Saturday, January 26, 2013

Bakery Bites by Jen

Happy Saturday! I hope it is sweet as always.

For the past few years I have been slowly growing my passion for baking into a business. The orders are starting to roll in this year and I couldn't be happier. There are a lot of behind the scenes things I am working on, like a website, registering the business name, etc. So as the business grows I will share my Bakery Bite creations with you all here... I am not going to lie, working on orders and trying to do something for Sweet Tooth Saturdays does get tricky sometimes, oh ya not to mention my full time job too (work always gets in the way of fun doesn't it?!). Hopefully someday soon I can say, I enjoy my work when Bakery Bites by Jen is off and running! Until then here is a peak at what I do on the weekends...

Baby Cake Pops
Uh Oh! Someone is sleeping...

See you next Saturday. Thanks for stopping by.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Chocolate Bark

Hi everyone. How is your Saturday going? I hope it is sweet! :) Mine is a little stressful. I bought a new car today. I really like it. The problem is I am still learning how to drive it...it's a 5 speed and I have never driven one prior to today. So needless to say my nerves are shot. I will master it though. I have a great teacher :).

With everything going on today I didn't have the patience or time for extensive baking. It is Saturday and I definitely need something sweet after today's adventures though. So I looked around the house and found the following.

Chocolate, almonds, raisins and pecans.

Let's make some Chocolate Bark (no baking needed).

First start by melting your chocolate.
Once the chocolate is melted spread onto a parchment lined baking sheet. About a 1/4 inch thickness.
Sprinkle with nuts and raisins and gently then press them down.
Place in the freezer for 20 minutes, then break into pieces and enjoy!

This is very simple and a great sweet treat! Try it and add your favorite dried fruit and nuts to semi-sweet, dark or white chocolate. The options are endless!

Happy Sweet Tooth Saturday!
Jen

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Snow Balls ~ a.k.a Butter Balls

Happy Sweet Tooth Saturday everyone! I'm keeping with the winter theme and sharing a delicious cookie my mom used to make when I was a kid. Check out my snowflake cupcakes from last week, if you happened to miss them.

Winter brings snowflakes and if we get enough of them we can make snow balls! That is what I am calling today's cookie, Snow Balls. They are also known as Butter Balls. I asked my mom to send me the recipe and she reminded me it was already in my handy dandy recipe book she made me.
So I turned to the cookie section and there they were! FYI if you choose to make these, the dough has to refrigerate over night.

Ingredients:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 lb. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
4 cups flour
2 cups chopped walnuts (I used hazelnuts)...surprise surprise :)
powdered sugar for coating

In your mixer cream the butter and powdered sugar together.
Add in the vanilla and flour.
Mix until well combined.
Mix in hazelnuts or whatever nut of your choice.
Form into a ball, wrap and refrigerate over night.
When you are ready to bake the next day. Preheat your oven to 350. Roll into balls and bake for 12 minutes.
Once cooled, fill a zip lock bag with powdered sugar and drop your cookies in to coat.
Voila! Snow Balls.
Mmmmm! So good. It has been forever since I have had these.
You are sure to fight over these. Would that be a snow ball fight??? :)

See you next week.

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Mail from Grandma ~ White Chocolate Amaretto Frosting

Hi everyone. I hope your new year is off to a great start! Today I am going to introduce a new idea I have for my blog this year...

Mail from Grandma

My Grandma is always sending me magazine clippings, recipes and more. She will be sending us sweet inspirations once a month. Who doesn't like to get mail?! Stop by every month to see what Grandma will send us! 

What did Grandma send today?
Cupcake ideas from the Southern Living December 2011 magazine.

Wow these look delicious! After reading all the yummy recipes I decided to make today's post all about the frosting. This one sounded so yummy to me...

White Chocolate Amaretto Frosting

Ingredients:
8oz white chocolate
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 cup butter softened
6 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup amaretto liqueur 
 Melt the white chocolate and heavy cream in a microwaveable safe bowl. In 30 second intervals. Once melted let cool to room temperature. 

Mix together the butter and one cup of the powdered sugar on low speed until combined. 

Alternate the last 5 cups of powdered sugar with the 1/4 cup of Amaretto. Once combined add in the chocolate and mix until smooth.


It may be hard to see but I tinted my frosting blue like my mixer :). I decided to decorate my cupcakes a little different from the magazine article.

So I baked chocolate cupcakes and I have "ice blue" frosting. Hmmm...let's make some snowflakes!

To achieve this I took melted white chocolate and placed it in a zip lock bag and drew my snowflakes on freezer paper. I also sprinkled them with sugar crystals. FYI...only cut off a very small corner of the bag, like microscopic. You do not want the chocolate to puddle out everywhere. 

Time to decorate!


I even had a snowflake plate my mom gave me! She always finds the cutest stuff.


Thanks for the mail Grandma!

Happy Sweet Tooth Saturday everyone.