Colorful Jelly Candies

I've really been interested in learning how to make candies. In fact, all kinds of candies.  I decided to start with jellies and work my way to hard candies, then onto molded chocolates.  The whole "chocolate tempering" is a bit unclear to me.  As it turned out, finding recipes for jellies, or gumdrop candies was not easy.  I wanted a recipe where I could alter colors, and flavors, and use molds.  I finally found a nice recipe in "Candy Cookbook" by Mildred Brand, published by Ideals.  The recipe is pretty simple, but I must admit Ive had trouble reproducing it with consistent results.  

I've made this recipe a number of times, and when it turns out, it's delicious!

I've used LorAnn extracts for flavoring; these hearts are cherry flavored.

Silicon molds are a necessity due to the high temperature of the candy.  I have used Wilton silicon molds, but have found a lot of variety with "Fat Daddio" molds.

This is a Wilton mold and the candies are flavored with a Blackberry extract.

So pretty in a candy dish!

Lemon Hearts!

Orange flavored flowers, daisies and roses

Chewy lime sunflower candies

As I said earlier, I have had trouble with the texture of the candies.  They are often too soft and sticky.  The colors and flavors are wonderful.  I have also used "Tart and Sour"  to make the jellies a little sour, which I like.

These candies are soo much  fun to make, and really tasty.  I plan to practice more this winter, when it is not so hot outside, and try to perfect the consistency of the texture.

Any advice regarding how to obtain the perfect chewy texture, every time, would be appreciated!

Have a great week!

Beautiful Day Lilies

Summer is here and with it comes those hot, humid days when a cool breeze makes all the difference.  Summer is a time for hot dogs at the ball park, juicy tomatoes off of the vine, swimming, and for me...a time for flowers.  I love a beautiful flower garden and hope someday to have the type of garden with a slate foot path through  scads and scads of flowers!  Not too long ago, my cousin bought a fairly new, beautiful house.  Another cousin, who has an absolutely beautiful yard, was asked to plan the landscaping, as the previous owners didn't quite get around to doing it.  I was roaming the yard with her and another cousin and she was throwing out ideas for plantings.  I suggested Day Lilies in a certain area and she said no,  and I think she called them "junk" flowers.  She had some in her yard and had a tough time getting rid of them.  I was really surprised, as I really love Day Lilies.  But, everyone has their own tastes, which makes the world so much more interesting.  I thought I would share some of our Day Lilies with you, and maybe you will understand why I love them!

We have a few different varieties, but all have similar leaves and of course the blooms only last one day.

There is a farm not too far from us, where they develop different varieties of Day Lilies. A couple of years ago, my husband and kids and I each picked out a Day Lily to bring home that we call our own.  My son and daughter can remember the names of their lilies; I don't remember the name of mine...typical!  I should just make up a new one!

This is the "double, frilly," Day Lily that my husband chose. And, no, he doesn't remember the name either.  It is so pretty!

The is my Day Lily, it is more off white than yellow.  The "Day Lily" experts have been trying to develop a white Day Lily, and I though this was pretty close!

This is a pretty common variety of Day Lily.

This is my daughter's Day Lily.  It's called Music Melody...yes, she remembered the name!  I think this one is particularly pretty, so delicate!

This is my son's Day Lily...Vibrant!  And yes, he remembers its' name..Scarlet O'Hara!

I had to show one with a bug inside!

Another one of my favorites!

Yep, Day Lilies are beautiful flowers!

I hope you're enjoying the summer, it is just flying by.  Stay Cool! 

Lemon Tea Cake

 I had a really nice surprise lately.  My daughter sent me a "just because" present.   "Just Because" presents are presents that you give for any random reason.  You may see something that you know someone would really like, you may be missing someone and want to let them know, you may want to show your gratitude for their love, you may just want to give a gift to some you care about and love, or whatever reason strikes you.  I was so pleased to receive this "Just Because" gift, to know that she was thinking of me.    It is a Nordic Ware quick bread pan.  My daughter knows that I love to bake and that my husband, her dad, really enjoys quick breads.  So, it seems this really cute pan jumped right out to her!  Nordic Ware pans are wonderful, sturdy, and arrive with recipe suggestions.  Really yummy suggestions!

This pan arrived with a Lemon Tea Bread recipe which turned out to be moist, and very "lemony."   And as you can see, very pretty.

 Although you can't see it very well in the pictures, the bread has a lemon glaze using Turbinado sugar which sparkles.  This sweet bread would be perfect for any breakfast brunch, coffee club, or even a really nice gift.

"Just Because" gifts are a nice addition to your family traditions.  I am not sure which is better, as the saying goes, giving or receiving!

And Thank you, Abby, for your thoughtful gift.  XOXOXO

Love is in the Air

It's June and love is in the air.  Time for weddings...brides and grooms, lace, champagne, wedding cakes, and of course, wedding cookies!  My cousin and her friends were planning a bridal shower for one of their daughter's upcoming weddings, and she asked me to make wedding  shower cookies for the event.  I was sooo excited!  The bride's colors are going to be multiple shades of red, a bit of pale yellow and green, and her wedding flowers are Calla Lilies.  She asked that the cookies have sticks so that they could be slipped in the napkins on the table settings.  So, I had fun trying to create a cookie with the elegance of a bridal cookie, still meeting the colors of the shower. 

While doing a little cookie research, I found this stacked cookie that looked a bit like a small wedding cake and I thought it was sooo cute. So I decided a make a couple of these for a shower surprise.  I made three cookies, and cut them with scalloped round cookie cutters.  These cookie cutters come in a set of differing sizes.  I flooded each cookie with Royal Icing and stacked them after they were dry with a little bit of Royal Icing to hold them together. I piped a red dot on each scallop and added a Calla Lily to the top with pale green leaves.

 

Next, it was on to the cookies.  The focus, of course, is the Calla Lily.  I played around with a few different techniques, and found the use of gum paste to be the best, for a more realistic Calla Lily.  However, gum paste dries pretty firm, so it may not be the best portion of the cookies to eat.  I used a Wilton Calla Lily form, but traded out the heart shaped form for a much smaller heart shape because I wanted a smaller Calla Lily.  I rolled out the gum paste, after kneading it, cut out the small heart, molded the edges, and wrapped the "petal" onto the Calla Lily cone form.  I placed each lily on a styrofoam board to dry...all 66 of them.  Next, I made the stamens by softening and rolling 1/4 of a yellow (lemon) Starburst candy  into a log shape.  I placed each stamen on on a tooth pick and painted them with edible yellow Luster Dust and placed them on the styrofoam to dry.  Once the lily was a firm, I painted it with edible opal Luster Dust so that the petal had a slight glitter.  After it was dry, I added the stamen to the center with a bit of Royal Icing.

Before adding the Calla Lilies to the cookies.  I flooded each cookie with white Royal Icing.  After the icing dried, I monogrammed the cookie with a red "S", the "bride-to-be's" new last name initial.  I piped small white flowers on each scallop and placed a white sugar pearl in the center of each flower.  After it dried, I flooded three green leaves on the face of  the white icing.  Finally, I added two Calla Lilies to each cookie and then added green stems and a top leaf.   

 

Finally, I placed each cookie in a cellophane bag and tied a pretty red bow at the bottom.  I was pleased with the way they turned out.

And yes, I just had to make another stacked cookie with a pretty red rose on the top; another little shower surprise.

I was happy to hear that every one at the shower enjoyed the cookies, because I sure enjoyed making them!