Wedding favors

[annachan]

One of my dearest friends is getting married in the fall. I've been asked to help with making the favors.

She saw these cute boxes in the shape of chairs which double up as place card holders. We're thinking some sort of sweets to fill the boxes with.

My first thought was heart shaped truffles. However, I'm worry about them being perishable. Any thoughts?

Another idea would be heart shaped marshmallow. Either coat w/ toasted coconut or covered in chocolate. Perishable?

What my friend really likes is my almond toffee. That would eliminate the perishale factor. If I stick with that, any idea how I can make hearts out of them? Anyone know of special molds I can use?

[highchef]

heart shaped butter mints. Kills 2 birds w/1 stone. Won't have to worry about bad breath!!plus, easy to make and can match her colors. non perishable unless left out in the moisture. And a box small enough to be a place card holder wouldn't hold much of a larger treat i.e. truffles, but smaller mints/chocolates would be enough to be a real gift.

edit: spelling, as usual

Edited January 5, 2007 by highchef (log)

[Joe Blowe]

Go classic: Jordan Almonds.

The wife and I did, and, for some reason, a few people broke out in tears, some beamed like they discovered an old friend, some said "Whoa, they cheaped out!", and some knew exactly what they meant...

[annachan]

heart shaped butter mints. Kills 2 birds w/1 stone. Won't have to worry about bad breath!!plus, easy to make and can match her colors. non perishable unless left out in the moisture. And a box small enough to be a place card holder wouldn't hold much of a larger treat i.e. truffles, but smaller mints/chocolates would be enough to be a real gift.

edit: spelling, as usual

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Got a recipe?

[jturn00]

I've made chocolate covered almonds for my brother's wedding and I am making them for mine wedding. They were a big hit.

Jeff

[highchef]

heart shaped butter mints. Kills 2 birds w/1 stone. Won't have to worry about bad breath!!plus, easy to make and can match her colors. non perishable unless left out in the moisture. And a box small enough to be a place card holder wouldn't hold much of a larger treat i.e. truffles, but smaller mints/chocolates would be enough to be a real gift.

edit: spelling, as usual

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Got a recipe?

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There are 2 ways to go. A classic cream cheese butter mint

each recipe will make about 8 dozen 1" wafer mints, less if using a mold (make it a cornstarch dusted rubber one)

1 (3) oz. pkg cream cheese, room temp

2 teaspoons butter flavoring

1/8 teaspoon oil of peppermint (or wintergreen etc.)

1 pkg (16 oz) powdered sugar

paste food coloring as you like.

combine all except color @ low speed until blended. add small amounts of food coloring at a time until happy. beat @ med. until blended. (with gloves on) knead to soften and press into molds.

let sit overnight, turn out onto lightly dusted (cornstarch) surface and let air dry in a cool place 24 hrs. keep dry.

My choice would be a classic simple fondant. no cheese. no butter flavor. This is the stuff that coats petit fours, or liquifies in the center of choc.covered cherries..

this is adapted from candy from the good cook series (time life).

Fondant:

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup water

2 tbs light corn syrup

in heavy pan stir over med. heat until sugar dissolves, putting a lid on the pan for a few minutes to allow the steam wash down the sides of the pan (or you can brush w/ a pastry brush..the former is easier). when sugar has dissolved, stop stirring and put a candy therm. into pan and bring syrup to a boil over high heat and cook to 240 degrees F. (116 C).

dip base in cold water to stop cooking.

pour fondant out onto marble slab, or a cool surface lightly sprinkled w/water. w/metal scraper turn sides toward the middle to allow the syrup to cool evenly. when the syrup becomes viscous, work it with a wooden spoon in a figure 8 motion. it'll become opaque and crumbly. W/wet hands gatherethe mix into a ball and knead for about 10 minutes until smooth and white and malleable.

cover w/damp cloth and let cure overnight. then use or store in fridge for months. I've used fondant a year after making it and it was fine. Just wrap it well, make sure to ziploc, and reseal again in the container to keep out unwanted odors.

When ready to use, in double boiler stir until melted. add color and flavor. add a bit of water or sugar syrup, just a tablespoon or so. I've used orange water with lemon extract for flavor and a little orange food color. for a wedding, I'd use a teaspoon (maybe 2) of a clear mint extract and what ever color(s) you want.

I put 2 teaspoons extract in my last batch (made choc. mints, like andes, only in cups) and it was perfect.

the beauty of fondant is that you can start playing with it now, and it'll keep until your ready to pour into your molds. I'd stay w/plastic for these, they should not be difficult to pop out at all.

