Candy Corn Peanut Butter Bars for Halloween

Today is Halloween, and this year, I actually organised myself for the occasion by making something.  My choice of recipe was governed by one ingredient - candy corn.  You see, I had a massive bag of candy corn, which I really don't like much, but which I didn't want to waste.  Cue a Google search, and I found a recipe for candy corn peanut butter bars that only needs three ingredients, including candy corn.  Perfect!  And they really do taste like Butterfingers, as the recipe suggests.

To make these is simple - melt three cups of candy corn in the microwave, add 1 1/2 cups peanut butter, mix until blended, spread evenly into a lined 8" square cake tin, score the bar shapes while they are still warm (trust me, you can't cut it once it's set), and wait for it to set.  Then separate out the bars along the scores, dip in 200g melted dark chocolate, leave to dry on baking paper (or put in the fridge to set them more firmly), and presto - you have candy corn peanut butter bars.

They are perfect for Halloween with their bright orange coloured filling.

To those who celebrate it, Happy Halloween!

Marshmallow Easter Bunnies

This year, for the first time in 5 years, I made marshmallow bunnies for Easter gifts.  I always find making these a little nerve racking because there are so many variables that can go wrong, but everything seemed to work out in the wash - the bunnies set, they didn't have crazy gelatine tops on them, nor did they have crunchy bottoms.  I was very pleased with them.

The recipe for these bunnies is here.  I made four medium bunnies and 12 little ones from the mixture.  I added vanilla flavouring, but left the bunnies white.

The bunnies don't look like much until you paint on the detail with liquid food colouring, so do not skip that step.  Also, make sure that you roll each bunny in dessicated coconut once painted to stop it from sticking to everything.

These bunnies are a fun Easter treat to make for the young or young at heart.  They also use minimal ingredients, so are cheap to make.

What traditional treats do you make at Easter?

Coconut Ice

Coconut ice is a traditional school fete treat that always takes me back to my childhood.  The type of coconut ice that we used to get was the boiled kind, which can be tricky to make - over-boil the mixture and it ends up dry and crumbly, and the layers won't stick to each other.

Fast forward a few years, and I found a number of recipes for coconut ice that involve condensed milk and no boiling.  This makes it easier to make, and the end result is pleasingly soft and moist. 

To make coconut ices for my Christmas boxes, I used this recipe based on condensed milk from Australian Women's Weekly Sweet.  Of course, you don't have to limit your coconut ice making endeavours to Christmas - coconut ice can be enjoyed as a year round gift or treat.

Do you make home made sweets? And what is your favourite home made sweet?

Salted Caramel Fudge

Christmas has been and gone for another year, but a great idea for gifts for the sweet tooth all year round is home made fudge.  For my Christmas boxes this year, I made the devine salted caramel fudge pictured in this post.  The  recipe can be found online here at Taste.com.au.

This fudge is fairly easy so there is not much I can add to the recipe.  However, do be careful not to let your fudge burn (eg by turning up the stove too high).  The fudge will take a while to thicken, but be patient - it gets there eventually.  If you end up with hard dark burnt bits in your fudge, you can sometimes salvage it by sieving the mixture - but this must be done before it gets too thick or sets.

Otherwise, make this fudge, sit back, and enjoy its contrasting sweet and salty flavours as it melts in your mouth - but try to save some for gifting!  

White Chocolate Rocky Road

Christmas has been and gone, but I think that White Chocolate Rocky Road is good all year round.  I made the white chocolate rocky road pictured at the top of this post for my Christmas gift boxes.  The great thing about rocky road is that you can put whatever you like in it, in whatever quantities suit you - as long as you have enough chocolate to bind it together, the sky is the limit.

I based my white chocolate rocky road on this recipe, containing toasted pistachios, marshmallows  and cranberries.  However, instead of white marshmallows, I used pink and white baby mallows, and I added a quarter of a cup of red glace cherries.

The verdict?  Delicious and super easy, a treat for any time of year.

Daring Bakers - Candylicious! Homemade chocolates and candies

I am a chocoholic, and I have always wanted to try making homemade chocolates, so I was pretty pleased with this month's Daring Baker's Challenge.

The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drive and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mavens challenged us to make sinfully delicious candies! This was a special challenge for the Daring Bakers because the good folks at http://www.chocoley.com offered an amazing prize for the winner of the most creative and delicious candy!

My first choice was to make filled chocolates using tempered chocolate.  I made the passionfruit caramel given in the recipe sheet to fill my chocolates, but it was too runny to work, even though I tried.  Here is the first batch of chocolates I tried- the shells are just solid chocolate, but the handbag and shoe are simply hollow shells that I had tried to fill with the runny passionfruit caramel:

I salvaged as much chocolate as I could (it was Green and Blacks 70% - not cheap here!), and made another round of filled chocolates, this time using my homemade lemon curd:

I was happy with the gloss on my tempered chocolate.  However, wanting to experiment a little, I brushed my chocolates with lustre dust and edible glitter:

I don't think I liked the look of them as much after that!  Of course, they still tasted good.

My other candy choice was the orange pate de fruits, again using the recipe provided in the Daring Bakers recipe sheet:

These were disappointing because they didn't set as firmly as I would have liked, and they were uber-sweet, even for a lolly lover like me.  I think I would try a different recipe if I made them again.

Thanks to Mandy and Lisa for hosting us this month, and finally giving me the motivation to make homemade chocolates.  Now I know how easy it is, I will make these again.  To see a kaleidoscope of different candies and chocolates, view the slideshow on The Daring Kitchen website.

Today's song:  You've Got To Hide Your Love Away by The Beatles, in honour of Brian Epstein, who passed away on this day in 1967.