Homemade Sprinkles!

Did you know you can make your very own sprinkles?

Because I didn't.

And If it wasn't for Pintrest, I still wouldn't know.

Coincidently, I now have a huge cramp in my right hand from pipping hundreds of tiny homemade sprinkles onto parchment paper.

I plan on using these puppies on my birthday cake. I don't know what kind of cake I am going to make yet, but It will have blue, green and pink homemade sprinkles on it. 

Coincidently, my birthday is tomorrow (which is weird to say, since I am typing this two days ago... which is even weirder to say, since It is now right now... and not two days ago, but when you read this, it will be two days ago... OK, I'm giving myself a head ache...Coincidently, I think that pipping hundreds of tiny little dots will do that to you)

I ever-so-slightly modified the recipe that is from I am Baker... Mostly it is modified because I added too much milk, then not enough vanilla, then it got too thick, and then it got too thin, so pretty much the exact same recipe, with a few modifications. This is more "sugar art" than "baking" so less science, more of a feel for what your final product will turn out to be.

So, before I get too into this, HERE is the link for i am baker's Homemade Sprinkles. I am loving her blog right now! I read it along with Pioneer Woman, Joy the Baker, and Shutterbean.

So you need:
1 cup icing sugar
1-3 tablespoons of Milk
1 table spoon of light corn syrup
Flavour
Color


put your icing sugar in a bowl, add in 1 table spoon of milk and the corn syrup. Now add in your flavouring.  This is where you need to play around. I added another half table spoon of milk and this was way too much, so I needed to add more sugar, and then more flavour.  you want your sugar mix to to be thick enough that is is going to hold its shape, but liquid enough that you will be able to pipe it through a #3 tip without clogging. Mine was a little bit thick, but I left it that way while I divided the sugar into three bowls to make three different colour sprinkles. I added my colour in, and made them bright vibrant colours of blue, green and pink. Gel food colouring is best, but if you end up using the liquid stuff, then it is going to throw off the consistency of the mixture, so you might have to add some more sugar to compensate for the extra liquid.
Once you get everything to where you want it, put it into pipping bags with a #3 tip and start pipping the little dots onto parchment paper.
*note.. my mix was a little dry after the color, so I added a small dollop of corn syrup instead of milk to help the liquid content without making it too wet again.

just pipe little dots until your hand goes numb! and Voila'  homemade sprinkles!!

I even cleaned up after myself right away! (weird)

I Can't wait to use them!!!!!  Don't the green ones look like peas? I made the pink a little too florescent, but I still love them and the blue... I think they are my most favourite of all.

Marshmallows - a bucket list item! (part 1)

Ever since I found out that you could make Marshmallows at home, from scratch, I have always wanted to try and make them myself. But they always seemed daunting with the whole candy thermometer and paying attention thing. But I have finally tackled this item on my baking bucket list! (see the link in the top right corner  of the menu... or right here! to my bucket list)

I searched for them on pintrest, google, food gawker and taste spotting. and I read tons of recipes (but mostly I just looked at the pictures). After getting all marshmallow inspired, I decided to go to The Joy of Baking and use her recipe after watching her video on how to make them... It seemed more helpful in tackling this huge marshmallow mountain I had built up in my head. So I watched her video last night, and then this morning, I bloomed the gelatin, boiled the sugar to soft ball stage and whipped the mother loving crap out of the two until It because a very very sticky cloud of marshmallow fluff.

Since I will not claim to be any kind of marshmallow expert, I am going to send you to watch Stephanie's videos and get all kinds of inspired for your marshmallow endeavours. Homemade Marshmallows at Joy of Baking.com

Now the only problem is waiting to test them out... I'm only 5 hours into the waiting process... But if the taste of the dreamy marshmallow fluff that was stuck all over my fingers while making this is any indication... I may need a marshmallow intervention...  I promise to add the finished marshmallow pictures as soon as they are done curing. (is that what marshmallow's do?)

Pour into your prepared pan... Play around with editing tools in Picasa...

take a picture of the recipe and your mini blue spatula that your mom got you for Christmas too.

OH... I didn't take pictures of this step, because I was busy starting my next little project, but Once you have your fluff in the pan, and relatively level in there... dust the top with sugar (just like when you dusted the bottom of the pan).


Okay, I am having some fun and getting back into the blogging grove.  Here is the link to the recipe again: Homemade Marshmallows at JoyofBaking.com   Definitely watch the video if you are a homemade marshmallow virgin like I was... It helps.

