Sugar Swings! Serve Some: July 2013

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Rainbow Lego Men - Frozen Pudding Snacks


So who loves Lego?? I think I've said it a million times but we've definitely got lego freaks living here.  Lego, lego (lego) and more lego.  Apparently we just can't get enough.  We have hundreds of minifigs around the house, we could populate a country with minifigs.  That's either amazing or pretty sad (depending on your perspective!)

And I've made mini edible lego guys like a gagillion times too.   My goal is to use as many different foods as possible to get 110% out of my silicone ice cube mold! 


These guys are are made out of vanilla pudding.  But you can also make them from candy melt or yogurt too.  The only ingredients used for these little dudes are a box of vanilla pudding, some food coloring, and a lego minifig mold (I got mine at a Lego store, but you can order them online too).  Mix up the instant pudding, separate into bowls, tint with coloring, and "pipe" into mold.


If you get really ambitious, you can go for the real lego dude feel by changing the colors for the shirt and pants.


The process is basically the same as described here for making these guys - except replace the candy melt with the tinted pudding.  Then freeze well (at least a couple hours).  You can definitely just keep it simple and use solid colors - tastes the same!


And you know what, if some break popping them out of the mold, who cares, they taste the same too!


Just eat them fast!


And you get some tiny little frozen pudding snacks for a unique summer time treat!  I get so tired of the kiddos yelling for ice pops this summer and this was definitely a fun change for them.


You could even use other ice cube trays or molds for this and change it up by using other pudding flavors.

What other food can I can make Lego men out of??! If you have any suggestions, leave them in the comments!

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Deviled egg mini cakes for the Summer Picnic Party


So it's full blown summer out! Here on the east coast it's been in the 90-100 degree range for awhile, the cicadas are singing their hot summer song, and it's totally picnic season.  This picnic is hosted by Hani from Haniela's and Beth from Hungry Happenings - both ladies that are pretty amazing and always come up with some pretty spectacular food ideas.  They invited me to their Summer Picnic Party - and as with all great picnics, everyone is bringing a yumtastic dish (click on the pics below!).   (PS there is also a Picnic Party Giveaway! Lot's more info on the party listed down below!!!)
































I decided on some deviled eggs, because all picnics need some of these fun finger foods right? And who can resist the smell of a good deviled egg sitting in the sun all day at a hot ole' picnic.  Oh yeah, MMMmmmm, mmmmm, mmmm yum.   I loves me a hot and gooey deviled egg.


OK the sarcasm came through in writing right??  And I just know I had you mouth on floor and totally fooled, thinking "What the what? This blog is supposed to be all sugar 24/7 - the name of the blog is Sugar Swings for pete's sake, what are cooked stinky eggs doing in a post??" Yup, I know, I know.  Of course these are mini cakes for the picnic! (Indulge me and pretend I did indeed fool you and you didn't read the title of the post!!!)

These are made using a Wilton mini egg pan I got a gagillion years ago.  I think I've maybe used it 3 times total, so was happy to use it for this party.  I just used some boxed cake batter I had left over (this was a white cake).


Bake 'em up for only about 7 minutes or so (they are really small) and when cooled, scoop out a tiny half circle so it looks like 1/2 of an egg.


Dip in melted white chocolate or candy melt.  If the candy is too thick, add a little shortening to thin it a bit so your dipping goes smoother.  I also froze the cakes for about 1/2 hour so they were not so crumbly when dipping.

Side bar: I have decided I really really (really) don't like dipping stuff in candy melt - I'm just not good at it or don't have the patience.  You cake pop queens and kings deserve some major props for doing it all the time and so well!


Let harden, then add a swirl of buttercream tinted egg yolk yellow.  And add some red sugar sprinkles to finish them off (that's supposed to be the sprinkle of paprika on top of the eggs!).  Apologies for the terrible pictures done at nite, but you get the idea at least!)


And you get some non-smelly "deviled egg" mini cakes for these hot summer days.


And yeah, granted the buttercream and candy melt could melt in the heat too, but at least you don't have to worry about the mayo going bad and giving you or your guests major stomach issues later!


And now as promised more info on the Summer Picnic Party Giveaway! See all the fun stuff in the graphic below!


Enter to win below and also check out the other fun summer picnic food from a bunch of awesome fun bloggers!

