rajoress

Thanks for all the ideas! I'll get on with it this weekend! Ruth

I love the idea of pound cake - do you think I could incorporate the syrup? Would love to use some of that as well.. I'll check some recipes. Thanks for responding!

If you have clear contact paper, it is foodsafe, you can cover your bars in that then it would work better than cling film and would be washable...when I use my bars, I use them on top of a mat covered with parchment paper. Good luck! Ruth edited to say there has been discussion about contact paper being foodsafe and non foodsafe so I guess it is up to the end user. Prolonged contact is not good as it is plastic made from chemicals, so maybe that is not the way to go...

Hi all, A colleague gave me a large jar of Trader Joe's Dark Morello cherries in light syrup and asked me to bake her something. She bought them to use in cocktails but thought they would be sweeter (closer to maraschino) so she gave them to me and challenged me to make something with them. I'd like to bring something in to work that's more individual servings than a pie or black forest cake - the first things that came to mind! Any ideas on cookies, scones, bars...? Should I just use them like other cherries? I know I can reduce the syrup and maybe add some cornstarch to thicken and then use that but not sure which direction to go in. Any ideas welcome! Thanks so much! Ruth

Those caramels look delicious! I made black forest truffles from Greweling's Confections at Home. I was looking for something a little sophisticated for a co-worker at the last minute and happened to have everything in the house. They're delicious cold out of the fridge. Thanks for looking! Ruth

Everything looks amazing on here! A friend asked for fall cookies for her friend's birthday - I didn't have a lot of fall cookie cutters so just made whatever I had.. thanks for looking!

What a wonderful sweets table minas6907! And to be able to do it for your own weeding - so commendable - congratulations on both! :-)

My birthday is in February so for some reason, my mother used to make me what she called Marta Washington cake. It was yellow cake layers filled with jam then sprinkled with powdered sugar. I look back now and can't believe I didn't have frosting! When I got older I made my own black forest cake. But my birthday is on valentine's day so for the past half century I've had a heart-shaped cake (same pans)!

From the peppermint patties thread, I made the epicurious recipe to see how they would come out. I usually make Greweling's fondant and flavor it with mint but it can be a little too chalky sometimes. These were very easy to make, had a great texture once dried, but were a little too sweet and you can taste the confectioner's sugar. But, covered in dark chocolate, they make a very nice mint. Thanks for looking! Ruth

Well these aren't quite up to the standard of the rest of the gorgeous chocolates shown on this thread but they didn't quite have a "backroom" finish either ;-) Pecan caramel clusters about to be cleaned up and packaged. TFL! Ruth

After I posted that, I looked on the Kraft website and only saw the newer recipe which has less cream cheese and no flour so I think the one Beebs posted above is the one I've used in the past but I'll check when I get home and post back tomorrow. (I'm pretty sure it's the same because the 5 pkgs of cream cheese is correct...) Ruth

I love cheesecake and have made many (and eaten!) many over the years. I like the NY style best which as one poster put it, is a little soft and creamy in the middle and cakey at the edge. Cakey enough where it actually gives up crumbs! I've had Juniors at their restaurant in Manhattan and like it but it's not my favorite and I certainly love a crumb crust more than a sponge crust. I've had it in Miami where it is a little similar although it did have a crumb crust. Believe it or not, the best recipe I've found is the original Philadelphia cream cheese recipe. It's a little hard to find as it's not on the box anymore and they've changed it since the original was printed. It doesn't have corn starch in it but a little flour and come out very dense and cakey at the edges and creamy in the middle. I've made it in a springform pan and in a square pan and it always comes out perfect. And the top is never brown, just a nice yellowish-beige color. Good luck on your quest! Ruth

After reading about making homemade animal crackers/cookies, I had it stuck in my head so splurged on some nice plunger cookie cutters from amazon and made vanilla/oat, from King Arthur Flour, and chocolate cookies, from Sweetapolita blog. Thanks to whoever brought up that subject!

Just visited a friend over the weekend who bought about 10 lbs of cherries as she got a good deal and promptly gave me a bag! We were both talking about pitting some and freezing them for having in yogurt during the winter and she was getting ready to make frangipane for assembling with cherries into cherry almond rustic tarts/galettes. Sounds delish!

