DIY Marshmallow Lollipops

Do you want a fun treat that you can do with your kids? I made chocolate-covered marshmallow lollipops, and lil man was very excited to help me make them.

You will need:

• Marshmallows - try to use Kraft Jet-Puffed, they're the best ones


• Candy Wafers - Milk or Dark


• Lollipop sticks or skewers


• Sprinkles (optional)


• Medium-sized saucepan


• Glass bowl (like Pyrex)


• Cookie sheet or other tray, lined with parchment paper

Here's how to make them:

1. Fill a medium saucepan with water half-way. Heat on Medium-High.

2. Place candy wafers in glass bowl and place bowl on top of the saucepan. Make sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water.

3. Let chocolate melt, about 5-10 minutes. When the wafers become shiny, you can start stirring with a wooden or silicone spoon/spatula.

4. While the chocolate is melting, you can prepare the lollipops. Insert sticks into marshmallows and place upside down in the tray.

5. Prepare sprinkles, if you're using them. Use shallow trays or bowls.

6. Make sure chocolate is completely melted before starting. Do not remove it from the boiling water to prevent cooling/hardening.

7. Dip each marshmallow into the chocolate, making sure to coat the bottom and all around. Tap lightly to remove any excess chocolate.

8. Dip the chocolate-covered marshmallow in the sprinkles, again making sure to coat the bottom and all around. Or, you can coat the sides and leave the bottom un-sprinkled, your choice.

9. Place the decorated lollipop in the paper-lined tray to cool and harden.

10. Repeat with the rest of the marshmallows. You can use different kinds of sprinkles, or leave them un-sprinkled. You're the chef!

11. Once they have cooled and hardened, dig in!

I hope you enjoy making these. Let me know what you think!

Rock Band & Pre-New Year's Eve Party

During the holidays, I usually only host and/or attend family parties. My family likes to party so much that just being with them keeps me pretty busy during the holiday season. This year, however, has been especially difficult - that post is coming up later! - so we decided to invite some friends over for a little Rock Band party.

I spent MANY hours baking all sorts of goodies! It all started the day before with my Pumpkin Maple Pecan Cheesecake. I got this recipe from foodnetwork.com, and when I made it for the first time for Thanksgiving dinner, it was a hit!

[caption id="attachment_703" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Pumpkin Maple Pecan Cheesecake"][/caption]

Here's the rest of the menu for the night:

Strawberry Jam Tarts. I got the original recipe from The Hungry Girl cookbook. It called for store-bought pie crust, but one time I couldn't find it and used puff pastry instead. I loved it!

[caption id="attachment_694" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Strawberry Jam Tarts"][/caption]

Cream Cheese Tarts. This is a mashup between the Strawberry Jam Tarts above and a Puertorrican Quesito. It has all the elements of a Quesito, but made in the same way as the Tarts.

[caption id="attachment_695" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Cream Cheese Tarts"][/caption]

Homemade Pralines. This is super simple. It has dried fruits and nuts, cooked in sugar until caramelized. That's it! Great for snacking.

[caption id="attachment_696" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Homemade Pralines"][/caption]

Caprese Salad Bites. This is my cocktail-sized version of the Italian specialty. I just took fresh mozzarella balls and skewered them with grape tomatoes, drizzled in oil and herbs.

[caption id="attachment_697" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Caprese Salad Bites"][/caption]

Olive Ricotta Spread. I saw this on a Rachael Ray show on the Food Network a long time ago and wrote down the recipe. Good thing too, because I've tried to look it up on the website, and can't find it! Anyway, it tastes delicious!

[caption id="attachment_698" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Olive Ricotta Spread"][/caption]

Polvorones. These are traditional Puertorrican Christmas cookies. They're similar to Sand Tarts, but are made with almonds.

[caption id="attachment_701" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Polvorones"][/caption]

Here's the complete spread, already half-eaten.

[caption id="attachment_702" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Snacks"][/caption]

We can't forget drinks! I made Coquito, which is the Puertorrican version of the Egg Nog. It's made with Coconut Milk, Cream of Coconut, Evaporated Milk, Condensed Milk, and Rum. Since Bailey's is my absolute fave drink, I like to add chocolate and substitute the Rum for Whiskey, which are the elements in Bailey's. Salud!

