels and poured it into my piping bag to make the jack-o-lantern faces. These were delish! I especially like the goofy one in the back there…His eyebrows are funny!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Cobblestone Streets

This is another traveling marshmallow. I brought this little one with me on my trip a few weeks ago. It is so rainy today, but it was so sunny and beautiful when I went! The main roads downtown are all cobblestones. It makes for such a bumbly ride in the car, and such a quaint walk when you are walking or shopping. It’s a real experience. I didn’t get the best shot or angle for my photo shoot, and the cobblestones that happen to be under my feet at that point were actually squares not the true round cobblestones that the cars drive on. My chocolate covered marshmallow has various colors of brown and mode fondant that I had balled up into tiny ‘rocks’ to place atop my marshmallow treat.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

The leaning tower of lighthouse

I love lighthouses, especially when I get to visit them during beautiful crystal clear blue sky days, and I love lighthouses even MORE when I have a marshmallow queued up for a scenic photo shoot. This is an amazing view of Brandt Point. I made the marshmallow in advance of course, and my recollection was it had stripes…wrong was I. The breeze was blowing, the boats were sailing, and it was just an all around gorgeous day. My little marshmallow fared well during the trip although the lighthouse started to tilt just a tad…aaaah, the struggles of traveling marshmallows. I have another traveling marshmallow coming up from the little trip. Thanks for your patience in my delayed postings!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Sweet things come to those who wait

Dear Readers,

Sorry for the long delay in getting my marshmallows posted. Just when you think things can’t get any busier they certainly do! Rest assured the traveling marshmallows and some Halloween delights are being kept in the ice box for another day or so until I can post them to share. I promise not to eat them until you’ve seen them. :)

Sweetly yours,
Amazing Marshmallows

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Prepping the traveling marshmallows

Gee after the Yummy Mummy marshmallows everything seems so dull…. (actually, marshmallows are never dull). I’m creating marshmallows today, but they are traveling marshmallows, so stay tuned to see what adventures they will go on.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Yummy Mummy Marshmallows

I made a plateful of these yummy mummy marshmallows for a Halloween get together at a friend’s house. They came out quite spooky! A few weeks ago I was at the supermarket waiting in line and I spotted a magazine that had this mummy design on a dessert on the front cover. I liked it and filed it away in my mind to do for Halloween with my marshmallows. I purchased some Wilton Candy Eyeballs, and they are sooo cool! I will have to think of some more marshmallow art ideas using these very cool (and easy to use) candy eyeballs. I created them by coating the marshmallows in white candy coating first and then attaching the candy eyeballs to it using my piping bag. Then I piped the chocolate all around the mummy head.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Final days of summer

The weather has been so perfect the past few days. I’m just not ready to say good bye to this great warm sun… Although, the good thing about cool weather approaching is that it definitely makes transporting my marshmallows easier. They will not start melting during my outdoor photo shoots! Today was a busy day with work (another 4 day work week but still 5 days worth of work)…so I grilled out! (Being busy with work doesn’t really have anything to do with grilling out, really, I know) I made a plate full of marshmallows today, that I’m taking to a party on Thursday, that I will post tomorrow. For now, here is a picture of my skewers. I used extra olive oil and they were soft and juicy.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Happy Columbus Day – Marshmallow Brownies

I woke up this morning and said “Today I am going to bake brownies” and that is exactly what I did. I don’t have a Columbus Day marshmallow to post because I thought these brownies were worthy of posting in lieu of a ship. When I have a three day weekend I like to spend a little time with friends and family, a little time cleaning, a little relaxing and a little (or a lot) of baking, cooking and marshmallow making. I cooked the brownies with the marshmallows and as it was cooking the brownie rose and engulfed part of the mini-marshmallows and continued toasting them until the brownies came out of the oven. I had no idea that they would toast up like this. Here is a before and after.

Before they went into the oven…


When I took them out of the oven 45 minutes later.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Quack!

Today was a day of touring, visiting, walking and enjoying an amazing 80 degree day. The skies were blue and the sun was everywhere. I didn’t have a marshmallow to take onsite with me but tonight created a cute little scene with a duck swimming in the pond. It is more of a ‘rubber duck’ vs. a real brown duck but I was out of brown and didn’t feel like mixing up colors tonight. I think the scene is adorable, and at the last minute added the green lily pads.

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Casual Dining

I love a party where the meal is a platter of deli cuts, and bowl or two of pickles and olives. Yum! The bread is always fresh and soft and I can pile on the cheese as high as I want! Top it off with some crispy chips and a soda…and that’s delish! The finale of course: chocolate covered marshmallows.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Blue skies and sunshine

Blue skies and sunshine aaaaaaaaalll weekend long! Yea baby! I hope the weatherman is right! I’m looking forward to a little r&r with family and friends (and maybe a little baking and marshmallow making) this weekend.

Red..orange and YELLLLoowwww. Green and bluuuuueee…indigo and viiiiiOOOlet and that’s a rainbow song for you!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Booooo

I can just hear these adorable fondant ghosts woo’ing and boo’ing. There is a chill in the air that winter is approaching and I was woo’ing (and boo’ing) myself as I ran from the car to the garage this evening. I took plain white fondant and molded the white ghost shape. I took my fine brush to paint on the eyes and mouth with edible black coloring and gently placed them on top of the chocolate covered marshmallows just before the coating hardened. 

