Decorate This: Summer S'mores

Nothing says summer to me quite like s'mores.  The gooey, melted chocolate, slightly cripsy and totally melted marshmallows, crunchy graham crackers...total summer heaven.

So, what do you do if you don't have a campfire?  Make these amazing s'mores pops and chocolate peanut butter crunch s'mores bars, of course!  Both are absolutely delicious and portable - no open flame required.  Not to mention that only the s'mores bars require oven time - under 10 minutes - perfect for those super hot summer days when the very last thing you feel like doing is turning on the oven.

S'mores Pops

Lollipop sticks (I like using 6" sticks for these, as they are closer to the length of a real stick)
Large marshmallows
Coarse graham cracker crumbs
Chocolate for dipping (I like Chocoley Bada Bing Bada Boom Dipping and Enrobing Formula)

Press a lollipop stick about half-way into each marshmallow.

Melt chocolate according to package directions.  Once melted, dip the marshmallow into the chocolate, coating to your desire (I like to coat mine almost entirely in chocolate, but you can use as much or as little chocolate as you like).  Remove from chocolate.

Once removed from the chocolate, excess coating will start dripping off of the marshmallow.  Hold the marshmallow in one hand, and gently tap your hand to help remove excess coating, turning the marshmallow as you go so the excess will come off evenly.

Let chocolate harden for a moment, and then roll in coarse graham cracker crumbs, again using as much or as little as you like.  Place upright in a styrofoam block (or other stand) to dry completely.

Peanut Butter Crunch S'mores Bars

Serves about 12, depending on how large you cut your bars

Approximately 7 whole graham crackers (or enough to completely cover the bottom of a 13x9x2 inch pan)
2 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows (or a little bit more; I like to completely cover the graham cracker layer with marshmallows)
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
2/3 cup light corn syrup
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
3 cups Rice Krispies cereal

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray a 13x9x2-inch baking dish with cooking spray, or line with parchment paper (I prefer using parchment paper - it makes removing the bars much easier!). Arrange graham crackers in a single layer in dish, cutting or breaking crackers as needed to fit.

Sprinkle marshmallows evenly over crackers. Bake for 7-8 minutes or until marshmallows are puffy and slightly golden. Cool completely.

In a 2-quart microwave-safe bowl (or in a medium saucepan over medium low heat), combine chocolate chips, corn syrup, and butter. Microwave on high about 1 1/2 minutes or until chocolate is melted, stirring every 30 seconds. If melting in a saucepan, stir constantly until melted, then remove from heat.

Stir in peanut butter, then stir in Rice Krispies until combined. Spread evenly over marshmallows.

Cover and refrigerate about 1 hour or until firm. Cut as desired and store in an airtight container.

Source: Rice Krispies

Kristen - Contributing Writer from Decorate This!

Kristen is a software engineer who dreams about starting her own creative business (a cakery actually). She has always loved to bake and create, and gets great satisfaction from making beautiful things.

Bloggers Bake for Hope

Started by Jen of Beantown Baker and Cara from Cara’s Cravings, Bloggers Bake for Hope is a virtual bake sale that helps support local Susan G. Komen for the Cure affiliates. Bakers, like Kristen of Decorate This!, are putting brownies, cookies, cupcakes, and other goodies up for bid, so please show your support by participating. Bidding ends 11:59 PM (EST) on Friday, May 6th.

Decorate This: Lemon Tart Part 2

Pâte Sucrée is a slightly sweet, buttery, flaky dough. The keys to success are to work quickly - you want the butter and dough to stay cold - and to not overmix - you want the butter to remain in pea-sized balls throughout the dough, and overprocessing can cause your dough to be tough.

This is a double recipe - it will make 2, 10" tart shells. Use one now, and freeze the other for later!

2 cups flour (280 grams)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon sugar
14 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons ice water

Prepare tart dough:

1. Place flour, sugar and salt into the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse until combined. 
2. Add the cubed butter and pulse until the butter is in small pea-sized balls. 
3. Add the water and pulse until the dough just comes together, being careful not to over-process (over-processing can make your tart shell tough).
4. Cut dough in half, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using. You will only need 1/2 of this recipe to make a 10" tart; freeze the remaining portion to use at another time.

