Not Brave Enough for Homemade Marshmallow

This is another contribution from Grammy's recipe box. I inherited this recipe box as a young girl when my Grammy passed away from ovarian cancer. Over the years, I have cherished its contents. Some recipes date back to my Grammy's mother El and Grammy's aunt Esther in the 1910-20's. If you use a recipe or cooking tip from Grammy's recipe box, I'd love to hear about it.

To see more of Grammy's recipes, click on the "Grammy's recipe box" label at the end of this post.

Okay, I admit it... I'm not brave enough to try to vintage recipe for home marshmallow that I found in my Grammy's recipe box. There. I said it.

Not to make excuses, but I have visions of me in the kitchen creating more heat than is sane (considering the August heat we're having) and ending up with a mess akin to the attach of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man on New York City.

I love to Twitter and one of the people I follow both on her blog and on Twitter is Emiline at Sugar Plum. She mentioned the other evening on Twitter that she was considering making some homemade marshmallow. I asked her later if she had and admitted my lack of bravery in trying Grammy's recipe. This was her reply, "I didn't try :( I decided it was too much work -might try in a few minutes. Need to find a recipe. Wish I had Grammy's recipe."

Well, Emiline, ask and ye shall receive! Here's the recipe. May you be braver than I.

This is typed exactly how the recipe reads:

Marshmallow

Soften the following ingredients well:

• 2 T gelatine
• 1/2 c cold water

Cook the following ingredients to 236 degrees F or until it threads about the length of the arm:

• 2 c sugar
• 3/4 c boiling water
• 1/8 t salt

Pour syrup slowly over gelatine, beating constantly until thick and cool (about 20 min.). Flavor as desired. Color. Butter a shallow pan slightly and dust with powdered sugar. Turn the mixture out on this and smooth top evenly. Dust with powdered sugar. Let stand overnight. Cut in squares. Roll in sugar.

Variations:
Chopped nuts, figs, raisins, or candied cherries may be added to the recipe. Plain marshmallow may be cooled in cocoa-nut before dipping in sugar, or dipped in melted chocolate.

"Yummy" In A Different Way

I've been completely submerged in design work as of late so the kitchen has been Hubby's territory for the past couple of days. That means no "sinful" treats are getting made and photographed. I call Hubby my "personal chef" because he makes dinner every night, and culinary creations are always amazingly delicious as well as very healthy. He's a Type 2 diabetic and I have high cholesterol so he's really good about cooking foods that are good for us. The food is so delicious you'd never know it.

So the "yummy" things I have to share today come from my design world where I can design and paint all the "sinful" treats I want and not worry at all whether it's healthy or not.

Like these scrumptious looking maraschino cherries on Keds sneakers (click on the image to see it larger):

Or the decadent goodness of this calorie-free chocolate candy (click on images to see larger):

There are perks to be a designer. I can indulge in all the treats without dealing with the aftermath. It's great!

In the Mood for Chocolate Candy

I must be in a very chocolate-y mood today because I've got chocolate on my mind in a serious way! So much so, that I created a new dimensional art piece devoted to chocolate candy.

Great! Now I want to go to See's and get a box of caramels!

This piece of shadowbox art
is currently on sale at my Etsy store.

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to follow me on Twitter

From Grammy's Recipe Box: "Chocolate Creams"

This is another contribution from Grammy's recipe box. I inherited this recipe box as a young girl when my Grammy passed away from ovarian cancer. Over the years, I have cherished its contents. Some recipes date back to my Grammy's mother El and Grammy's aunt Esther in the 1910-20's. If you use a recipe or cooking tip from Grammy's recipe box, I'd love to hear about it.

To see more of Grammy's recipes, click on the "Grammy's recipe box" label at the end of this post.


In my continuing exploration in creating vintage recipe dimensional art shadowboxes, I decided today to make up an old recipe out my Grammy's recipe box. This is the first of many recipes I will be making in order to photograph the finished result and then illustrate it in watercolors for the art pieces.

I inherited my Grammy's recipe box at her passing when I was 10 years old. It's a lovely wooden box with her maiden name initials on the front (she didn't marry until her late 20's). The box is full of recipes that span from around 1910 through the 1970's. The older recipes, written in fountain pen, are yellowed with a wonderful aged patina. Some have splatters of batter on them. Some are missing corners or the ink is smudged. Some recipes are actually dated with the name of the person who introduced the recipe, and I was pleased to find a few that belonged to my great-grandmother and must have come from her recipe box.

Very few, if any, of the recipes are illustrated. And I think I've only witnessed a handful of them being made in my presence. Most of them are for foods that I've never seen or tasted. So this culinary and artistic journey proves to be quite an adventure... and today's experience was no exception.

I decided to start with the handwritten recipe for "Chocolate Creams". They seemed simple enough. But as I have discovered with many of the recipes in the box, the measurements on the ingredients are a bit vague--like exactly how much confectioners' sugar goes into the "cream" to make it a stiff paste. As Hubby pointed out, one was probably supposed to learn how to make it from watching someone else do it again and again. So I had to experiment a bit and tweak a little.