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Mary had a little marshmallow

Here is the marshmallow sheep I was talking about yesterday. I saw it in a magazine so long ago and have wanted to create it ever since. I took one large marshmallow and used white chocolate to ‘glue’ all the mini-marshmallows onto it. I could have used some candy for the eyes, and next time I definitely will.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Visions of marshmallows dancing in my head

I have the perrrrrfect marshmallow treat I already know I want to make. I will take a large marshmallow and cover it in candy coating and then take a bunch of mini-marshmallows all around it and create a sheep. I’m not sure if I will use fondant for the eyes and legs or some other candy. Too cute…. And it requires some time, which I am OUT OF TODAY! So stay tuned for a yummy squishy marshmallow lamby, hopefully tomorrow.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Let's go surfin'

Catch the wave! An edible wave that is, with a little surfer dude riding it. There are not many warm days left before winter is going to set in and I thought I would swim in one more summery creation before diving back into the Halloween marshmallow treats.  This marshmallow craft took a steady hand to create the wave, let it dry and then mold a teeny-tiny surfer and his surfboard underneath. I rolled out the deep blue fondant very thin and then pulled at it to get a ragged and ripped ‘wave crest’ type of look. Then I curved it upward. It dried quickly because it was so thin. I then used my Showtime #15 knife to cut the surfboard and little person and chocolate glued the whole piece onto a white chocolate covered marshmallow.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Halloween game time!

Can you find the fondant candy corn in the mix of candy corn? If your up for the challenge click on the label/tag “game” below this posting to find other ‘games’ I’ve posted on my blog! See if your friends can pick the correct answer.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Happy October

I have to warn everyone in advance that while Halloween is one of my least favorite holidays of the year, I have soooo many Halloween marshmallow ideas its insane and plan to post them throughout all of October.  Get ready to get your black and orange on, be scared, be afraid…be very deliciously afraid!  ……….Aw, who am I kidding…even my Halloween marshmallow treats are adorable!

Friday, September 30, 2011

Spring time feelings in the Fall

Here is a little burst of Spring time right in the middle of Fall! I loved this bouquet of Mums outside. The flowers are in full bloom and the stems are firm so I placed my delectable treat right in the middle of the arrangement. The chocolate curvature on this marshmallow is flawless and the blue eggs perfectly egg shaped.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Marshmallow-Art fail

I consider myself a marshmallow artist, but not all my artwork comes out perfect on the first try. I’ve posted marshmallows with cheese in the past, and this particular ‘Swiss’ cheese creation came out great…its hard to tell but the holes go all the way through the cheese. The MOUSE on the other hand…….is not quite right. I decided to keep my mutant mouse with the Swiss cheese and post it as an example of my first attempt at molding a mouse. I already see that the second gray ball should be removed and a simple teardrop molding with ears and tail would create a better looking mouse. Add to mental to-do list: Practice molding mice.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Marshmallow Minty Pops

I thought of this yummy treat today and went right into it. I put marshmallows on lollipop sticks and dipped them into a bowl of warm vanilla candy coating and then rested it to harden on a mini sized york peppermint patty. These came out so great and the peppermints fit right on the bottom (or top of the marshmallow when your holding it) so it looks almost like one whole piece of yummy minty marshmallow deliciousness.
Double the yum! 

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Workstation



Many people have emailed me asking to see my workstation. Every day I have a display of my colorants, paint brushes, water cups, foam squares, knives etc etc. It does look interesting! I need all these items to help create the best (and most tasteful) marshmallow art possible. I also have a sprinkle work station as well.  After I cover my marshmallows with white chocolate or white candy coating, they harden and I take them to my fondant and coloring workstation to embellish. Here is a peek at some of just some of my tools from the coloring station.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Monday Monday...

What a day… I wish it was Friday already! This marshmallow sums it up…although these are the sweetest pills you’ll ever taste. Sometimes a sweet chocolate covered marshmallow with sugary pills on top are just what the doctor ordered.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Boo!

I know it is early to start making Halloween treats but these little marshmallow ghosts made a quick appearance this evening and will again for Halloween night. I took plain marshmallows and carefully drew the eyes and mouth on with my fine brush and black food coloring. BOO!

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Feelin' hot hot ...really hot!

I’ve always loved making home made salsa. Sometimes I make it chunky with large pieces of tomatoes and other times I make it like a puree. The salsa of choice lately has been a non-traditional type with tomatoes, cucumber, chopped garlic, vinegar and cilantro. It is refreshing (thanks to the cucumber) and makes the whole kitchen smell great. I’ve also made it with tomatoes, tobasco sauce and corn. Today in search to make spicy salsa vs. refreshing salsa I sought out the habanero pepper. There was definitely confusion at the supermarket between the chili pepper, jalapeño and habanero pepper.   I bought a small vile of just the habanero seeds which claim to be 50 times hotter than the jalapeño pepper. That’s hot. Really hot. The salsa I made was indeed hot, one tiny drop on the corn chip brought out beads of sweat on my forehead.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Same plate with added color

I am ready for the bridal shower and so is my platter of marshmallows that I made yesterday. I was able to get a better picture today and I also used my Betty Crocker Easy Writer pens on some marshmallows to make blue flowers which make the display look more festive. I’ve made these simple flowers a few times using the pens and it definitely is giving the white on white chocolate marshmallow display a burst of color.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

White chocolate marshmallows with white drizzle

I am headed to a bridal shower on Friday night and today made a plate full of these white chocolate covered marshmallows to bring. I made them very simple, white chocolate with white chocolate drizzle. The curvature was melting very nice in my double boiler and I simply dipped each marshmallow in and set it on parchment paper to dry. When they were dry I piped chocolate across them. At the last moment I decided to pipe some scrolls and insert it into a few of the delectable marshmallow bon bons.  I have them in print paper liners vs. the white liners and lined them up on my crystal platter. I’ll try to get a better picture tomorrow before I leave.