Tag Archives: candy

31 Days of Halloween – Give Me Candy!

Have a sewhooked little Christmas

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A little Christmas Cheer from the sewhooked flickr group!

by sewtobed on flickr

by ramblequeen on flickr

by Jennifer T.

by liljabs on flickr

Lots more great quilts in the flickr Christmas quilts group!

More Christmas cheer from sewhooked:

If you make a Sew Awesome Craft or any pattern, craft or recipe from sewhooked, I’d love to see a photo. Email me or add it to the sewhooked flickr group.

Faux Rocher

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I love chocolate.

It’s possibly unhealthy how much I love chocolate, but there you are!

Ferrero Rocher are one of my favorite indulgences, so much so that my lovely sister gave me a lovely heart shaped box full of them for Valentine’s. I haven’t opened them yet…letting the anticipation build!

A friend of mine shared a recipe for a clone recipe. The original came from Australia (love my Aussie friends!) and asked for packs of nuts and other ingredients without specific amounts included. With my friend’s help, I worked out the “how much” and then gave the recipe my own U.S. touch.

These aren’t identical to Ferrero Rocher, but they’re a darn good facsimile and will be a lovely Valentine’s treat for me and my sweetie!

Faux Ferrero Rocher

1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 tbs shortening
1 cup chopped lightly roasted peanuts, chopped
½ – 1 cup hazelnuts or macadamia nuts (the real thing uses hazelnuts)
1 (13 oz.) jar of Nutella
miniature muffin tins and liners (approx 1 1/4″ size)

I used Hershey’s, but you can use any combination of milk and dark chocolates.

Line miniature muffin tins with wrappers.

Place chocolate chips and shortening in a microwavable bowl. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Remove from microwave and stir, adding chopped peanuts. Mix thoroughly.

Place small teaspoon chocolate nut mix in base of pan or wrapper.

Place a nut in center.

Cover with about ½ tsp. Nutella.

Cover with chocolate nut mix.

Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

Eat!
Makes approximately 30 really yummy candies.

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Candy Cups for Giving

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Shared by my aunt, Amy, several years ago, Candy Cups have become a gift-giving standard for me. I’ve made them for Christmas and birthdays and with all sorts of candy.

They’re easy, inexpensive and make gorgeous gifts for the hard-to-shop for. Think teachers, friends and anyone that likes candy. Have a diabetic in your life? Sugar-free candy works, too!

Once all your supplies are gathered, it’ll take you about an hour to make one candy cup.

You’ll need:

Glass or Mug (I prefer clear, but any kind will work, the heavier the better!)
Candy with loose or twisted wrappers (example used approximately 40 oz. of peppermints)
Styrofoam ball (size depends on your glass or mug)
Filler for the cup – recycled paper or candy
Bamboo Skewer
Scissors
Hot Melt Glue
Greening Pins (also available at the hobby store with the floral accessories)
Ribbon
Cellophane

supplies

Push the bamboo skewer into the Styrofoam ball, all the way through the top. Put it in the glass to and push down until the ball is snug in the glass.

Snip off the excess skewer with your scissors.

With the skewer still in the glass, fill the bottom of with candy. Ideas are M&Ms, Hershey Kisses or Peppermints (though you could really use any candy). Another option is shredded paper, but the candy on the ball will make the cup top-heavy, so having a heavier filler keeps it from tipping over and gives the gifted a sweet bonus.

Place a small dot of hot melt glue on either side of the rim of the cup. Gently press styrofoam ball onto glue, holding in place until it sets.

candies in twisted wrappers

greening pins

Use greening pins to add candy to ball by poking pins through the loose end near the twist of the candy wrapper. Depending on the candy, you can get two or three on each pin.

Start at the bottom and work up to the top, going in circles.

part of first round

first round complete

first round, from the top

second round done

second round from the top

third round done

third round from the top

Fill in any holes with more candy & greening pins.

Final round complete, all the holes filled in.

Wrap in cellophane and embellish with a bow or ribbon. The cellophane is optional, but it provides insurance that your candy will get from point “A” to point “B” intact.

Gift it!

Variation with M&Ms and Coca-Cola glasses

Variations by Amy Maxey – toffee coffee & bubble gum soda glass.

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This is part of my “Way Back Craft” series; patterns, crafts, tutorials and general crafty memories before the days of this blog.

Jennifer’s Best Peanut Brittle

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If I could make one candy to give away every year, it would be peanut brittle.

This is probably my most miraculous of recipes due to it’s ability to cause sheer happiness in it’s recipients. I’ve actually made friends by sharing this at parties and functions.

Every year someone tells me that this is their favorite peanut brittle recipe, which of course gives me a reason to keep making it for them!

You’ll need a good, heavy saucepan and a candy thermometer for this. If you’ve never owned a candy thermometer, it’s really worth having. I recommend investing a few dollars (a very few, really!) in a good quality thermometer. Glass thermometers are cheap, but they tend to break easily. I have a professional metal candy thermometer that I picked up at a local restaurant supply store, but they’re easy to find online and at other stores with cooking supplies, too.

Peanut Brittle

2 cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup (Golden Syrup works if you don’t have access to corn syrup)
1/2 cup water
2 cups raw peanuts (I like Spanish peanuts)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon baking soda
real butter for greasing pan

Grease a 10″x15″ baking sheet thoroughly with butter.

Combine first five ingredients (sugar, corn syrup, water, peanuts and salt) in heavy saucepan. Stir using a long-handled wooden spoon.

Boil until candy thermometer reaches 293 degrees F.

Remove from heat and cool for a couple of minutes. Add vanilla and beat. Sprinkle baking soda into the mixture and beat will. It will foam and change colors, which is just what you want it to do!

Immediately pour into baking sheet. Be very, very careful because liquid candy at high temperatures is like lava! Make sure the baking sheet is on a towel or cooling rack because it will be extremely hot.

Allow to cool completely (time will vary, usually an hour or so) then flip over and give it a whack! Break the pieces up however you like, then store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Do not store peanut brittle with other candies because it will absorb moisture and become sticky, sticky, sticky.

For best results, share with friends!

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