Easter Candy Favorites

Wha'd up my Peeps?

Who doesn't love Peeps!  Well actually, a lot of people.  They're pretty sweet.  But they can also be a lot of fun in the microwave.  Peeps were always one of my favorite treats in my Easter basket. Growing up we just had the basics, but now they have chocolate covered, on a stick, rice crispy treats, chocolate and fruity flavored peeps, and many others.

Peeps originated in Pennsylvania by candy maker Sam Born in 1953. The yellow sugar coated marshmallow chicks were the first type of peep. In the 80's the bunny (my favorite) was introduced.  Last Easter over 700 million peeps were consumed. That's a lot of sugar highs!

NoBunny Knows Easter Better Than Cadbury

Remember that commercial of the Cadbury bunny clucking like a chicken? The original ad was aired in 1980.

See the link below for a classic commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFCNvZ_1gg0&feature=player_detailpage

Cadbury creme eggs are milk chocolate eggs with a super sugary cream fondant "egg yolk" inside.  They originated in the United Kingdom and are currently being produced at a rate of 1.5 million eggs per day. The Cadbury company originated in 1824 when John Cadbury opened up a cocoa shop in Birmingham. In 1831 he expanded to a 4 story factory and so the Cadbury Chocolate Company began. In 1875 Cadbury started producing an Easter egg, but this version was filled with sugar coated chocolate drops and coated in a dark chocolate shell. The original Cadbury creme egg was made in 1923 but didn't make it to the store shelves until 1971. It later gained popularity in the 1980's when that silly bunny started clucking.

The Super Flavorful Jelly Belly

 In 1960, David Klein wanted to make a new kind of jelly bean with intense flavors both inside and in the outer shell. He brought his idea to 4th generation candy maker Herman Goelitz Rowland and the Jelly Belly was born. Most jelly beans at that time all tasted the same. Jelly Bellys were very flavorful and were made from natural flavorings when possible. The first flavors were very cherry, lemon, licorice, root beer, cream soda, green apple, grape, and tangerine.

Former President Ronald Reagan loved jelly beans. He was quoted as saying "we can hardly start a meeting or make a decision without passing around the jar of jelly beans". Jelly Bellys were always found in the oval office and on air force one during his presidency. Jelly Belly even created the blueberry flavor in 1981 for Reagans inauguration. They also made jelly bean art out of him. What's your favorite Jelly Belly?

Have a Happy Easter!

Brunchy Bites

Here are some mini treats for a fabulous brunch.

Savory Stratas: Sausage Red Pepper or Ham Artichoke

Makes about 9

These are a little tricky for recipe amounts depending on what bread you use.  Ideally something like a french baguette would be ideal.  Also, what is a large loaf of bread? Bread comes in all sizes. And how dense or crusty is it?  What you will need to do is make sure that the bread is coated in the egg mix and soft.  You may need to add more egg and milk if it's dry. 

For the bread mix:

1 Large Loaf of Crusty Bread, cut into cubes

3 Eggs

3/4 C Whole Milk

Pinch of Salt

Pinch of Pepper

For the Sausage Pepper:

8 Oz Raw Breakfast Sausage Crumble (fully cook it)

1 C Roasted Red Peppers, Diced

1 Clove Garlic, Minced

1 C Shredded Pepper Jack Cheese plus some for topping

3 Leaves Fresh Basil, Chopped

Or For the Ham Artichoke:

5 Oz Fresh Spinach (sauteed)

1/2 Can Artichokes, Chopped

.25 Lb Ham, Diced

Pinch of Nutmeg

1 C Shredded Cheddar plus some for topping

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the bread mix together and set side while you're prepping your other ingredients.

Add in the remaining ingredients and let it sit about 45 minutes to fully absorb together.

Grease a cupcake pan. Squish the strata mix with your hands and make sure to break up any remaining cubed bread. Make a snowball. Well, not really, but ball it up in your hands and toss it into the pan. Continue with remaining mix and top lightly with cheese.

Bake for about 35 minutes and serve. These freeze and reheat well so you can make them ahead of time.

Mini Bread Pudding Bites: Chocolate Banana or Cranberry Apricot

Makes 20-24

For the bread mix:

1/2 Large Loaf or 1 Small of Challah Bread or Egg Bread

3 Eggs

3/4 C Whole Milk

1/3 C Sugar

1 T Vanilla

For the chocolate banana:

2 Mushed Bananas

1/3 C Chocolate Chips, Chopped

Or For the cranberry apricot:

1/4 C Dried Apricots, Chopped

1/4 C Dried Cranberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the bread mix together. Add in the remaining ingredients and set aside for about 45 minutes. 

Grease a mini muffin pan. Mush the mix together with your hands to make sure that the cubed bread is blended together. Using a scoop, put the mix into the muffin pan. Bake for about 25 minutes and serve!

