Festive Zombie Fingers & Elf Puree Bark

I tried two new recipes using dehydrated elf puree (matcha powder).  Matcha is powdered green tea.  It has a lovely color, which is why I started playing with it.  It also has a distinct, what I would call grassy flavor, which is starting to grow on me.  The feedback I've received has been all over the place.  Some people love it, some hate it, some say it's edible, but definitely not their favorite.  

First up, my favorite of the two, zombie fingers.  Yet another recipe where I'm using silicone molds from Michaels that are no longer available. Hopefully these will be back next fall.  Now that I'm older and wiser, I don't buy molds unless I absolutely love them and when I do, I buy four so I can make a whole batch of whatever at the same time.

I love the colors of these fingers, the green matcha with the red and white (Could that be blood and bone?), is absolutely lovely.  I liked the flavor of these cookies. I thought they were so much better than the ones I made last year.  There's enough sweet to balance the green tea, but they're not too sweet. 

The recipe for Match Cookies with Cranberries & White Chocolate is from U Try It.  These cookies are made by rolling the dough into a log, chilling, then slicing into individual cookies.  Since I was pressing it into molds, I chopped up the dried cranberries and white chocolate into small pieces before adding them to the dough.  The dough was stiff enough to work with without chilling, but I did chill the filled molds on a cookie sheet for 10 minutes before baking. 

Since this was the first time trying this recipe I only made half and that was enough to fill two molds (16 fingers) all the way to the top.  I was surprised how much they expanded while baking since there is no leavening in the recipe.  They didn't overflow or anything but next time I will probably fill them a little less and maybe make 20 fingers.  Anytime you use a mold or muffin tin and don't fill all the cavities you should fill the empty ones with water.   

The second recipe for Pistachio Matcha Dark Chocolate Bark is from The Delicious Life.  Some people really liked this and some thought it was just ok.  I really like the look of it, but I didn't care for the taste.  I think the white chocolate complimented the matcha powder nicely, it was actually the pistachios and chocolate I wasn't crazy about.  I love dark chocolate and I love pistachios, but I didn't like them together, which surprised me. 

I did fudge the recipe a little. They do a layer of chocolate and pistachios, then dollop and swirl white chocolate and white chocolate mixed with matcha on top and then sprinkle on more pistachios. 

I wanted the green matcha to be more visible so I did the layer of white chocolate with the matcha mixture first and then covered that with the mixture of pistachios and dark chocolate. 

Peppermint Maggots

First I would like to thank whatever dark gods are responsible for me getting maggot molds.  Secondly I would like to send my condolences to anyone who doesn't have these wonderful molds.  

I really am surprised with how quickly they sold out, that they haven't been reissued.  For what it's worth they were sold at Michaels as part of their "Celebrate It" line two years ago.  There are caterpillar molds being sold on Etsy by zhiqiangdiy and CraftsMouldsStore but I have not purchased these and I have no experience with these sellers or their products.  

Not that they have to be maggot molds, any candy mold will work, it's just such a fun shape.  Which is why I've used them for frozen treats, baked treats and other candy concoctions.  

I used a recipe for peppermint patties found on joyofbaking.com.  Joy of Baking is one of my favorite recipe sites.  All the recipes have been tested and I have yet to have one fail unless it was a mistake on my part.  

This recipe scared me a little, the main ingredient is powdered sugar with a little bit of butter, evaporated milk and flavoring.  It didn't seem that appetizing, but Joy of Baking hasn't let me down yet.  I would say these had a much stronger flavor than a York Peppermint Patty, but I liked it.  All I know is there's nothing quite like getting a bunch of texts from friends about how tasty your maggots are.  

I purchased the peppermint oil at Michaels and followed the recipe for the filling.  If you are using molds instead of hand dipping them, the filling doesn't have to chill as long.  I dabbed a little dark chocolate at one end of each maggot because I've seen pictures of some that look like that.  I think that might be the butt end. After that hardened I used white chocolate to coat the molds.  After the white chocolate set I pressed about 2 teaspoons into each mold and then covered them with dark chocolate and sprinkled on some crushed candy canes.  

My favorite candy canes are Bob's, which fall under Brach's now? I don't know when that happened, but Brach's has always been my favorite peppermint hard candies.  Bob's Sweet Stripes still fall under the Ferrara company, which are large soft mints that my family absolutely loves.   

Pumpkin Spice Orange Cheesecake Cupcakes

So here's another recipe I've bastardized beyond all recognition.  

This is the original recipe for  Pumpkin Spice Bread which makes two loaves.  I've halved the recipe to make 24 muffins.  I left out the nutmeg, because I despise it, and increased the cinnamon a tad, because I have nothing but love for cinnamon.   I used a mix of white and brown sugar instead of just sugar and a mix of vegetable oil (generally I use coconut) and butter instead of just oil. I substitute orange juice instead of water.  

