Fudge

Man, these blog posts keep getting further and further apart..
Oh well!

I wanted to branch out and try something new, and somebody recommended that I try fudge.

I've always been a little intimidated by it.. I mean, it involves boiling something, stirring constantly, not burning it (burning stuff comes so naturally to me!)... it's a lot, right?

Ingredients before they're mixed

WRONG-O!

Because that's what microwaves were invented for!

I hadn't even thought to make this in the microwave until I asked my mom for advice, and she gave me the "Duh, Taylor, how did you not think of that?" tone.

Making fudge just got a whooole loooot easier!
I didn't have any square cake pans on hand, and mom had said that a 9x13 pan was too big, so I used a round cake pan instead. It made for thick pieces, but you can cut them small! But something slightly larger than a 9x9 pan is preferable.

And most importantly... my friends enjoyed it! Yay!
Fudge Recipe

• 1 1/2 sticks margarine (I'm sure butter would work too, we're just a margarine family)
• 3 c sugar
• 2/3 c (aka 5 oz aka 1 small can) evaporated milk
• 1 small (7 oz) jar marshmallow creme
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 12oz package chocolate chips
• Optional: 1 c chopped nuts
• Note: This recipe is on the back of the marshmallow creme container! But it calls for baking squares-- far more expensive than chocolate chips!

Preparation

• Melt margarine in microwave in a 2 qt, microwave safe dish.
• Add sugar and milk; mix well.
• Microwave for 3 minutes. Stir.
• Microwave for 2 minutes. Stir.
• Microwave for 5.5 minutes. Stir.
• Remove from microwave, and add marshmallow creme and vanilla.
• (Note: Running your spatula under hot water first will get the creme out easier!)
• Once that's mixed, add your chocolate chips.
• Mix until well combined and pour into a buttered pan.
• Place in fridge to set firmly, or leave at room temperature for a more gooey texture.

Caramel Brownies

Occasionally my roommate will decide to have a girl's night. So this time I decided to make a little treat: Brownies!

This is partially because I already had a box of brownie mix in the cabinet, but also because I had some little caramel squares in the cabinet that I wanted to get rid of. Otherwise I would've eaten them all plain!

So I made the brownies, and then melted 20 of the caramel squares. Now, no matter how much you heat these, they will firm up again right away...at least the way I did it! So I melted them and stirred in a little veggie oil, just to get it liquid enough to drizzle the caramel over the brownie mix before I baked it.

And the caramel will harden as you drizzle, so make sure you work quickly!

Caramel Brownie Recipe

• One box of brownie mix
• Eggs (2, probably)
• Vegetable oil
• Water
• 20 small caramels

Preparation

• Prepare brownie mix according to directions on the back of the box.
• Pour mix into the pan of your choice (ex: 9x13 pan)
• Unwrap the caramels (yep!) and put in a microwave safe bowl.
• Heat on high for 30 seconds, then stir. Add in a little vegetable oil, then continue heating in 10-second intervals until totally melted.
• Use a spoon to drizzle caramel over the brownies.
• Bake according to the box's directions.
• Frost if you'd like, or serve slightly warm!

Rice Krispies Treats

I haven't been feeling well lately, but my co-workers have come to expect food on the weekends. So I settled for making something easy, that wouldn't add to my stress level: Rice Krispies Treats!

I don't think I've met a single person who doesn't like them. Even sick, I couldn't resist eating the excess mixture off of the spoon when I was done.

For the recipe, I stick with the 666 rule: It's easy to remember (for more than one reason), and also delicious.

This is Leo. Leo is my baby, and he LOVES mallows!

Rice Krispies Treats Recipe

• 6 tbsp butter
• 6 cups marshmallows
• 6 cups Rice Krispies

Preparation

• Coat a 9x13 pan with cooking spray to avoid sticking.
• Combine the butter and marshmallows in a large, microwave safe bowl.
• Microwave for about two minutes. Using a wooden/plastic stirring spoon, stir at the minute mark, then the thirty second mark. Once the mallows are totally melted, you're done.
• In a separate, extra-large bowl pour in the cereal.
• Pour the mallow mixture into the large bowl, and use the stirring spoon to coat the cereal.
• Pour the new mixture into your 9x13 pan.
• Coat your fingers in a bit of butter to keep yourself from being stuck to, and press the mixture into the pan until even.
• Let cool, cut, and enjoy!

Check out the Fruity Pebbles Treats, too!
http://adventureswithmarzipan.blogspot.com/2010/03/fruity-pebbles-treats.html

Luscious Lemon Bars

My two favorite things in the baking world are recipes that involve a) cinnamon, and b) lemon.

Since I've used cinnamon lately, I thought I'd switch to lemon!

These are your basic lemon bars-- but I've never made them from scratch before! It's always the stuff that comes in the box, where all you do is add liquid (and maybe an egg) and then bake.