The difference between the 2 recipes is going to be mouth feel more than anything, and the cream cheese will be richer and smoother. I like the fondant better though, easier to mold, taste great, doable waaay in advance.

have fun!

Patty

[highchef]

Go classic:  Jordan Almonds.

The wife and I did, and, for some reason, a few people broke out in tears, some beamed like they discovered an old friend, some said "Whoa, they cheaped out!", and some knew exactly what they meant...

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And somewhere I had a recipe for Jordan almonds too. Homemade would be a kick!

Why in the world would anyone bitch about a wedding favor being cheap???

they only have to buy one gift.

The bride's family has to buy for everyone!

check the cost of gift boxes lately?

I love Jordan almonds. they remind me of my dad.

[Trishiad]

anna,

i make toffee in round flex molds from jb prince. perhaps they'll have something heart shaped for valentine's day?

[K8memphis]

Jordan almond folklore Who knew?

But umm, why not do as she would like best and go with toffee. It's ok to make it easy on yourself though and use a heart motif ribbon to tie up the bundle with.

If this link will work it shows the mini star wire ribbon stuff. If you look for it, I'm sure you can find some with hearts especially with Valentine's coming. Then wind the ends of the wire in a corkscrew design

Somehow, making heart shaped toffee sounds too hard. I really think you get the bang with the toffee in the starring role as itself, then make it lovely love in bloom with the wrapping.

Or how about piping or placing heart shaped chocolates on top of the toffee?

Oh I got it, still labor intensive, but maybe do a flat chocolate heart base, let them all set up, then slather on some melted choco for glue then dip that in your toffee that's been expertly crumbled up or do a mosaic if you really want to make yourself nuts. Let it set up and there you go. Or use a cookie base, melted choco and toffee. But the beauty of this is it can be done close to the wedding but not during big crunch time.

How big is the box?

hard candy heart mold

Edited to say: But that's just for the picture it's not the best price--these will be available probably right now with Valentine's in the distance in craft stores like Hobby Lobby, Michael's even Wally World for two bucks or so or even a nice local cake store. They are white flimsy seeming plastic that will magically withstand hot sugar temperatures et al. If you go that route, buy several. For some reason I'm thinking this is a large wedding.

Edited January 5, 2007 by K8memphis (log)

[highchef]

If you do go with the fondant/mints this recipe is super easy. i forgot about it, but when I was putting cookbooks and recipes away this morning I came across it and realized it was the way to go. I made mints @ Thanksgiving using this recipe and it was incredibly easy.

[GTO]

Seeing as your friend is getting married in the Fall, how about drying some seasonal sliced fruits like pears, plums and orange zest and dipping them into a selection of melted chocolates?

[annachan]

How big is the box?

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It's 2x2x2

Here's what it looks like: Chair favor box

[K8memphis]

Anna, with the box completley closed like that, I'd sure go with your signature delicious toffee she already loves. That's a warm & fuzzy no brainer win/win. Ring the nostalgia bell. There's not an equal visual bang to balance the labor involved in doing heart shaped toffee. Umm, put a coupla heart shaped chocolates in there on top. Do you FedEx???

Edited to say: Because by the time they open the box, they're gonna be eating 'em or closing the box back up for later enjoyment. If these were going on a tray or in see through packaging, knock yourself out. But I'd hate for you to knock yourself out and not get/have the beauty out there able to be appreciated for all it's worth.

Just some toffee in the chair thoughts.

Edited January 6, 2007 by K8memphis (log)

[annachan]

Anna, with the box completley closed like that, I'd sure go with your signature delicious toffee she already loves. That's a warm & fuzzy no brainer win/win. Ring the nostalgia bell. There's not an equal visual bang to balance the labor involved in doing heart shaped toffee. Umm, put a coupla heart shaped chocolates in there on top. Do you FedEx??? 

Edited to say: Because by the time they open the box, they're gonna be eating 'em or closing the box back up for later enjoyment. If these were going on a tray or in see through packaging, knock yourself out. But I'd hate for you to knock yourself out and not get/have the beauty out there able to be appreciated for all it's worth.

Just some toffee in the chair thoughts.

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Sounds great. Toffee inside the box it is. Maybe, if I have the time, make some solid chocolate hearts and wrap in candy foil and place 2 on each chair.

Thanks everyone for your help.