Bird Nest Cookies

Hey there

No, I didn't fall off the face of the earth. I've been here... Just not writing here... I have been neglectful of this poor little blog of mine, But it was for a good cause
So I could stop being neglectful of this little life of mine.
Sort of re-focus on what I want to do, be, say, whatever... I took a blog vacation.
But I have been baking, and cooking, and taking pictures of everything. I am back... sort of.  The blog is going to take a bit of a back seat while I figure this whole life thing out (not that anything dramatic happened, I just feel the need to re-evaluate and re group and get organized and centred again)
I will be here to write when I feel the need to, and to share lots of my newly tried recipes here, but it wont be on any schedule for now.


BUT I am back now... with Bird Nest Cookies

No-Bake Bird Nest Cookies

I needed something Easter-like in my life... and I had a craving for the "Chinese noodle cookies" that i used to make with my mom when I was about 4... AND I saw them on Pintrest....
But Here they are!

Bird Nest Cookies

3/4 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
3/4 cup Butterscotch Chips
1 cup Peanut Butter (creamy is better, but I used Crunchy... because I couldn't find the peanut butter in the store, they are changing everything around, so the sugar is next to the gravy mixes right now, and the candy is in the produce section... AND it was packed in the store with everyone scrambling for Easter dinner supplies, so I gave up and used the crunchy peanut butter that we already had at home)
6 oz. (the small sized bag) of Chow mien Noodles
Cadbury Mini-Eggs
Note: You can add in other things too. I added a little coconut to the mix, because I love coconut.

Grease muffin tin very well with butter (to make them easier to release out of the muffin tin to enjoy)

Melt the chocolate and butterscotch chips in a double boiler (ie: a stainless steel bowl over simmering water)

Then add in the Peanut Butter and stir until everything is a big melty mess

Add in the noodles (an the coconut like me) and stir carefully until everything is well coated

Place into your greased muffin tins, pressing the middle down a little to make the nest shape.

Add the eggs into the nest (I put 3 in each nest)

Place in the fridge until hard

Enjoy!

a whole lot of random...

It is already February 4th. Wow... seriously, wow. I couldn't really tell you what has gone on in the last few days, I am stunned. Lucky for me, nothing directly related to me, and nothing I can talk about here. But wow. Drama Drama Drama... So today, you get a bunch of random, because my brain can't focus on much else.  To further emphasize this point... it is almost 10pm, On Saturday. On a Saturday that I worked all day, in a 6 day week (barf).. and I am in the process of making This.... I did have a nap while the beets were roasting/cooling though (awesome boyfriend took them out of the oven for me)

I bought all the ingredients to make Ratatouille too... So that is my project for tomorrow... apart from sleep, drink coffee, have a nap, and catch up on random TV shows on line.

Also... Betty White is awesome. I think my random TV show watching will include her show "off their rockers" because my Sunday could use a little hilarity in it.

I think I found this on Pintrest. I saved it to put it into a book for a friend. I do not own this at all, and I can't tell you who does. If you know I will gladly credit (any of these images... obvs. they aren't owned by me)... But I had to share, because this is awesome... and to go along with the drama of the week:

I HEART THIS.

I will try and put up my attempt at Joy's Chocolate Beet Cake tomorrow or the next day (or the next day or the next day)
And stay tuned for the 27th. because I'm pretty stoked for this month's Daring Baker Challenge, I have a few ideas to try, and some that I have already tried... Yay! effort on my part for a challenge finally! its been a while!.








ALSO!!!
Feb.1- my BFF, My person, whatever you want to call her... She turned 25... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
Feb.2- ground-hog day... apparently we are having an early spring... No shit Balzac Billy... it's 10 freaking degrees outside... It's spring right now!
Feb.3- my Parent's anniversary... 32 years!!! holy crap
And today... my boss' lawn was littered with Flamingos... and I got to have cupcakes from Here... Delicious!


And anyone felling generous? I would love to live in this house... or at least live back in Canmore.. GAWD DO I MISS THE MOUNTAINS!!!! :(
I am definitely NOT a prairie girl...

My Bathroom...

 Okay, So I figure that I can't keep up with my blog unless I incorporate more of my life into this... Not just food. And so, I am going to share a few of my projects... a few weeks ago, I cleaned/organized and made my bathroom pretty. This is pretty much the room of our house that made us say "YES, we will pay you a crap-ton of money every month just to live here" ... Seriously, look at the bathtub...

 This is the before picture of above the toilet... Before I put a shelf up, so I have somewhere to put my towels.

I made this to help mix up the walls...


Its pretty yes?? Pretty good for a rental property.

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Roll

So a while ago, I printed off one of Joy's recipes to try... Her Chocolate Peppermint Roll with Chocolate Ganache

And as I have started to type this post, I am in the midst of the most excruciating part of trying a new recipe.. WAITING

I would consider myself a patient person... IF you are a horse... if you are human (which i am assuming you are, if you are reading this) Then you are SOL... My patience is reserved for horses... and mostly other animals... DEFINITELY not for chocolate cake that smells amazing, and the Baileys whipped cream I made for the middle of it..