The results are these decadent candy delights that feel "sinful" to even have in the kitchen. Hubby did try some of the "oops" candies and deemed them officially "sinful" in every way that a chocolate-covered almond and vanilla flavored sugar-paste ball can be. Of course I had to taste as I mixed to get the flavoring just right. All the recipe said was "6 drops of flavoring" (see what I mean by vague). The tasting alone gave me a sugar buzz that I'm still feeling as I write this over an hour later.

But I have to admit that the many of the finished candies are promising subjects for the watercolor illustrations I'll be painting. I'll be sharing the finished art piece here as soon as I have it illustrated and constructed. In the meantime, if you want to see the other completed pieces that make up the debut collection of my vintage recipe dimensional art, just click here.

This is how the recipe is written (I did some tweaking that I'll note after):

Chocolate Creams
1 egg white
2 T cold water
Confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
6 drops flavoring
1/4 lb. sweet chocolate

Beat the egg and water together only til mixed; add the sugar til the ingredients form a stiff paste (about 1-1 1/2 cups). Work in flavoring with sugar; then form into small balls. Grate the chocolate and put in a cup over hot water to melt. Dip the balls into it one at a time; using a fork for the dipping. Lay separately on waxed paper and, if necessary, dip a second time.

Now for my tweaks and tips:

• It took more than 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar to create a paste that could be rolled. I just kept adding until it was stiff enough then rolled the centers using powdered sugar to keep it from sticking.
• I used almond extract AND vanilla as a flavoring and it took way more than just 6 drops to fit my taste.
• I used semi-sweet chocolate chips but I think that next time I'll use an even darker chocolate since the centers are so sweet that the darker chocolate would work. It took more than only a 1/4 lb. to have a deep enough bowl of dipping chocolate. Once I had a deep enough reservoir the dipping was really easy with a fork, and it only took one dip to coat the centers nice and thick.
• I suppose you could flavor the centers with about anything that you can think of. You could even color the center paste to make it different too.
• These need to be kept refrigerated (especially in warmer weather). I had some little Wilton's treat bags that I packaged them in to give away to friends.
  

Fantasy Fudge for the Holidays

There are just a few things that say "Christmas" to me. I think this is the case with most people. Those things can be varied and obscure, but are often rooted in tradition, nostalgia, and fond memories. Over the next few days, I'm going to attempt to write about a few of the things that make Christmas truly Christmas-y for me simply because of the nostalgia with which they are imbued in my mind.

Ever since I can remember, there were two things that my mom made especially for Christmas--homemade fudge and English toffee. The whole process of making candy absolutely fascinated me through my childhood. When I was old enough, maybe 8 years old, Mom let me help out instead of just watch. I was usually responsible for stirring because keeping the sugar and butter mixture stirring constantly was critical as it heated to the temperature desired for either soft ball (fudge) or hard crack (toffee).

Mom's fudge recipe is no secret. It's the recipe that Kraft has been printing on its jars of Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme (an essential ingredient in fudge) for eons . The recipe is "officially" called "Fantasy Fudge". I didn't know that until I was an adult. All I knew was that Mom's fudge was the best! There wasn't any other kind of fudge from any fancy candy shop that could rival it and still have yet to find one. And the funny thing is that it's a Kraft recipe!

Now, even though I am very health-conscious and a big proponent of nutritious and healthy eating I must say that there are some foods that fall into a "special" category reserved for nostalgic "comfort foods" that are made as part of a family tradition. Those foods should be celebrated. I can account for the calories somehow, but darned if I'm going to feel guilty for carrying on a family tradition that makes Christmas feel right to me.

So without further adieu, here is the recipe straight off the Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme jar sitting here on my desk:

Fantasy Fudge
3 cups sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks butter or margarine--go with the butter)
1 small can (5 oz.) evaporated milk (about 2/3 cup)
1 1/2 pkg. (12 squares) Baker's Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, chopped
1 jar (7 oz.) Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme
1 cup chopped walnuts (or leave them out if you have an allergy like Hubby does)
1 tsp. vanilla

Line 9-inch square pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan; set aside. Place sugar, butter and evaporated milke in large heavy saucepan. Bring to full rolling boil on medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil 4 min. or until candy thermometer reaches 234ºF (soft ball), stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Remove from heat.

Add chocolate and marshmallow creme, stir until completely melted. Add walnuts (if desired) and vanilla; mix well.

Pour immediately into prepared pan; spread to form even layer in pan. Let stand at room temperature 4 hours or until completely cooled; cut into 1-inch squares. Store in tightly covered container at room temperature. Makes 3 lb. or 40 servings, about two squares each.

Variation - Classic Fantasy Fudge (the way Mom always made it)
Prepare recipe as directed, using 3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) margarine and substituting 1 pkg. (12 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips for the chopped BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate and a 13x9-inch baking pan for the 9-inch square pan.

Nutritional Information (per serving)
Calories 170
Total fat 8 g
Saturated fat 4 g
Cholesterol 10 mg
Sodium 45 mg
Carbohydrate 25 g
Dietary fiber 1 g
Sugars 23 g
Protein 1 g
Vitamin A 2 %DV
Vitamin C 0 %DV
Calcium 0 %DV
Iron 2 %DV

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