In past years I've made this with an orange cream cheese frosting, as noted in this post about pumpkin truffles.  The pairing, while delicious is too sweet in my opinion.  With frosting I always feel like the amount of powdered sugar needed depends on the consistency desired rather than the taste. 

By substituting cheesecake instead of frosting, I still get all the flavors I love without the overwhelming sweetness and the family agreed these were better. Normally my making two dozen cupcakes implies a party, but this year sucks.  Instead I dropped off a little cupcake love with the neighbors.  

Pumpkin Spice Orange Cheesecake Cupcakes

cupcake ingredients:

3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup butter softened
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup solid pack pumpkin
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 cup orange juice 

cheesecake ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese, softened 

1/3 cup white sugar

1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp orange extract

zest from one orange (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Beat the cream cheese until smooth.  Add the sugar, egg, extracts and zest and beat until creamy and smooth. Refrigerate until needed.

In a large bowl, beat sugar, oil and butter. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin and mix well. Sift dry ingredients together and add to the pumpkin mixture alternately with the orange juice. Spoon batter into 24 prepared muffin cups. 

Spoon in cheesecake mixture. 

Bake for about 20 minutes.  The cheesecake should be set but not brown.  Cool in pans 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack; cool completely.

Pictures can be deceiving, I should have cut this in half to really see. The pumpkin mixture domed so it's not like that's all cheesecake sitting on top, but rather a modest layer coating it.  You could run a knife or toothpick through the batters before baking to marble it. 

Grinch Hatchling Cookies

Usually I muck with recipes, but the only thing I did with this recipe was rebrand it for Creepmas.  The recipe is for Matcha Amaretti Cookies by Love and Olive Oil.

I love the look of these with the green cracks like little budding grinches trying to break free.  The green color comes from the matcha green tea powder.  I used Carringtonfarms matcha powder because it was bright green on the package, and other brands at the store looked tan.  The actual powder is not the bright green on the package, but it is a deep alfalfa green.

I also used Bobs Red Mill super fine blanched almond flour.  The blanched part is important, they also have unblanched but that would affect the color.

The recipe recommends layering two cookie sheets together for baking.  I just used one and baked the cookies for 20 minutes.  The recipe doesn't say you can freeze them, but I did.  There's a lot going on, so I am very slowly getting my Creepmas baking done, everything goes in the freezer until it's all done.  So I'll report back how well they froze when I finally get around to dishing them out.

Not surprising given the matcha, almond flour and almond extract, these cookies taste like a sweetened almond flavored green tea.  I drink green tea, but I've never eaten it, so it was a different taste sensation for me.  I think I'll have to try a couple more before I decide how I feel about them.  I'll be interested to see what my Creepmas victims think.  My daughter thought they were "Meh."

I love the color, and will definitely be trying a few more recipes.

Krampus Cookies

A few days ago I showed you some lovely cookies, today you get to see my Krampus cookies of awesomeness (just a twinge of sarcasm as I type that). I tried two new recipes, only making half of each since I wasn't sure which would suit my needs. I'll start with the second recipe I tried since it worked a lot better.  If you recall I wanted see what I could come up on using the cookie cutters I had on hand.  I decided after the first recipe that I like the upside down gingerbread man cookie cutter the best for making Krampus.  The star is my second favorite.

These cookies use the Chocolate Sugar Cookie recipe from JoyofBaking.com.  This is not the first time I've used a recipe from there, it's my go-to for baked goods.  The recipes are always solid and if you are a novice, her videos can be really helpful.

I was a little intimidated by this recipe because the dough is rolled out between parchment paper, then refrigerated, then you make the cutouts.  I needn't have worried, it was really easy to work with.  I chilled mine overnight and after cutting out, the cookies were still really cold and solid.  I thought they were perfect after 10 minutes in the oven.

The scraps I rolled and re-rolled, by the time I squeaked out every cookie I could, they were pretty soft.  I popped those back in the refrigerator for 20 minutes before baking.  They still weren't as cold as that first batch, but they only spread just a teensy bit more during baking.

My favorite way to decorate cookies is to just paste stuff on like a preschooler.  I used ganache for paste.  This is the same ganache recipe I use for everything from Peppermint Bark Brains to Rat and not surprisingly I originally got it from JoyOfBaking.com.

I've never used ganache to frost cookies before so I'm pleased to say it actually worked.  Usually with regular sugar cookies I'll bake and freeze them ahead of time. When I'm ready to decorate, I pipe on frosting immediately out of the freezer and refreeze them until I need them.  That won't work with the ganache, both the ganache and the cookies have to be at room temperature to frost.  Of course you could use chocolate frosting, but ganache is like silky ribbons of heaven gently caressing your tongue, so why would you?

But before you make the ganache you need to make the horns and tongues. For the nose I used skull candies and the eyes are plain old candy eyes.

I used Kraft caramels mixed with a little Tootsie Roll for color.  Brands matter here, some caramels spread (more on that here).  If you don't like Tootsie Rolls you don't have to use them but you really can't taste it with the caramel.  I used a slightly different method from last year's Krampus horns. These are smaller, two sets of horns per caramel as opposed to one and these are slightly quicker to make, at least it feels like they are.

