Sugar Swings! Serve Some: July 2016

Sunday, July 24, 2016

Star Trek Fudge Bites


The new Star Trek movie opened this weekend - Star Trek Beyond!  

I'm not a trekkie per se but I do kinda remember watching the old show when I was little and I definitely watched the older movies and really did love the Next Generation series.  That said, I'm going nuts over all the stuff- like I do with other shows/movies/books.
***gestures broadly to Star Wars, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones***


But I do love the latest movies as I think they are done very well, the stories are great and I love seeing some of the beginning stories of the old characters.  So of course treats had to be made for the latest movie.  


And if anything remains consistent, its the shirts with red, blue, and yellow/gold the most common.


So Star Trek shirt fudge had to be made


This was really simple and used only 2 ingredients for the fudge plus the food gels to color.


Cut up the fudge into rectangles and add a little black melted candy wafer to add shirt colors.


Use vanilla candy melt to make little Star Trek insignias - I also colored them silver with some spray food color.


Attach with more melted candy and you have the cutest little edible Star Trek shirts.


And although it's a common belief that if you are a redshirt then you're pretty much dead on arrival on any new world however there is some data that shows yellow shirts are the winners in this category! 

Go figure!


I didn't get to see the movie yet because we are so behind on movies (we just watched Batman Vs. Superman last nite!) but the trailer looks awesome.  And there's new alien characters of course - Idris Elba as Krall so it's got to be good right??

And speaking of trailers did you see the new Wonder Woman and Justice League trailers?!??! 2017 is going to be a great year.  And yeah you can expect way more DC comics treats!

Thanks for coming by - have a great week!

Star Trek Fudge
Ingredients
  • 2 cups of vanilla or white chocolate chips
  • 1 can cream cheese frosting
  • Yellow, red, and blue food gel
  • 1/4 cup black candy wafers
  • 1/4 cup vanilla melting wafers
  • Wilton color mist in silver
Instructions:

  1. Add chips to microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals until chips are melted.  Stir in between intervals.
  2. Stir in can of frosting until well combined.
  3. Separate mixture into 3 bowls.  Add 2-3 drops of food color into each bowl (add color until you get the color desired).
  4. Add each color in a long rectangle (like photo) to a lined square baking pan.  Refrigerate for 10 minutes or until fudge sets.
  5. Cut each color into rectangles.
  6. Melt black candy wafers in freezer bag in 10-15 second intervals until just melted.  Snip a small corner of bag and pipe collars onto fudge.
  7. Melt white candy wafers in freezer bag in 10-15 second intervals until just melted.  Snip a small corner of bag and pipe Star Trek insignia logo onto parchment paper.  Let harden 5 minutes.  Spray with silver spray.  Let dry 5 minutes.
  8. Using a small dab of melted candy attach insignia to fudge.  Let harden 5 minutes.

Prep time: 30Cook time: Total time: Yield: 12

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Mini Strawberry and Grape Fruit Cookie Cups


Hard to believe its mid July already! I feel like I haven't posted in ages, well maybe because I haven't.  My regular day job is super busy these days so I've been wiped when I come home from work.  And with 3 kids (an almost 12 year old and 9 year old twins) there is no down time anymore.  And when there is down time, like once everyone is in bed (which is later now that school is out) or late on the weekends - I kinda just want to veg and check my social media or watch a random show.  

Plus I haven't had any good food ideas in ages and baking/cooking is just not calling my name right now.  I hear all bloggers go through phases like this and that it comes in waves.  I was posting weekly for a long long time so I guess it caught up with me!

BUT I did make some treats around the 4th of July to bring to a parties including these fun little fruit cups.  Awhile back I made this strawberry and kiwi fruit pizza by Hungry Happenings and loved the way it turned out.  


It's a cookie crust with kiwi and strawberry cut up and arranged to look like watermelon! It was so simple and fun that I tried to make a mini version.


I always like to speed things up so I used store bought sugar cookie dough.  Add a square to a mini bundt pan and spread to cover the bottom of each section. 

(Be sure to spray your pan with non stick spray!)


Bake at 350 degrees for 8 mins or until edges just start to brown.


Frost cups with your favorite frosting.  I used cream cheese frosting.  Cut up strawberries and grapes into small pieces.  I used grapes because I'm allergic to kiwi but you can use either.


Add grapes around edges and strawberries in the center.


I sprinkled with some black sesame seeds (to resemble watermelon seeds) but you could use mini chocolate chips too.


I'm not sure they look like watermelon but they definitely were tasty and a great refreshing dessert for a party! 

What are you doing this summer? Have you caught the Pokemon Go craze? That's the app phenomena thats taking over the world! It combines augmented reality, gamification, and EXERCISE!! No for real exercise because you need to get outside and go find Pokemon characters! It's actually a fun activity that I can do with the kids - especially the older one.  We go for walks with the dog, catch Pokemon and have some really great mom-son conversation.  #winnerwinnerchickendinner!

Pic of our dog wondering what the heck we are doing! (Catching a Nidoran Pokemon of course!)


Mini Strawberry and Grape Fruit Cookie Cups
Ingredients
  • 1 package of sugar cookie dough (ready to bake)
  • 1 can cream cheese frosting
  • 2 cup of cut green grapes
  • 4 cups of cut strawberries (red parts only)
  • black sesame seeds (or mini chocolate chips)
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray mini bundt pan with non stick spray.  
3. Add ready to bake cookie to each section of a mini bundt pan and spread dough slightly to fill bundt section.
4. Bake for 8 minutes or until cookies just start to brown.  Let cool.
5. Spread cookie with frosting.
6. Arrange green grapes slices around edge of cookies.
7. Add sliced strawberries in center of cookies.
8. Sprinkle with black sesame seeds (or mini chocolate chips)

Prep time: 30Cook time: Total time: Yield: 20-24