Thursday, December 29, 2011

Ideas To Celebrate The New Year

 happy new year

I've been swamped with a very tricky escrow on a new home. (Don't worry. If we get the house, I'll dig up my lemon tree and take it with me).  Due to my current hectic schedule, today's post will be kinda a recap quickie of previous posts.  Click on the links below for some fun ideas to celebrate the New Year.

1. My favorite Ideas To Ring In The New Year.

2. Three Crowd Pleasin' Party Dips sure to be a hit at an New Year party.






3. Happy New Year Frog Cookies



Enjoy,

~The Lemonista

Friday, December 16, 2011

Hot Cocoa Cupcakes



In my quest to come up with a fun treat to bring to my kids holiday classroom parties, I came across these darling Hot Cocoa Cupcakes on Days of Chalk and Chocolate blog. As soon as my eyes hit the screen, I knew these were perfect.  Here's my tutorial on how to make these simple yet fabulous cupcakes.  Thanks to Jenny for the amazing idea!

You will need:


1. Bake your cupcakes according to the instructions on the box. I baked the cupcakes in Reynolds foil cupcake liners to look like little tin mugs.*grin*

2. Using a Bakery Crafts #9P tip (which is basically just a big plain round circle) I piped white icing/ whipped frosting on the top of the cupcake to look like a dollop of whipped cream. Leave some of the chocolate cake exposed around the edge so you can see some hot cocoa ;-) You could also try dolloping on the frosting with a spoon or filling a ziploc bag with frosting, snipping off the corner and decorating that way.



3. Sprinkle on some hot cocoa mix or cocoa powder.


4. Add three mini marshmallows.


5. Hook a mini candy cane into the side of the cupcake to look like a handle.
*Hint. Some of my candy canes were a little long and I trimmed the tail with a sharp knife.


That's it! Here they are all boxed up and ready to go to the kids schools.




Enjoy!

~The Lemonista

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Monday, December 5, 2011

Salted Caramel Bars & Other Salted Holiday Treats

Who doesn't love the irresistible combination of salty and sweet? 

Ever try a salted chocolate chip cookie?

It's Heaven. Next time you make your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, try adding flaked sea salt as a finishing touch.  It will knock your socks off.



Honestly, the delightful addition of flaked sea salt to baked goods has been my favorite trend in desserts. However, when making salted treats, it's very important to use the right kind of salt. Do not use regular table salt to guild your goodies. Just the thought of biting into that makes me twitch like Bugs Bunny. It is important to use a good quality flaked sea salt, such as this Murray River - Pink Flake Salt purchased at Saltworks for $6. This light and delicate flaked salt has a wonderfully mild flavor.
*As a little side note, this salt would make a fantastic stocking stuffer. *wink*



On the top of my euphoric salty treats is any kind of handmade salted caramel. I wanted to share this amazing flavor combination in my holiday cookie exchanges, but I didn't want to mess with candy wrappers.  Plus, if salted caramel was going to work for a holiday cookie exchange, it needed to be, well, more like a cookie.  So after snooping around the Internet to see what recipes I could dig up and putting together one of my own, here are a couple I plan to make and salt this holiday season.

First up, these fabulous Salted Caramel Bars by Gaby Dalkin. Don't these just make your mouth water! I used Gaby's crust recipe in a batch of light caramel bars I made.


Next up, these Millionaire's Shortbread Bars by Stephanie Jaworski are just a beggin' for some salty goodness. Even without the seas salt these look down right sinful.


I have an old fashioned creamy caramel recipe that I love, so I decided to whip together my own batch of Salted Caramel Bars.  I used Gaby's crust recipe linked above and then poured my light caramel over the top.  You cannot go wrong with Gaby's wonderful brown sugar caramel but if you like a lighter caramel, then feel free to give mine a try.


A basic candy thermometer will work fine for this recipe.  I picked one up for $2 at the grocery store.


Put sugar, salt and syrup into a heavy pan.


Using a candy thermometer, heat to 245 degrees, stirring occasionally.




Gradually add butter and milk so slowly that boiling doesn't stop.




Cook rapidly with constant stirring to 243 degrees (do not go over). I paused from stirring here to take a photo and ended up with some darker caramelized flecks in my caramel. Still tastes great but let this be a lesson to keep that spoon movin'.


Remove from heat. Add vanilla


and pour over crust.


Allow caramel to cool.


Sprinkle with desired amount of flaked sea salt.


Cut into desired size squares or bars and serve.


Salted Caramel Bars

Shortbread Cookie Crust
I used Gaby's crust recipe in this Salted Caramel Bar link.

Caramel Filling
1 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup butter
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Topping
Flaked sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place rack in center of oven. Grease/butter a 9 x 9 inch pan and line with parchment paper, allowing the paper to come up over the sides.

FOR SHORTBREAD: Prepare and bake your crust. I made the crust in Gaby's recipe. Please see this link for instructions.

FOR CARAMEL FILLING: Put sugar, salt and syrup into a heavy pan.  Using a candy thermometer, heat to 245 degrees, stirring occasionally.  Gradually add butter and milk so slowly that boiling doesn't stop.  Cook rapidly with constant stirring to 243 degrees (do not go over). Remove from heat. Add vanilla and pour over crust.  Allow caramel to cool.

TOPPING: Sprinkle with desired amount of flaked sea salt.  Cut into desired size squares or bars and serve.

Enjoy!

~The Lemonista