-
Every year, when Valentine's Day season rolls around, we are inundated with heart-shaped boxes of candy and stores festooned in red and pink, and hearts EVERYWHERE!
It's the time of year when we celebrate love of all kinds; romantic love, the love between close friends and family, and the love we have for our children.
It is pretty amazing that the original, Saint Valentine's Day, was marked as a day to honor three martyred men, who were then canonized, but, hey, it doesn't have to make sense. Love doesn't always make sense either. :^)
If you want to give your sweetie something really unique, and from the heart, and forgo the typical heart-shaped box of chocolates, we have many lovely options at Baking911.
Here are just a few.
Love Stacks-Delicious moist chocolate cake, covered with ganache and filled with raspberry mousse.
These are one of my all time faves!
Love Notes-Valentines Day Fortune Cookies...light and crisp, with a sweet message tucked inside.If you need to make Valentines Day treats for your children, we have some fun and whimsical options too...
Love-ly Lace Cookie Pops-Crispy goodness with a rich chocolaty center. Pure YUM!Love Bites-Itty bitty plated Rice Krispies treats, disguised as Valentines cakes.
Cupcakes too!
Wishing you a very happy, and YUMMY, Valentine's Day, from the Baking 911 Team
Copyright © 2012 Sarah Phillips Sarah Phillips, Inc. All rights reserved.
-
Kellogg's® Rice Krispies® Marshmallow Treats® , also known as Rice Krispies Treats, squares, bars or cakes, is a sweet dessert or snack invented in the 1920s or 1930s by Mildred Day and the staff at the Kellogg Company home economics department as a fund raiser for Camp Fire Girls.
There are many recipe variations. The classic Rice Krispies Treats are made from Rice Krispies cereal, melted butter or margarine, melted marshmallows. And vanilla extract. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, Kellogg's Rice Krispies cereal was first introduced February 29, 1928 (registration #024993).
Kellogg's® Rice Krispies® Marshmallow Treats® recipe was first advertised in 1940, and has changed little since then.
1/3 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 lb Fluffi-i-est Marshmallows (this is a brand name)
1 package Kellogg Rice Krispies ( 5 1/2 oz.)
Melt butter and marshmallows in double boiler. Add vanilla; beat well. Put Rice Krispies in large buttered bowl and pour on marshmallow mixture. Press into shallow buttered pan. Cut into squares. Yield: 16 2 1/4-inch squares (10 X 10-inch pan). Note: Nut meats and cocoanut may be added."
---"Try this Candy Recipe," Los Angeles Times, February 28, 1941 (p. 4)
Rice Krispies-type treats existed long before the Kellogg’s Company-brand cereal was invented. This
snack traces its roots to the middle of the 19th century when recipes for puffed grain treats mixed with sweeteners (molasses, corn syrup) pressed into various shapes were popular. They were known as popcorn balls.
But, we like to play with our food.
Rice Krispies Treats make the perfect base from which to make what we call, Crafty Baker projects.
Perfect for Valentine’s Day, our most recent project is the Love Bites Rice Krispies Treats Cake Pop Recipe and
Tutorial, which we think are the cutest! The modern-day recipe is so versatile. You can make them with other types of ready-to-eat puffed cereal, m
old the bars into shapes, cut-out shapes with cookie cutter, drizzle or cover with melted chocolate, dust with sprinkles or crushed candy, or add in other flavors.
Kellogg's® Rice Krispies® Marshmallow Treats®, registered trademark, Kellogg Company
Crafty Baker is a trademark of baking911.com
Copyright © 2012 Sarah Phillips Sarah Phillips, Inc. All rights reserved. -
Oh, you know the feeling...the holidays are over, and the sugar plums that were once dancing in your head, are now dancing around your expanded waistline. The little black dress that you wore to the office party, has been replace by your "fat jeans" or, worse yet, SWEATPANTS!! Oh, the HORROR!
Many people respond to this yearly holiday excess by denying themselves, and going on the "eating austerity plan". They say, "I'll skip breakfast, have salad with no dressing for lunch, and a postage stamp sized piece of poached chicken breast for lunch and another undressed salad. My midnight snack will be 5 frozen grapes. It won't be so hard, I'll have the weight off in two weeks!".