The Marshmallow Studio - Buzzy Bee Pop Tutorial

Sam's Kitchen - Elderflower Cordial

Lila Loa - Sandwich Picnic Cookies

Pink Little Cake -Shortbread Cookie Tart with Caramel Bits

Hungry Happenings - Ketchup and Mustard Push up Pops

The Partiologist - Ant on a Log

Kitchen Fun with My 3 Sons - Picnic Blanket Treats

The Baked Equation - Lemon Cookie Cake

The Decorated Cookie - Cookies on the String

Not Your Momma's Cookie - Ant Attack Cupcakes

Creative Fun Food - Picnic Blanket Sandwich

Pint Sized Baker - Picnic Cupcakes to Go

Roxana's Home Baking - Apricot Orange Kugelhopf

Created by Diane - Luau Pasta Salad

Munchkin Munchies - Checkerboard Tablecloth Picnic Cookies

Sugar Swings - Deviled Egg Mini Cakes

Trilogy Edibles - Chocolate Mousse

Sugarkissed.net - Watermelon Cupcakes

Haniela's - Roasted Chicken Green Bean Salad Sandwiches



GIVEAWAY SPONSORS

Thank you to all the amazing Giveaway Sponsors. Be sure to check out their websites below.

The Marshmallow Studio

Restaurant Ware

The Cookie Cutter Company

 Wilton

 Mary Had a Little Party

 King Arthur Flour

To enter giveaway please use the Rafflecopter below. Giveaway will run from July 20th, 2013 till July 27th, 2013. 6 Winners will be picked using the Rafflecopter widget. Prizes will be picked in the order of sponsors you see above, starting with The Marshmallow Studio and ending with King Arthur Flour. Winners will receive one email from hanielas@yahoo.com. Winners will  have 48 hours to respond. New winner(s) will be picked if we don't hear from you. Thank you and good luck.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


THANK YOU to Hani and Beth for organizing this too - So fun and I'm totally honored to be included with this amazing group of bloggers.  

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Striped Blueberry and Strawberry Rice Krispie Treats



So I think I've mentioned my love of cereal treats before right?  Because 1) they are ridiculously simple to make (you don't even need to bake anything!) and 2) most kiddos and grown ups love them.  I've yet to find someone that doesn't smile when they see a plate full of cereal treats or have a visceral aversion to them. I've made them plenty of time before like these peppermint krispie treatsfruity pebbles cereal treatstrix and chex cereal treats, and these turkey day cinnamon rice krispie treats.


To make these a little more fun and because I love color, I went with 3 batches and flavored 2 of the 3 layers.  You can find the basic recipe for rice krispie treats here, but it's really so simple:  

4 cups of mini marshmallows (or 1 - 10 ounce bag of regular sized marshmallows)
3 tablespoons of butter
6 cups of rice cereal

For the strawberry and blueberry layers, you'll need about 1 cup of freeze dried fruit

On a stove top, melt butter, add marshmallows until all melted, then mix in rice krispies.  


The blueberry and strawberry flavors are from freeze dried fruits, which you can find everywhere now. I got mine from Trader Joe's but most food stores or even Target carries them now too.  I love using them because you can add natural concentrated flavor and color without adding any extra water to your recipe.  


Crush up the freeze dried fruit of your choice - I used my good old mortar and pestle to crunch them up (see I am using my pharmacy degree!)


After you melt the butter and marshmallows together, add the powdered freeze dried fruit.  It will look like this when you mix it up:


Then turn off the heat and add the rice cereal; mix it well.  Press it into a pan (spray the pan with non-stick spray and spray a piece of wax paper or your spatula with non stick spray too otherwise it will stick to everything you touch)


Repeat with other layers and press well between each later. 


 Cut into what ever fun shapes you like.



And you get a plate of some fun and colorful stripped rice krispie treats.  You could even dip in some white chocolate, but I really like the simple lines of these treats.  And I did mention the color and flavor are from fruit right? No food colorings or food gels used here.  Not that I don't use food colors - you really can only get the bright colors you want for some projects with them.  But I do like to experiment to see what I can get with natural food colors.  And these definitely have the look I was shooting for!


Here are some other goodies made with natural food dyes/colors for anyone interested:



Thanks for swinging by and have a GREAT week! We have a mini vacay next week and I can't wait --there is chocolate involved!

Tidy Mom's I'm Loving It

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

8 Treats all Red, White & Blue - Happy 4th of July!


So I had hoped to have one more 4th of July post before the big day, but alas, life gets in the way.  I did look back and I seem to have a thing for these colors because as you'll see there's lots of red, white and blue all over here.  

Like these baked wheat donuts with sprinkles (above) - Plain glazed donuts, blah.  Add sprinkles and SuperFunHappyTime.

AND

these Little Uncle Sam cupcakes - I promise no fondant was harmed in the creation of these little guys.


Some sweet and salty pretzel snacks (using goldfish crackers) - Red, white and blue goldfish?? Win, win, and win.


More baked donuts - ok ok these are more red, white, and teal but look how cute they are! Again, sprinkles!


 Ice cream topped angel food cupcakes (the color au natural).  Seriously one of the best cupcakes I've ever made. For reals.


 Flag pretzel snacks - Please excuse my obsession with all things sweet and salty!


Red, white, and blue madeleines (also made with natural food colors) - Make these now!


Some marshmallow candy cupcakes - aka bite sized fun!


 Thanks for indulging my perusal down red, white and blue lane.  Hope you all have an awesome 4th of July holiday to those who celebrate!