 

Strawberry Cream Cheese Bites

Makes 15-20

1 Lb Strawberries

8 Oz Cream Cheese, Softened

3 T Powdered Sugar

1T Vanilla

Wash strawberries and dry. With a melon baller, cut off the tops and take out a little of the center. Cut off the bottoms of the berries so that they can sit upright.

Blend the cream cheese with the vanilla and sugar. Put it into a piping bag and fill the strawberries to the top. Serve!

Quiche Pastries: Bacon Cheddar or Smoked Salmon Yogurt
Makes 9

1 Sheet of Puff Pastry
4 Eggs
1/2 C Milk
Pinch Salt
Pinch Pepper

For the bacon cheddar:
1/2 C Cooked Bacon
1/2 C Shredded Cheddar

Or for the smoked salmon:
About 3-4 Slices of Smoked Salmon
1/3 C Plain Greek Yogurt
1 Green Onion, Chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cut the puff pastry into squares and put them into a cupcake pan. Make sure to press down on the bottom. Poke some holes with a fork or knife on the bottom.

Bake them for about 10 minutes. As they are cooling, press down on the bottoms if it puffed up too much.

Beat the egg, milk, salt, and pepper. Set aside.

For the bacon flavor, put the bacon and cheese in the bottom. Pour the egg mix on top. For the salmon quiche, put about 1t yogurt on the bottom, a few small pieces of salmon, and scallion on top. Pour egg mix on top.

Bake for about 25 minutes and serve.

Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms
Makes about 24

2 Packages of Mushrooms
10 Oz Fresh Spinach
1 Pound Bulk Breakfast Sausage
1 Clove Garlic, Minced
1 Cup Shredded Provolone or Jack Cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a sheet pan with foil.

Pull the stems out of the mushrooms.

Saute the spinach, drain off liquid. Saute the sausage. Add together with garlic and cheese. Stuff the mushrooms.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes and serve.

Caprese Stacks
Makes 5

8 Oz Package Fresh Mozzarella Log
2 Plum Tomatoes
10 Pieces of Fresh Basil
Olive Oil
Aged Balsamic Vinegar
Sea Salt
Cracked Pepper

Slice the mozzarella and tomato into 10 pieces each. Pat extra liquid off with a paper towel.

Drizzle the plate with vinegar. Stack in this order: tomato, salt, vinegar, basil, mozzarella, olive oil, pepper. Repeat and put a toothpick in them.

Bacon Brownies

Bacon Brownies

8 Oz Bacon

8 Oz plus 2 Oz Semi-Sweet Chocolte Chips

4 Eggs

1 T Vanilla

½ C Bacon Fat

1 C Sugar

½ C plus 1 ½ T Maple Syrup

Cracked Pepper

¾ C Flour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line a small glass oven proof dish or brownie pan with parchment paper.

Cook the bacon, and reserve ½ of the fat for the recipe.  Set aside 4 pieces of the bacon.  Finely chop the remaining bacon.

Melt 8 oz chocolate in the microwave or over a double boiler. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar and ½ cup of maple syrup. Lightly beat the eggs and add them to the chocolate mixture. Stir in the bacon, bacon fat, vanilla, and a pinch of pepper. Lastly, fold in the flour. Pour into the pan.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

 

Melt 2 oz of chocolate and drizzle it over the top of the brownies.

Rough chop the remaining 4 slices of cooked bacon.  Heat a saute pan and cook the bacon with 1 ½ T maple syrup.  Let it bubble and carmelize for a few minutes.  Add some cracked pepper.  Spoon out evenly over the top of the cooked brownie and let it cool.

These were so decadent that I cut them into small pieces for serving. They are great served with a dark beer, red wine, or a glass of milk. Enjoy!

Guinness Braised Beef Stew

Braising is a method of cooking where you first cook an item by dry heat (high heat sauté) and then finish it in wet heat (like a stew). This is an ideal method for cooking tougher meats.  It breaks down the meat while infusing it with flavor.

Although the recipe below contains some unusual combinations, to that I say “don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it”. Back in my fine dining restaurant days, I got to play with a new menu item of venison carpaccio.  It was quickly seared with a rub containing cocoa powder, ground espresso, pink peppercorns, and cinnamon.  It was such an amazing burst of flavors. When I decided to braise beef in a chocolaty, coffee, type beer like Guinness, enhancing those flavors with cinnamon and some heat seemed like the obvious choice.  I hope you enjoy!

                     

Guinness Braised Beef Stew

Serves 3-4

1 Oz Butter

1 ¾ -2 ¼ Beef Stewing Meat (I used Chuck Roast)

1 Lb Fingerling or Small Yukon Potatoes

4 Carrots

1 Small Red Onion

1 T Brown Sugar

1 T Cocoa Powder

½ t Cayenne Pepper

1 t Cinnamon

1 12 Oz Bottle of Guinness Extra Stout

1t Thyme

Sea Salt to Taste

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cube up the meat.  Peel the carrots and cut into 3 pieces. Slice the onion.