[caption id="attachment_706" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Bailey's Coquito"][/caption]

We had a blast playing Rock Band, mainly the Beatles songs. Here's the team hard at work.

[caption id="attachment_699" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Rock Band Team"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_700" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Rock Band Team"][/caption]

Even lil man got in on the action! He had a great time, especially since he got to stay up late.

[caption id="attachment_693" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Lil man and his guitar"][/caption]

I hope this is the beginning of many Rock Band parties. We had a blast!

Tackle it Tuesday 4: Mega Birthday Weekend!

Last week was lil man's 4th birthday, and we had not one but TWO parties for him. First one was last Thursday at school, where we sang Happy Birthday with his classmates, and the second one was on Sunday at home with the entire family.

I had several tackles related to this mega birthday weekend:

1. Create TWO birthday cakes (or in this case, cupcake displays) using lil man's selected theme: Hot Wheels.


2. Assemble the goodie bags for his 23 classmates and 8 cousins.


3. Make some of the appetizers. Thankfully, my Mom helped by also making some.


4. Get the house ready for the birthday. This included getting all the crap out of the way, and putting up all the decorations. Thankfully, hubs helped me with this.

It was all worth it, though. Lil man had a great time, and that's all that matters.

[caption id="attachment_484" align="aligncenter" width="576" caption="Cupcake display for lil man's classroom"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_483" align="aligncenter" width="576" caption="Singing Happy Bday with his classmates"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_486" align="aligncenter" width="576" caption="Cupcake display for the family party"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_485" align="aligncenter" width="576" caption="Singing Happy Bday with his cousins"][/caption]

Now I'm going to have to tackle the toy situation in the living room/play area!

[caption id="attachment_487" align="aligncenter" width="576" caption="Living room / play area disaster!"][/caption]

If you have a Tackle it Tuesday post, link it here for others to see!



Thanks to the ladies at 5 Minutes for Mom for creating Tackle it Tuesday!

How to jazz up your store-bought, allergy-free treats

A few days ago I was tweeting with @MiscarriageMom about our kids' upcoming birthdays - her daughter turns 4 on October 20th, and my lil man also turns 4 on the 21st, just one day apart, awesome! So I was telling her about how I was taking cupcakes to his classroom and singing Happy Birthday with his classmates, and she mentioned that at her school, they're not allowed to bring any homemade treats because of allergy issues. I thought that was ridiculous! Not the allergy part, that seems reasonable, but the part where you can't actually MAKE anything - everything has to be store-bought!

So we tweeted back and forth with ideas, and finally I came up with an alternative that I THINK is allergy-free: Rice Krispies Treats!

OK, so the individual squares that come in a box don't look very appealing, but there's a way you can jazz them up and make them party-ready.

Here's what you will need:

• Ready-made Rice Krispies Treat squares


• Can of cake frosting - I like the "whipped" version because it resembles the consistency of homemade frosting


• Sprinkles - any kind


• Plastic food bag or piping bag (I used a piping bag)


• Optional: star tip (any size - I used the giant star tip)

 

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="What you will need"][/caption]

First, open all your individual packets and lay them out on a platter or serving dish, making sure it fits the amount of squares that you will need. Optionally, you can also serve them in individual paper liners.

Using scissors, make a small cut on a bottom corner of the plastic bag or piping bag. If you're using a tip, insert it and make sure it fits snugly through the hole. Fill the bag with the frosting, making sure to press it down so there are no air bubbles.

Using a circular motion starting from the outside in, pipe the frosting on each square.

Finally, to make them look more interesting and festive, add any sprinkles you like!

 Don't they look cute? Much better than the plain-old foil-lined squares in a box, right?

Alternatives:

• If you can make your own, try molding them into cupcake tins to make them look like cupcakes. Or use cookie cutters to make fun shapes!


• Use canned whipped cream! Just shake & pipe. I've also seen some frostings that come in the same type of can as whipped cream - I bet those would be fun too!


• Dip them in chocolate! Melt equal parts chocolate chips and heavy cream in a double boiler (place them in a glass bowl over boiling water) until it's completely smooth, and then dip the treats. Lay them in parchment paper until they're set. You can even dip them in sprinkles or nuts before they set!