Prepare shell for baking:

1. Roll out dough on a floured surface into a 13" circle.
2. Place dough into a 10" tart pan and fold the overhang inward and press gently into the sides. Do not force or stretch the dough because a thin spot may cause the filling to leak. The dough edges should be a little bit higher than the side of the tart pan to help prevent shrinkage (it's ok if your shell does shrink; you'll just need to use a bit less filling).
3. Prick the bottom of the shell with a fork. Cover the entire shell with a large piece of foil, pressing into the edges and completely covering the shell. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

Baking tart shell:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Fill the foil covered shell with pie weights or dried beans. Place the shell into the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes.
3. Remove shell from oven and remove beans and foil. Brush the inside of the shell with a beaten egg white to prevent leakage from small cracks. Return shell to the oven for about 10 minutes and bake until golden brown. Let cool on wire rack.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there - thank you so much for all that you do!

Kristen - Contributing Writer from Decorate This!

Kristen is a software engineer who dreams about starting her own creative business (a cakery actually). She has always loved to bake and create, and gets great satisfaction from making beautiful things.

Decorate This: Lemon Tart Part 1

My mom loves anything lemon - and this Mother's Day, I'll be making her this amazing lemon tart! This creamy, light tart is the perfect ending to a wonderful meal, and is fairly easy to put together. The tart requires only few ingredients, most of which you'll probably already have on hand.

The filling for this tart calls for Meyer lemon juice, but you can substitute regular lemon juice as well. Meyer lemons are thought to be a cross between a regular lemon and a mandarin orange, and are sweeter, milder, and less acidic than regular lemons. Due to their delicate nature, you may not be able to find these delightful citrus fruits in your regular grocery store; I'm lucky to have an amazing produce market close to my house that carries them. Feel free to substitute regular lemon juice if you like - the tart will be just as delicious, and a bit more tart!

Short on time? You can easily make a similar tart with store-bought materials. Instead of the pâte sucrée tart shell, use pre-made pie dough, and instead of the meyer lemon custard filling, use purchased lemon curd. Embellish as you like (some ideas below!)

Creamy Meyer Lemon Tart (Adapted from Tarte du Jour)
Serves 8-12

5 large eggs
2/3 cup Meyer lemon juice (may substitute regular lemon juice)
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon cream
1 pâte sucrée pre-baked (recipe coming soon)

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. Crack eggs into a large bowl, and beat well with a whisk. Add the lemon juice, sugar and cream; whisk until completely smooth.
3. Pour mixture into a pre-baked 10" tart shell. Place the tart onto the center rack in your oven, being very careful not to spill the filling over the edge of the tart. You may find it easier to place the unfilled shell into the oven first, and then pour in the filling to avoid potential spillage; just take care not to burn yourself.
4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the filling is firm with a slight jiggle in the center. Pay close attention in the final minutes of baking; even slight overbaking can cause your tart to crack (if this happens, don't worry - see my decorating ideas below). It will continue to firm up after you take it out of the oven.
5. Let tart cool on a wire rack, and remove tart from pan.
6. Once cool, embellish your tart! After decorating, cover your tart with plastic wrap and chill before serving.

A few decorating ideas:

• Simple: Just before serving, dust the top of your tart with confectioner's sugar.
• Extra lemony: Thinly slice a lemon, and cut slices in half. Line the edge of the tart with the lemon halves, with the wide side facing the crust.
• Berrylicious!: Cover the top of the tart with berries - any combination of raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, etc. I decorated mine with sliced kiwi, blueberries, and blackberries.

Kristen - Contributing Writer from Decorate This!

Kristen is a software engineer who dreams about starting her own creative business (a cakery actually). She has always loved to bake and create, and gets great satisfaction from making beautiful things.

Decorate This: Macarons Part 2

Hello again, Pure Joy Events readers! Kristen here from Decorate This!, with Part 2 of my macaron tutorial. (Click here for Part 1). In this post, you'll learn how to make a few delicious fillings for your macarons, and learn how to assemble and store your finished product.

Macaron Fillings
 
Now that your shells are done - it's time to make some filling!  The possibilities really are endless - you can choose anything from sticky caramel, to rich chocolate ganache, to tart lemon curd.

Here are two of my favorites, lemon mascarpone and chocolate ganache:

Not So Humble Mascarpone Lemon Filling (adapted from Not So Humble Pie)
275 grams marscapone cheese (chilled)
150 grams lemon curd (feel free to use store bought or any recipe you like)
Zest of one medium lemon (optional.  I've made this filling with and without, with delicious results either way!)