Kim - those are awesome!

Darienne - I typically don't make lollipops but I have bought from the 'getsuckered" website for pops for wedding favors. I work with chocolate and it usually is tricky in getting the stick to lie straight, I notice that sometimes the channel for the stick slopes down so if you don't watch out, the stick will pop out of the chocolate. Sometimes I wait until the chocolate is set before putting the stick in, but I'm assuming you don't have this luxury with hard candy. Sorry I'm not more help! Best of luck! Ruth

I found a couple for you - not sure if these are what you're looking for! I've ordered from each of these on-line shops and been satisfied. Good luck! Ruth https://www.confectioneryhouse.com/molds/hard-candy-molds/animal-hard-candy-molds/puppy-with-heart-pop-hard-candy-mold http://www.kitchenkrafts.com/product/Paw-Print-Hard-Candy-Sucker-Mold/candy-molds-hard-candy-and-isomalt http://www.getsuckered.com/Product/Bulldog-Head-Sucker-Hard-CandyChocolate-Mold__MHS-8H-11290.aspx http://www.getsuckered.com/Product/Puppy-Sucker-Hard-CandyChocolate-Mold__MHS-8H-11285.aspx http://www.getsuckered.com/Product/Scottie-Dog-Sucker-Hard-CandyChocolate-Mold__MHS-8H-11280.aspx

All the pictures posted here are awesome! My easy solid milk chocolate bunnies and toffee easter eggs along with chocolate caramel covered matzah. Our family covers all the holidays (more time for chocolate) Thanks for looking! Ruth

Hello all, This should teach me not to follow recipes from just anywhere on the internet! I got this recipe from Godiva (and yes I was wondering why would they give out recipes-don't they want us to buy their chocolates ? now I know ). It was for a capuccino bonbon that consists of two layers of ganache, one a white chocolate vanilla bean and the other a dark chocolate espresso. Well, I thought the recipes were odd but tried anyway. My result is a very thin, not much more than a half inch tall, double layer of ganache that's too soft to cut and dip into chocolate. My question is - is there any way to salvage this? The only thing I can think of is to roll it into balls and maybe dip in cocoa but it might even be too soft for that. I guess I could pipe into shells, but I confess I'm not good at that. Is there any way to keep the integrity of the two ganaches do you think or is it a loss.... Thanks for any comments! Ruth

I love those bunnies and chickens - I'm too chicken (!) to put the 2 halves of the molds together and always give out flat backed bunnies and eggs at Easter time! Love everything else posted also! A friend just bought the mini Rev tempering machine and wanted me to give him a demo with my old Rev 2. I brought mine over and we had dueling machines and made turtles and some other stuff with his wife's wonderful homemade caramel. They just invested in that huge mat (for fondant) and it worked great for laying out the chocolates. Thanks for looking! Ruth

Gorgeous cookies!

Minas6907 - your stuff is gorgeous!

Those Valentine desserts look amazing! My birthday cake this year - I usually have some kind of chocolate cake in a heart-shaped pan (bday is 2/14) but this year I decided to do something different. This recipe was from Food & Wine and was for a triple chocolate truffle cake. Six layers of a thin brownie-like cake sandwiched in between white chocolate and dark chocolate ganache and the whole thing covered with chocolate buttercream. I have to say, even for the most ardent chocoholics, this cake was a little too rich. But it was better out of the fridge the next day! (pic of outside and inside) Thanks for looking, Ruth

Great responses, everyone! I love the idea of the white chocolate and may try to make it with both white and a semi-sweet. Thanks so much! Ruth

Hello all, Well I've been asked by my new boss at work if I could make some early grey truffles and wanting to impress, of course, I said sure I can make them! I know the general idea would be to steep earl grey tea with the cream but not sure how much and don't want it to be overpowering or underwhelming. Does anyone have any tricks as to how to make the earl grey ganache? I know I can play around but I'm not sure I like the taste of earl grey to experiment all that much! Thanks so much, Ruth