To be honest, these tasted just like the ones out of the box. Unless you have the desire to actually make them from scratch, save the money (and time!) and just use the box.

This was fun! And the whole house smells soooo good! It really only took me about 40 minutes to make this-- and that includes baking and clean-up time. And the house smells SO GOOD! (:

And I've never had a chance to cut and squeeze the juice from a lemon before-- I've really just never had a reason to do so. And I FINALLY got to use the trick that I picked up from Rachael Ray 2-3 years ago: Squeeze the juice out cut-side up to keep the seeds from falling into the mixture!
Lemon Bars Recipe

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 7 tbsp unsalted butter, chilled and diced
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  
• Topping Ingredients
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 lemon -- The finely grated rind, and juice, of
• 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• Powdered sugar for topping (which I ALWAYS overdo by accident!)
  

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350°
• Grease the inside of an 8in square cake pan
• Using a food processor (I used an electric mixer, which was more work) blend the flour, butter, and powdered sugar.
• When it "comes together as a firm dough" press it into the pan, and spread smooth.
• Bake 12-15 minutes, or until lightly golden. Leave in the tin to cool.

Topping Preparation

• Whisk the eggs in a bowl until frothy.
• Add the sugar, a little at a time, and whisk until fully blended.
• Whisk in the lemon rind, lemon juice, flour, and baking soda.
• Pour over the cookie base, and bake for 20-25 minutes, until set and golden.
• Leave to cool in the pan.
• Once slightly cooled, cut into bars (recipe says 12, I made 36 by doing smaller bites) and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies

So apparently people love cheesecake, people love brownies, and people LOVE when the two are combined! Who knew?

This experiment went perfectly. It was like the stars aligned just for me! And it was surprisingly simple, too.

Thanks to treats like this, people at work are constantly asking me now if I'm going to open up my own shop. Maybe I should! It'd be SO fun!
And to be honest, I really don't have any helpful tips on making these! Follow the directions, and you're pretty much set. The one thing I would suggest is letting the butter sit out to room temperature (which the recipe doesn't say to do) because it made the cheesecake mixture a little more lumpy than I felt it should be.

These are SUCH an easy way to impress people, too!
But the recipe calls for it to be put in an 8" cake pan, so you don't get a lot of brownies. You'll definitely have to a) make two batches at once, or b) make small brownies.

I'm getting good at marbling!

Chocolate Cheesecake Brownie Recipe:

• For Cheesecake Mixture
• 1 egg
• 1- 8oz package "full-fat" cream cheese
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• For Brownie Mixture
• 4oz dark chocolate (Recipe says "minimum 70% cocoa solids -- I used 60% and it worked fine)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (Softened!)
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Preparation

• Preheat the oven to 325°
• Line the base/sides of an 8" cake tin with parchment paper, or grease the base/sides.
• Cheesecake mixture -- Beat the egg in a mixing bowl.
• Add the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract. "Beat until smooth and creamy."
• Set bowl aside for later.
• Brownie mixture -- Melt the chocolate and butter together in the microwave, or by using a double-boiler.
• Stir well to mix, and add brown sugar. Mix.
• Add the eggs a little at a time and beat well.
• Gently stir in the flour.
• Spread 2/3 of the brownie mixture over the base of the tin.
• Spread the cheesecake mixture on top. (The easiest was the 'blob' method for me, of putting it down in blobs and then just sort of pushing it around until the brownie was covered.)
• Spoon the remaining brownie mixture (or a LITTLE less, since the brownie seemed to overwhelm the cheesecake a bit) in blobs on top of the cheesecake.
• Using a skewer (or in my case, popsicle stick) swirl together to create a marbled effect.
• Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until just set in the center.
• Do NOT overcook! After about 25 (my oven cooks hot) I checked on it until I was satisfied with it.
• Leave to cool in the tin, and then cut into squares.

And I can't say it enough. These are VERY simple, and VERY impressive. Use it to your advantage if you want to make someone say "Hey, that person is awesome!"

Fruity Pebbles Treats

Bonus dessert!
Instead of making a second batch of glazed apple cookies (because I couldn't justify putting effort into a new batch at 10pm) I made a batch of Fruity Pebbles Treats to take to work on Saturday instead.

They're exactly the same as a Rice Krispies Treat, but you use Fruity Pebbles instead!

The recipe is SUPER easy, too!

• One regular sized box of Fruity Pebbles (not the ginormous family sized box, just the regular size)
• One bag of mini-marshmallows (again, not the huge bag, just the regular one)
• 6 tbsp butter

Preparation

• Grease the bottom of a 9x13 pan.
• Pour the entire box of cereal into a (very) large bowl.
• Put butter and marshmallows into a separate large, microwave safe dish
• Heat for 2 1/2 - 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. (I let it go for a minute before the first stir, then stir every thirty seconds) Heat until all of the marshmallows are melted.
• Pour the melted mixture into the cereal bowl and mix with a plastic (or wooden) mixing spoon until the cereal is evenly coated.
• Pour the mixture into the 9x13 pan.
• This is the fun part! Butter up your fingers to keep the mix from sticking, and press the cereal out evenly in the pan.
• Let them cool completely, then cut and enjoy!