1. Mix all  ingredients together until smooth.  
2. Fill a piping bag with the mixture and chill until firm (this step is important; otherwise the filling is a bit too runny and will make for messy macarons).

Chocolate Ganache
8 ounces good quality semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/4 stick unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a small saucepan, bring heavy cream, sugar, and corn syrup to simmer over medium-low heat, whisking until sugar is dissolved.
2. Remove pan from heat, and add chocolate.  Whisk until chocolate is melted.
3. Add butter and vanilla, and whisk until shiny and smooth.
4. Let cool, stirring occasionally, until ganache is a good consistency for piping.

Assembling Macarons

1. Match up similarly sized shells
2. Pipe filling onto one half of the cookie, and gently press the halves together
3. Enjoy!  Macarons are delicious when just baked, but are even better if they are allowed the mature in the refrigerator overnight.  The flavors will meld together, and the humidity in the refrigerator will soften the macaron a bit.  Try it - the wait is definitely worth it!

Once assembled, store your macarons in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.  They can also be stored at cool room temperature, if your filling of choice does not require refrigeration.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at kristen@queenbeecakery.com, or leave a comment on this post or on my blog, Decorate This!

Kristen - Contributing Writer from Decorate This!

Kristen is a software engineer who dreams about starting her own creative business (a cakery actually). She has always loved to bake and create, and gets great satisfaction from making beautiful things.

Decorate This: Macarons Part 1

Hello Pure Joy Events readers!  I'm Kristen from Decorate This!, and I am absolutely thrilled to be the resident baking and treat decorating guest blogger.  I am a software engineer who dreams of opening a bakery (more specifically, a cakery!). I have always loved to bake and create.  Whether it was baking or doing a wide variety of crafts with my mom, attending a cake decorating class with my favorite babysitter, or designing jewelry - I've always gotten great satisfaction from making beautiful things.  Over the past several years, I've baked countless cakes, cupcakes, cookies, (and many other sweet things!) in search of perfect recipes - all while honing my presentation skills.  I'm really looking forward to sharing some of my favorite recipes and decorating techniques with you all in the months to come!

With the popularity of French macarons rising, I thought I would share some macaron making tips and a few recipes for my first post.  French macarons are delightful, delicious, pretty treats - that are notorious for being finicky and troublesome to make.  Macarons can certainly be frustrating and annoying - but making great macarons is certainly not impossible. Without further ado - let's make some macarons.

Materials

• Kitchen scale: carefully measured out ingredients are a key to success
• Food processor: most almond flour isn't finely ground enough; you'll need to pulse it in a food processor in order to get super smooth shells. I like to buy whole blanched almonds and grind them myself.  Note: make sure you grind the nuts with confectioners sugar, to avoid making nut butter!
• Stand mixer/hand mixer: keep in mind that if you are using a hand mixer, mixing times may increase almost 2 fold
• Good quality aluminum pans: you'll need at least 2-3
• Silpats (or parchment paper): I like using silpats the best - but parchment will work as well
• Oven thermometer: oven temperature is very important
• Candy thermometer: for making sugar syrup
• Piping bag 
• Large, round piping tip

Technique
Almond Macaron Shells - Italian Meringue Method (adapted from Not So Humble Pie)
150 grams almond meal or whole blanched almonds
150 grams confectioners sugar
120 grams egg whites (room temperature), divided
185 grams granulated sugar, divided
50 grams water
Gel or powdered food coloring - optional, but it's certainly fun to make rainbow colored macarons!