The first week goes by with only a couple bites of something yummy, that you stuff in your mouth while no one's looking. You feel miserable. Not only because you feel like a failure and a cheat, but because you are denying yourself one of the great pleasures in life; eating yummy food!
I have always found that moderation works far better than "scorched earth" diet plans. A small portion of cake, one square of dark chocolate satisfies the soul much better than 5 frozen grapes, and, if you allow yourself an occasional treat, you are less likely to eat a WHOLE cake or sit in front of the TV with a spoon and a quart of Chunky Monkey from Ben & Jerry's.
In 1999 our very own Sarah Phillips came to the rescue of all holiday over-indulgers with her book "The Healthy Oven Baking Book", which has 125 delicious recipes. In the book, Sarah has transformed baking classics like chocolate cake, cheesecake and sugar cookies to lighter, healthier versions, without sacrificing taste or texture. The book is available on Amazon HERE
Here on www.baking911 we have information about HEALTHY BAKING and a large section of Healthy Oven recipes (search using the keywords Healthy Oven), with step-by step tutorials:
So, take your pick...5 frozen grapes, or a piece of that stuff up there!
Happy New Year to you and yours from the Baking 911 team!
Healthy Oven is a regietered trademark of baking911.com
Copyright © 2012 Sarah Phillips Sarah Phillips, Inc. All rights reserved. -
Who knew our recent recipe and tutorial has such a long history?With our recent recipe posting of the Italian Sponge Cake or Pan di Spagna (pahn dee 'spahn-yuh), is a classic Italian Sponge cake, or literally translated, it means “Spanish bread,” really referring to sponge cake. We use it in our Espresso Tiramisu, an assemblage of soaked cake and creamy fillings. A sponge cake is a type of unshortened (foam) cake.
It is thought the cake was derived from the Spanish bizcocho, a thirteenth- century name for a twice-baked biscuit made from semolina flour(hard wheat), called hardtack, also known as ships’ biscuit. (Macaroni and couscous were also made from hard wheat.) The second baking made it hard and preservable, where it could be stored in sacks. Later, Bizcocho also came to be known as “sponge cake” – a light cake made with many eggs and starch, such as corn or potato starch, a history that is somewhat unclear. (It is thought to be derived from beaten eggs being added to hardtack dough to create a lighter cake.)
By the time is traveled to Sicily (Italy), it became known as or Pan di Spagna(bread of Spain) or an egg sponge cake. It was known as a “keeping cake” because it had excellent longevity (keeping quality). It could be used dried, because it soaked up all of the liquids or soaking syrups it was brushed with. Served fresh, it is delicate and spongy.
It appears as though the French learned to make it from the Genoese or Genovese, named after the city of Genoa, Italy, and gave it the French name Génoise, another type of unshortened (foam) cake. According to the food historians, this cake was *invented* in the early 19th century. Génoise is a basic building block of much French pâtisserie and is used for making several different types of recipes.Copyright © 2012 Sarah Phillips Sarah Phillips, Inc. All rights reserved.
-
Christmas is always an exciting time, especially for the little ones and there's always one treat they want to leave out for Santa. Milk and cookies are often left out for Santa Claus and we have lots of baking recipes which we think he would enjoy.
Our Classic Thick with a Chew Chocolate Chip Cookies paired with a cold glass of milk are always a favorite to leave out by the fireplace. They're chewy and gooey and just darn delicious.
For double your pleasure, try our Chocolate Chocolate Chip Recipe Variation, for extra fudginess.
Decorated Sugar Cookies are not only adorable, but they're also a fun activity to do with the kids. It's easy and fun for them to cut out the dough with cookie cutters and to decorate them with frosting and sprinkles.
We hope you (and Santa) enjoy these and all of our recipes as much as we do.
We wish everyone a very Happy, Safe and Healthy Holiday!
Love,
Sarah and Kelly
xxooCopyright © 2011 Sarah Phillips Sarah Phillips, Inc. All rights reserved.