So for the cake... (gluten free by the way), I didn't change a thing from Joy's recipe... 6 egg yolks beat into submission, and 6 egg whites beaten til stiff peaks form, then mixed together very carefully and baked on a large cake roll pan that has been sprayed with canola oil spray, parchment papered, sprayed again and then floured (just so the cake wont stick and you can actually roll it... Don't skip the paper... you are going to need it).

cake batter, BEFORE oven

For the filling, I made Whipped cream, as per her recipe, but without the peppermint extract. I had some Bailey's coffee liqure... a 50ml Sample that comes on other large bottles of alcohol... so I dumped that in with the cream ,and added a couple pinches of instant coffee too.

Cake with whipped cream filling... BEFORE rolling

Rather than put Ganache on top, I am going to put more coffee whipped cream.... Mostly because I am out of chocolate and almost out of whipping cream too...

I am mostly interested to see how this gluten free... no flour what-so-ever cake is going to taste... hopefully not like eggs, although that is what I am leaning towards, since It is make almost completely of eggs.  Next up on my list of Joy the Baker's recipes to try: Chocolate Beet Cake with Beet Cream Cheese Frosting
If I wasn't determined to stay in the house all day, I would be on my way to get some Beets!!! Maybe I will try this next weekend for my Parent's anniversary!


Did I tell you that Swiss Cake Roll is on my Baking/Cooking Bucket List? I am not going to check this off just yet, I want to try a regular recipe still, but I am glad to have tried this one! Thanks Joy!!

AND the results are in!
Boyfriend's reaction " Wow"... long pause "wow"... longer pause "is there more?"
Boyfriend's reaction when I told him it was gluten free: "what's gluten?"  haha,... So he couldn't really tell that there was no flour in the cake... and to be honest, once I got everything assembled, you definatly couldn't taste that the predominant ingredient was eggs... The cake on it's own, had a bit of an egg taste, but it completely mellows out after you put the whipped cream and roll it all up.
And the Bailey's Whipped Cream... delish!  But unless you are like me and don't intend on leaving the house... maybe don't eat this and then drive... Its pretty happy.
This recipe is a keeper!! Thanks again Joy!!! Can't wait for your cookbook to come out!!

Brought to you by Eggs.... and Bailey's

January 2012 Daring Baker Challenge - Biscuits

Biscuits... scones... same thing.... sort of... but not really at all.
I am having flash-backs to arguements with my English friends (when I was living over there) about cookies and biscuts and scones and tea all mean different things... And how I say Saturday...   And aparently one time in the whole 6 months that I was with the Australian (who I now refuse to aknowledge the existance of) I said "a-boot" and never lived it down (except that I totally didn't).

This months challenge was Biscuits... Or scones... depending on what part of the world you hail from. If you want a more in-depth explanation of the difference... head over to The recipe archive at the Daring Kitchen and see Audax's explanation..





I love biscuits.. They are comfort food, and EASY  and FAST to make all by yourself comfort food. Easy, fast, and with very few ingredients... and those ingredients are things that you are probably going to have in your fridge/pantry anyway...

At the beginning of the month I had grand plans of how this year was going to be different and I was going to take better care of my blog, and try out a bunch of my favourite biscuit recipes to compare to each other, in addition to the challenge recipe (which is quickly becoming my most favourite)... But life keeps getting in the way... I broke some ribs, i injured my hip flexor, and now im trying to decide what next step is the right choice, and so my blog, and my kitchen has taken a back seat... But I at least got a few of the challenge recipes in, although I didn't get a chance to play around with the recipe and do some alterations, I do think I found a new favourite recipe.  The one thing that I did do, was add more butter that Audax called for

But I will stop rambling now and get to the challenge. Audax was our host this month... and if you aren't a daring baker/cook... then you should be...EVERY month I go and check the forums, Audax has helpful, and SUPER-knowledgeable posts for everyone. He helps solve problems anyone is having, and it is inspiring to see his first attempts at every monthly challenge).. Thanks Audax!

On thing I would like to put out there... If any other daring bakers (or anyone who reads this for that matter) have any tips for higher- alititude baking, I would be greatly appreciative! 

Blog-checking lines: Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens!

Rather than copy and paste the recipe (as I didn't change anything) I'm sending you to the Daring Kitchen. Download the pdf file of this month's challenge and you too can read all of Audax's well researched and tested information on Biscuits.
Here are my photos... and there would be more, but I may or may not have accidental deleted them on my phone before I uploaded them onto my computer (oops)

Biscuits go GREAT with beef stew when there are wind chill warnings of -45 to -50 (BRRRRRRRR)