1. Preheat oven to 325°F (test with an oven thermometer and adjust accordingly), and prepare a piping bag with a large, round piping tip.
2. Pulse almond flour or almonds and confectioners sugar in food processor until finely ground.  Sift mixture to remove larger pieces of almonds; continue whirling in your food processor until very fine.  Place mixture into a large bowl.
3. Weigh out 60 grams of egg whites, and place in the bowl of your stand mixer.  
4. Weigh out 150 grams granulated sugar, and place in a small saucepan along with the water.  Put the remaining 35 grams of granulated sugar in a small bowl (you'll be adding this sugar to your egg whites later).
5. Place saucepan over medium heat, swirling occasionally to help dissolve the sugar.  Test temperature often with your candy thermometer (you may need to tilt the saucepan in order to get an accurate reading).  Once the syrup hits 180°F degrees, start beating the egg whites in your stand mixer on medium-low speed.
6. Beat egg whites until very foamy, and then slowly add the reserved granulated sugar.  Increase speed to medium, and whip to soft peaks.  While eggs are whipping, keep a close eye on your sugar syrup - you do not want it to exceed 230°F.  If it is getting close to 230 before your egg whites are ready, remove it from the heat, and replace once your egg whites are closer to being done.
7. Once syrup hits 230°F, remove from heat.  Increase your mixer speed to medium high, and slowly pour the sugar syrup into the egg whites.  Be careful to pour down the side of the bowl - you want your sugar syrup to end up in your meringue, not splattered all over the bowl.  Beat until cool, about 5-8 minutes.
8. While meringue is cooling, add the remaining 60 grams of egg whites to your almond/confectioner's sugar mixture.  Mix with a spatula until well combined.  This is the time to add gel or powdered food coloring - start slow, but make a darker color than your goal.  The color will lighten considerably when the meringue is added to the mixture.
9. Once meringue is cool, quickly fold it into your egg white/almond/confectioner's sugar mix.  Fold until mixture is just barely uniform, using as few strokes as possible.  It is VERY important that you do not overmix - overmixed batter will not produce nice macarons.  Your batter is ready when you lift your spatula and a thick ribbon of batter slowly flows back into the bowl.  If your batter plops back into the bowl, fold a few more times and test again.  If it flows quickly and is very thin - you've overmixed it, and you will need to start over.
10. Fill your piping bag, and pipe approximately 1" rounds, about an inch apart.  Try to be as consistent as possible when piping - you want your macarons to bake evenly.  Once piped, gently rap the baking sheet on the counter to pop any air bubbles.  Let shells rest if you like - this is where some experimentation is necessary.  I've had good results popping the shells right into the oven, as well as letting them rest for a few minutes.  Keep in mind that the longer they rest, the thicker the shell they will develop.
11. Bake at 325°F for about 14 minutes.  I like to bake for 10 minutes, turn my baking sheet, and then baking for an additional 4 minutes - but be careful not to disturb until at least 10 minutes are up.  To test for doneness, gently touch the top of a macaron and wiggle your finger.  Your macarons are done when the top moves just slightly with your finger.  Sometimes to make extra sure they are done, I'll sacrifice a macaron and pull the top right off.  If the insides look raw and very sticky, they still need more time.  Put back in the oven for another 2 minutes, and test again.
12. Remove from oven, wait a minute or so, and then remove and cool on a cooling rack.

Troubleshooting
Now, what works for me *may* not work for you.  Even the pros occasionally make a bad batch of macarons, and for someone just getting started, imperfect results can definitely deflate your confidence.  But fear not - there are plenty of troubleshooting resources out there, including Syrup and Tang and Not So Humble Pie (start here to read about the Italian meringue method).  If your macarons don't come out perfect the first (or second, or third) time - you are certainly not alone!  With a little persistence and patience, amazing macarons are completely achievable.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at kristen@queenbeecakery.com, or leave a comment on this post or on my blog, Decorate This!

I hope you enjoyed meeting Kristen and Part 1 of her macaron post. See Part 2 on macaron fillings, assembly and storage this Sunday.

Kristen - Contributing Writer from Decorate This!

Kristen is a software engineer who dreams about starting her own creative business (a cakery actually). She has always loved to bake and create, and gets great satisfaction from making beautiful things.

Bell Atlantic Dinner Party

One of my first jobs out of college was working in the IT department at Bell Atlantic (now known as Verizon Communications). Thanks to Facebook, I recently reconnected with a few of my former co-workers, most of whom I haven't seen in 7 years, and invited them over for dinner this Saturday.

The cake pops and sugar cookies from Kristen over at Decorate This! arrived this afternoon and I couldn't wait to display them with the paper garlands that I made for the party. When I first meet Kristen a few weeks ago, I found out that we shared something in common -- we both have technical careers, but dream about launching our own creative businesses. We hit it off immediately. I'm beyond thrilled to announce that Kristen will be our first blog contributor, so you'll be hearing a lot more from her in the future.