Do you have any other ideas for store-bought, allergy-free treats to take to school? Give us your suggestions below!

Zelma's Bakery: My Cupcakes

I still can't believe it's been 2 weeks since my last post! The reason is that things have been pretty busy at Zelma's Bakery. You see, lately, I've fallen in love with cupcakes. They're super easy to make, and they're the perfect portion-controlled treat. So I decided to look up different tasty and interesting recipes, and have been having a ball testing them!

Besides my standard vanilla and brownies cupcakes (which I still love!), I have decided to start testing the following flavors:

• Almond Chocolate: Almond-flavored cake with chopped toasted almonds inside. Double Chocolate buttercream topped with chopped toasted almonds.


• Boston Cream: Butter cake filled with Bavarian Cream. Chocolate Ganache frosting.


• Apple Cinnamon: Apple Cinnamon cake with raisins and chopped toasted walnuts inside; filled with Cinnamon-Sugar Cream Cheese. Cinnamon-Sugar Cream Cheese frosting topped with chopped toasted walnuts.


• Mocha: Mocha cake (chocolate and coffee). Mocha buttercream frosting topped with chocolate shavings.


• Peanut Butter: Peanut Butter cake with chopped toasted peanuts inside. Double Chocolate buttercream topped with chopped toasted peanuts.

So far I have only tested the first three, and can I say YUM!! The Apple Cinnamon is more of a muffin than a cupcake, but it's still super tasty. I'm working on taking photos of all my cupcakes for my album, and I will post them soon!

Zelma's Bakery: My Brownies

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="White and Dark Brownies"][/caption]

You may have wondered why my Facebook page is titled "Brownies and More by Zelma" and yet I keep calling it "Zelma's Bakery". Well the story behind it is very simple: it's the first thing that I sold, and at the time, my imagination was non-existent. Besides, I never thought it would become a long-term thing, much less that people would actually be interested in anything that I baked!

You see, last year, when lil man started preschool, I noticed that there were many holidays and special occasions where I would need to buy gifts for his teachers and classmates. Since I am extremely cheap and a horrible shopper (that's a story for another day!), I decided that a good alternative was baked goods, so I started taking classes at the local cake supply store.

One day, Vanessa, a coworker and one of my closest friends, asked me for a dozen of my "White and Dark Brownies" that she had heard me talk about. I posted a pic of those brownies on Facebook and people liked them!

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Heart-shaped Fudge Brownies"][/caption]

At first, Vanessa and her mom were my only paying customers, and I was happy to bake for them. Every time I took a different class - cupcakes, cookies, etc. - I tried out the different recipes at home and posted the pics on Facebook. That's how it all started! Pretty soon I had friends calling me for cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and tons more.

It wasn't until I started getting calls from strangers that I thought "hey, I might have something here!" That's when I realized that the name "Brownies and More by Zelma" was silly. People kept asking me why I had named it like that, and after having to explain the whole story about a dozen times, I decided to change the name. However, my brain was still drawing a blank, so I ended up with the simple "Zelma's Bakery". It's not very catchy, but it does the job. I actually kinda like it now, and it goes with my blog "Zelma's Workshop", so everything worked out. :)

What do you think? Do you like it? Not? Maybe? Suggestions? Sound off below, I would love to read your feedback!

Foodie Review: Cherry Pie Cups

Last month was my husband's 35th birthday, and even though I was making the cake, I decided to also make all the appetizers and hors d'oeuvres. Browsing through the internet for foodie blogs, I came upon these Cherry Pie Cups from Recipe Girl, which not only looked delicious, but was very convenient because I happened to have canned cherry filling in my house.



There are 2 changes that I made to the original post:

• This recipe uses homemade cherry filling, and I vow to someday make it, but I used canned cherry filling and it still worked great!


• The instructions call for regular cupcake tins, but since I wanted finger food, I made it in mini-cupcake tins, and they looked super cute! 

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="This is my version, don't they look cute?"][/caption]

 

 



Here’s the recipe so you can try it out for yourself. You can also find the original blog post and pic here.