Tip from me: Using buttery fingers at the end adds that extra bit of sweetness to them!

Marbled Caramel Chocolate Bars

My second experiment, done on Friday the 19th, was marbled caramel chocolate bars!

The recipe said there should be 24 servings, but upon cutting them into 28 my mom and dad (always the first to try my experiments!) said they were still too big.

So I ended up cutting them into squares (y'know, the size of a square of fudge) and those ended up being perfect.

The pan pre-cut

I didn't have as many problems with this recipe, but I DID have to run back to the store at one point.

This recipe has three layers: 1) The base, which is delicious and cookie-like, 2) The center, which is sticky and also delicious, 3) The top, which is three types of chocolate. Deeeelicious!

I learned to rub-in butter for the base! Granted I used a fork for much of it, but I love getting my hands dirty so I used them, too. (A baking guilty-pleasure of mine is separating an egg with my fingers instead of with the shell, because I'm weird and like the way it feels. Mom thinks I'm gross.) The base was the easiest part, surprisingly.

I ran into a serious problem with the center. It's butter, brown sugar, and sweetened condensed milk. At one point the recipe says to bring it to a boil, but to stir constantly to keep from burning it. I've never done this before, and as soon as I moved the heat up past medium, it immediately began to burn. And me, being me, kept stirring for about two minutes before I realized that it was actually burning!

So after I poured it out, I had to run back to the store to buy more sweetened condensed milk. I wound up buying 4 cans instead of 2, just in case I had to try it a third time. When I got home I tried to look up tips online on how to not burn it, but I found nothing. So instead of boiling it, I just heated it on low for a very, very long time until it thickened up some (though I assume, not as much as it should've.) It worked well enough!

The top was also a little hard, just because I've never 'marbled' anything before! You can see all of my popsicle sticks in the top of that picture!

As for the taste: EVERYONE loved them! Mom called them "decadent." A girl I work with said they were the best food I've ever brought in. From Friday to Sunday, every little square was eaten.

I suggest these if you're looking for a BIG crowd pleaser! But they are kind of sticky, so make sure you have a napkin with you.

Marbled Caramel Chocolate Bars Recipe:

Note: This recipe requires each level to cool completely before adding the next, so you'll have to put time into this one as well.

• 2 1/4 cups flour (a little less to start!)
• 1/2 cup sugar (calls for superfine, I used granulated)
• 3/4 cup softened, unsweetened butter
  
  
• 7 tbsp diced, unsweetened butter
• 1/2 cup (light/golden) brown sugar
• 2 - 14oz cans sweetened condensed milk
  
  
• 5-6 oz semi-sweet chocolate (better to have extra than not enough-- 5 is extra/just enough)
• 5-6 oz milk chocolate
• 3 oz white chocolate

Cookie/Crust Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 350°F, grease a 9x13 pan
• Put flour and sugar into a bowl, rub in the butter until it looks nice and crumbly
• Sculpt it into a dough with your hands
• Put the dough in the tin, and use your hands to spread it evenly over the surface
• Prick with a fork all across the surface. Bake ~20 minutes, or until light brown.
• Remove from the oven and put the entire pan on a cooling rack. ...Cool.

Center Preparation

• Put butter, brown sugar, and sweetened condensed milk into a pan.
• Put on a low/medium-low heat and stir CONSTANTLY. Do. Not. Stop. Stirring.
• Stir until the sugar is dissolved, and the butter is melted.
• If you dare, this is the part of the recipe that says to bring it to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and heat for 5-10 minutes "until it has thickened and turned a caramel color."
• If you don't dare, I just kept it at the same temperature and heated for about 15 minutes before my wrists got too tired to continue and I decided it was good enough. (Note: A con to this is that you might not get it thick enough)
• Don't let it burn. It makes it smell disgusting, and probably taste worse.
• Once that's done, pour it evenly into the pan, over the cookie.
• Let it cool, because it thickens up a little more.

Top Preparation:

• In three separate bowls, melt your three chocolates. (Microwave is easiest for me!)
• Use a spoon to make 1.5-2" thick strips of the semisweet/milk chocolate down the pan. (Long strip of milk chocolate, long strip of semi-sweet, strip of chocolate, semi-sweet, etc until done)
• Add random blobs of white chocolate around the pan.
• Use a skewer/popsicle stick/knife to drag through the white chocolate and create a marbled effect on the surface.

Once this is done, let the chocolate set and then you're good to go!