Grandma Spackman's Fudge Frosting

Grandma Spackman’s Fudge Frosting.

My mother is a tough connoisseur of frosting. She calls it her "crack cocaine." The other day she let me know she has officially switched to a new method of making chocolate frosting. What?! Impossible! So, I thought it would be worth sharing her valuable nugget of information. Interestingly enough, it’s her mother-in-law’s recipe. Somehow my mother skipped over it all these years. Anyway...here’s the recipe in my grandma’s words. (P.S. She’s Canadian)

The following is an easy substitute for real fudge icing (or frosting as you Americans say it) and is very good. I seldom use real fudge icing anymore and I don’t have the recipe with me – I usually just remember it.

Fudge Icing

2 cups sugar (powdered)

½ cup cocoa

Mix together and add

1 cup cream and

½ cup butter

Bring to a boil stirring constantly and then boil 5 minutes only. Let cool. Beat with mixer adding 4 or more cups of icing (or powdered in U.S.) sugar until of the spreading consistency. If it gets a little too stiff add a little more cream. Ice the cake. It will be wonderful.

Homemade Mint Oreos

Lauren A. wanted the recipe to the homemade mint oreos that were on my blog last week.  Here you go Lauren!  Hope you enjoy them and that you're doing well!  These were yummy and really easy to make, I had the cookies made, put together, and everything cleaned up within an hour.   My adaptations are in RED.

The orginial recipe can be found here...

http://www.confessionsofacookbookqueen.com/2011/03/shamrock-mint-oreos.html



INGREDIENTS


Cookies:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softenend
1 large egg
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder

Filling:
1/2 envelope (1 teaspoon plus heaping 1/4 teaspoon) unflavored gelatin
2 tablespoons cold water
1/2 cup shortening (I used butter instead)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon mint extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Green food coloring


Preheat oven to 325. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

For the cookies:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the sugar and butter. Add the egg, water and vanilla and beat until smooth. Beat in the flour and cocoa until well combined; the dough will be very stiff.

Roll the dough into 1 inch balls, about the size of a walnut. Place the balls on prepared baking sheets and flatten each to about 1/8 inch with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar. (I just used my hand to flatten the cookies, and I didn't add any extra sugar.)

Bake cookies for 18 minutes. If cookies begin to look too dark or you smell scorching chocolate, remove baking pans from oven immediately. Cool completely on a wire rack.

For the filling:
To make the filling, soften the gelatin in a cup containing 2 tablespoons of cold water, then place the cup in a larger dish of hot water and leave it until the gelatin is completely dissolved and the liquid is transparent. Remove the gelatin from the hot water and let it cool until it's room temperature but hasn't begun to set.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the shortening, then beat in the vanilla and mint extract. Add the powdered sugar, a little at a time, beating until mixture is creamy. Beat in the gelatin.If the mixture seems to dry, add a couple teaspoons of hot water and beat until it is the right consistency. Add green food coloring, a few drops at a time, until desired color is achieved.

Sandwich the cookies, placing a small ball of filling on top of a cookie, and flattening it with another cookie top.  (I stored my cookies in the fridge so the icing would stay firm.  I'm not sure if this was because I used butter instead of shortening, or because it's just too hot here in Grenada!)

If you want to make plain Oreos, omit the mint extract and green coloring.

homemade Oreo's

These are a favorite around our house and super easy!

CoOkIeS:
1 box of devil's food cake
2 eggs
1/2 C. vegetable oil

Mix together ingredients and use tsp. to place tiny blob on greased cookie sheet. Flatten blob with palm or bottom of cup. Bake @ 350 for about 8 minutes. Cookie will look doughy but let it cool. If cooked for too long they are crunchy.

FrOsTiNg:
8 oz. cream cheese
2 1/2 C. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
{note: I sometimes half this recipe since it makes a lot - but who doesn't like extra frosting lying around?!}

Beat ingredients together and spread generous amounts of frosting, sandwiched between two cooled cookies!

Bet you can't eat just one :)

Fondant

(definitely not the most beautiful cake you've ever seen, but
it's one of the cutest ones I've made! It was for Zane and
Renny's white coat ceremony.)

Sara mentioned fondant the other day and so I really wanted to try and make it. I found this fabulous recipe online. Here's the link.

I used Alton Brown's cupcake recipe for the cake: here.
You can find the recipe written here.
Then just pour half of the batter in one 8 inch round cake pan and the other half in the other one.

And then Jayson just melted down frozen strawberries with sugar to make the filling in the middle of the two layers. Plus some buttercream frosting.

After assembling the cake put a thin layer of buttercream frosting over the entire cake then decorate with the fondant! Have fun!