Bring a sauté pan to high heat and add the butter.  Sauté the beef for a quick sear.  About 1 minute into it, add the cocoa, cinnamon, and cayenne. Once the outside of the beef has a nice crust. Turn off the heat, and deglaze the pan with ½ of the beer.  Mix it with the rest of the ingredients and the remaining beer.

Roast for about 1 hour and 15 minutes or until it’s all tender. Serve!

Boozy Irish Treats

 

 

Guinness Brownies with Irish Cream Cheese Swirl

For the Brownie Batter:

1 C Flour

¾ C Cocoa Powder

¼ t Salt

7 T Unsalted Butter, Softened

2 ¾ C Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (about 12 oz)

4 Eggs

1 C Sugar

1 12 Oz Bottle of Guinness Extra Stout (open ahead of time, room temperature)

For the Swirl:

8 Oz Cream Cheese (soften at room temperature)

½ C Sugar

½ C Irish Cream Liqueur

1 Egg

1 T Vanilla

Pinch of Salt

5 T Flour

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a  9X13 pan.  Shake out any extra flour.

 

Beat the eggs and sugar.  Add in the butter.
 

Melt the chocolate in the microwave or over a double boiler.  Slowly add it onto the egg mixture along with the beer.

 

Mix the dry ingredients together and add them to the batter.

Pour ¾ of the mixture into the pan.  Set the rest side. * Feel free to make this recipe without the cream cheese swirl. Baking time would decrease by about 15 minutes.

 

Mix the sugar and cream cheese together.  Add the remaining ingredients, except the flour, until well blended.  Add the flour; pour it into the pan on top of the brownie batter.  Spoon out the remaining brownie batter in about 4 separate spits on top.  Take a knife and swirl the batters together.

 

 

Bake for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

 

 

*I do want to warn you that the booze doesn’t totally cook out. It shouldn’t get you drunk, but I wouldn’t recommend serving this to children.

 

 

 

In 1759 Authur Guinness opened up his brewery called St. James's Gate in Dublin Ireland. In 1914, it was the largest brewery at the time and now is the largest stout brewery.  The main product is Guinness Drought, a dark stout beer with a thick creamy head. Did you know tht there are over 13 varieties of Guinness? Draught, Extra Stout, Bitter, Malta, and Red, to name a few. Guinness Extr Stout is one of my favorite beers because of it's thick, rich flavor. It makes a great beer for cooking and baking.

 

Guinness Float

 

 

1 12 Oz Bottle of Guinness Extra Stout

1 Shot of Brandy

Several Scoops of Ice Cream (vanilla, chocolate, coffee, or caramel)

 

 

 

Push Pops!

I remember being a kid and loving a frozen push pop on a hot summer day. We’ll they’re back!  They’re a little different though. Wilton is now carrying a washable plastic push pop holder and the trend is to fill them with all kinds of sweets like cakes, brownies, puddings, and frostings.  I found my push pops dispenser at a craft store and of course used one of those online coupons that they always have. Since its St Patty’s Day time, I thought that I’d go a little Irish with my recipes. 

 

Irish Coffee Push Pop

Makes 6

8 Oz Cream Cheese, Softened

¼ C Powdered Sugar

½ C Irish Cream Liqueur

Vanilla Wafers (about 30)

1 C Strong Brewed Coffee

½ C Whipped Cream

¼ C Chopped Semi-Sweet Chocolate

 

Mix the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and Irish cream together in a mixer.

 

Dip a wafer in the coffee and put it in the bottom.  Spoon about 1T of the cream cheese mix on top.  Layer about 5 times.  Top with whipped cream and chocolate.  The bottom stand is also a cap, so you can store them covered in the refrigerator.  These are good refrigerated or frozen.

 

 

Minty Grasshopper Push Pops

Makes 6

About 3 Large Brownies or Chocolate Cake

5 Oz Marshmallows (about half a bag)

¼ C Milk

1/3 C Whipping Cream (plus ½ C whipped cream for topping)

½ C Cream de Mint Liqueur

 

Melt the marshmallows and milk in the microwave or in a double boiler. Set it aside to cool for about 15 minutes.

Whip the cream to stiff peaks and fold in the cream de mint.  Fold in the marshmallow mixture. It will be very runny, so put it into the freezer for about 45 minutes to an hour. It won’t set completely but will be easier to work with.  There were a few tiny holes in the bottom of the push pops that I have.

Put your brownies or cake into the push pop.  Pour the mint cream on top.  Top it off with whipped cream, cover and freeze.  Serve frozen.