S’more Petit Fours ~ Smores treats from the campfire to your oven. Your childhood camping treat gets stylie with a petit four makeover.
S'mores Petit Fours
Summertime is here and with that comes my family’s annual trek to Northern Calilfornia. This year we’ve booked a place at Yosemite. By that I mean a real campground. We are trading in the hotel for a tent.
Like a proper foodaholic, my main concern is what the heck are we going to eat. If I was griller, I would welcome this excursion, but I’m not. This is where I solicit you all for some help with outdoor meal making. Ideas anyone?
Luckily, I have dessert under control. I figure if the dinners don’t work out, everyone can still go to bed smiling after a sweet treat. With that, I thought I would get the family ready for some planning (everyones least favorite thing to do in my house) by setting the mood with some of my S’mores Petite Fours.
Now, I was going to make Ms. Martha Stewart’s Smore’s cupcakes but I love all things mini when it comes to dessert, so petit fours first. » Read the rest of this entry «
Easter Tea Cakes – Dipped in poured buttercream frosting. Huh? Yep, that’s right Fancy Folks, poured fondant kicked to the side. These petite and dainty little tea cakes have been themed with a pastel color palette for Easter. Keep your teacakes fancy like these or crash the porcelain-tea-sipping party with some different shapes and colors.
Easter Tea Cakes
First let me confess, this is The Cheat version of my Easter Tea Cakes. Generally, when I make tea cakes I use Joy of Baking’s Pound Cake recipe. But with the Hub in the hospital and waiting on oven repairs, I wasn’t able to. Out of time and without an oven. . . .Sara Lee to the rescue.
For those who follow me you already know what Cheats are and that they usually follow a Purist version, that is recipes made from scratch
There was a time in my life when I use to really turn my nose up to boxed or pre-made bake goods—my one snobbery in life (okay, that and books). Then my family came along and between them and sometimes having a 50 hour work week, I’ve come to embrace some of my cheating recipes.
However, I will say, for me there’s just not the same satisfaction in using The Cheats. Yeah, it’s timesaving, but I love baking because I love creating, testing and discovering.
That being said, using the “The Cheat” Sara Lee pound cake, led me to my latest discovery. I originally planned to use CakeJournal’s poured fondant, but had to think of an alternative when I realized I did not have white fondant on hand.
Frustrated at first, but determined not to be completely beaten out of making my Easter Tea Cakes. I melted some buttercream for a poured version. After a few failed attempts that ranged from a lumpy mess to an oily and milky drool-like consistency and two pound cakes later, I finally hit it right. The key is to melting it slowly.
And boy do I love it! It’s so easy and so perfectly smooth. But the absolute best part—it taste so much better then fondant. » Read the rest of this entry «