Cherry Pie Cups

1 package of ready-made pie crusts (or make homemade)

FILLING: (I used canned, but this filling looks delicious!)
2½ cups pitted & halved fresh cherries (about ¾ lb.)
2 Tbsp white granulated sugar
1 Tbsp finely grated lemon zest
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp cornstarch
¼ tsp salt

EGG WASH:
1 large egg yolk
2 Tbs milk or cream

TOP:
coarse grain sugar (I used red sprinkling sugar cause they matched!)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 8 muffin cups with nonstick spray.
2. Roll out ready made pie crust until it’s a bit thinner. Use a plastic tupperware-type bowl as your “cutter” to cut out 5-inch rounds. You should be able to cut out 8 rounds from a package of pie crust (re-roll scraps, if needed). Line 8 muffin cups with the rounds, pressing in lightly.
3. Place filling ingredients in a medium bowl and toss. Scoop into crust-lined cups.
4. With leftover pie crust scraps, cut out decor for the tops of the pie cups- stars, stripes, whatever you’d like… be creative! Then crimp the edges of the pie cups.
5. Brush them lightly with egg wash, and sprinkle with sugar- the chunky, sparkly kind of sugar if you have it.
6. Bake 15 to 20 minutes (watch closely since baking time will depend upon how thinly you’ve rolled your crust). Cover lightly with foil during baking if they’re browning too quickly. They should be lightly browned (like the photo above) with the filling slightly bubbly.
7. Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Remove to a wire rack and cool completely (or serve warm). Serve with whipped cream and blueberries, if desired.

Many thanks to Recipe Girl for the great recipe!

Foodie Review: Chocolate Cherry Cake Bars

As most of you know, I make custom cakes, cupcakes, brownies, cookies, and other sweet goodies as my part-time home business. It all started at home with hubby and lil man as my only clients and grew from there. I still like to bake new stuff for them whenever I don't have any orders. Lately, I've been browsing foodie blogs for new and interesting recipes, and thought it would be nice to blog about my experiences.

I will begin with the one that started it all: Chocolate Cherry Cake Bars with Dark Chocolate Ganache from Mini-Baker. When I first saw this recipe and noticed that it was made with boxed cake mix, I decided it was simple enough for a weeknight dessert, but would never ever tell anyone about it - after all, I make chocolate cake from scratch, so why should I brag about this one?

Turns out I was being extremely prejudiced. When I first tasted it, I almost passed out from the cherry-chocolatey goodness! And to think I didn't have to measure sugar or flour! It was awesomeness at its best.

The true test came when my hubby tasted it. I didn't tell him how I made it (I was still a bit embarrased about having made a cake from a box). He was all over it! When he started asking me where I had gotten the recipe from, I was tempted to lie, but eventually caved in and told him the truth. He mumbled something while chewing, and the cake was gone by the end of the day.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="I used a 8x8 pan, so they look more like cubes!"][/caption]

Here's the recipe so you can try it out for yourself. You can also find the original blog post and pic here.

Chocolate Cherry Cake Bars with Dark Chocolate Ganache

CAKE:

Ingredients
1 box of your favorite Dark Chocolate Cake Mix
1 15 oz. can cherry pie filling (the one I found at the grocery store was 21 oz, so you can imagine how moister and goo-ier it was!)
2 eggs (make sure to use large eggs)
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (eye-ball it, that's the best part!)

Directions
1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease and flour 13x9-inch pan.
2. In large bowl, gently mix dry cake mix, pie filling, eggs and chocolate chips with rubber scraper; break up any undissolved cake mix by pressing with scraper. Carefully spread in pan.
3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
4. Prepare the ganache while the cake is cooling

GANACHE:

Ingredients
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups dark chocolate chips (if using from a bar, make sure to chop it into small pieces for best results)

Directions
1. Melt butter in a medium-sized pot over low heat.
2. Stir in cream and vanilla into the butter and bring to a boil.
3. Continue stirring for 2 minutes.
4. Remove the pot from heat and stir in chocolate chips until melted.
5. Pour the warm ganache over the top of the slightly-cooled bars. Let the bars set for 1 1/2 hours until the ganache is firm. Use a non-serrated knife to cut the bars and EAT UP!

Many thanks to Christa at Mini-Baker for the great recipe!