Microwave the caramel for a few seconds if they are firm.  Just the caramel, the tootsie roll is much softer.  10 seconds was perfect in my microwave.  Roll the two together on a non-stick surface.  I really chose a bad example to photograph I didn't mix the tootsie roll in very well, so it's mostly hidden in the middle.  I utilized the cute little grid on my parchment paper and rolled it out to one inch and then cut it in half.  Then rolled the half to one inch and cut that in half.

Then I rolled that piece into a one inch cone shape.  

Then I twisted and bent it into a horn shape.  

Rinse and repeat until you have all the horns you want.  

For the tongues I used Brach's Holiday Spicettes.  This is important because the red ones are cinnamon flavored and isn't Krampus a little spicy?  You will also need some red decorating sugar.

Roll the gum drop flat dusting with the red sugar as needed to keep it from getting sticky and you should end up with something that looks like this. 

Cut triangles out, round the top of the triangle if you wish and coat the cut ends with more red sugar.

Ganache 

4 oz. chocolate (broken or cut into small pieces, I use Lindt 70% dark)
¼ cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
½ teaspoon vanilla

Mix chocolate, cream and butter in a small glass bowl. Microwave for 1 minute at 50% power and let stand for 1 minute. Stir until smooth. It will look really grainy at first and then it starts to smooth out. Once it’s smooth stir in the vanilla. 

Let it cool for a few minutes.  It shouldn't be warm, but you don't want it to set, so maybe 5 minutes.  Spoon the ganache on the cookie and spread it around.  It doesn't set quickly, so you have time to work.  I covered the thirteen cookies I made before placing the decorations.

Add the horns, eyes, tongues and then sprinkle with brown or black jimmies.  I thought it might look cool to mix the two colors and it doesn't.

If you aren't going to be eating them soon, freeze them in a single layer.  Once frozen they can be stacked between layers of parchment paper or plastic wrap and sealed in plastic containers or ziplock bags.



One note of caution and actually I think it's a feature.  Ganache has a lot of moisture, you can see below after thawing the moisture wicked up into the eyes causing the black to bleed.  I personally think they look better that way.  It also made the black jimmies and skull nose turn grey.

The ganache does set nicely and remains firm even after thawing.

For the first batch I used this Mocha Shortbread recipe.  Last year I made shortbread GingerDead Skulls, so I thought this would work.  Surprise, not all shortbread recipes are the same.  I even chilled the dough for an extra long time after cutting out the cookies, but they spread all over the place while baking and edges were very crumbly.  The cookies taste good, exactly what you would think a mocha shortbread would taste like.  I'm sure they work fine as bar cookies, the way the recipe intended them to be made.


If you really want mocha cookies I would suggest adding espresso powder to the chocolate sugar cookie recipe.

I don't have a lot of cookie cutters, but I tried out the few that I thought might work for Krampus.

As I said, the gingerbread man and star were my favorites.   The little eyeball monsters were a mini tulip cutter, which upside down looks like a Pac Man ghost.  In this case they turned out as little blobs.

Below top left is a bat cutter, bottom right is a bunny head and the other two are upside down trees.  The bunny still looks too much like the bunny, maybe the bat would've been ok if the dough hadn't spread so much, but I think the tree is pretty good.

 

Next time I'll have to try my hand at Yeti's.  

Frozen Boozie Maggots & Undead Pops

Boozie Maggots with black raspberries.

As promised, Boozie Maggots. I did try making alcoholic zombie popsicles, but because the alcohol results in a softer freeze it was difficult to unmold them. The act of peeling back the molds erased some of the finer details and they all lost their heads, which just looked like balls by the time I worked them out of the mold. Note that any simple popsicle mold would work, I just like maggots. 

I supposed I could have played around with less alcohol to find a suitable ratio that would result in perfect zombies, but it's easier this way, everyone knows the zombies are kid friendly and the maggots have rum. Also I don't get any sideways glances from friends by saying crazy things like "less rum".  [Honestly, and I could be completely talking out my rear, I do not have what one might call a sophisticated palate.  But I feel the rum enhances the other flavors and just a smidge as a flavor enhancer would ok in my book.]

This article on How To Turn Any Alcohol You Like Into Tasty Frozen Pops is what I used to figure out ratios using rum that's 40% alc/vol (ABV). You can substitute with any alcohol with a 40% ABV, but anything else and you'll have to refer to the article and do your own math. These quantities are also based on the maximum amount of alcohol you can use and still have your popsicle freeze properly. By all means use less if you like. Wherever I've rounded numbers to simplify, I've always rounded down on the amount of alcohol to ensure adequate freezage.

The short answer is if you are using 40% ABV, it comes out to 4 parts cucumber mix to 1 part alcohol.

You can use my Cucumber, Mint & Lime Mix, either as is, because the alcohol will cut the sweetness or with added extras, plus alcohol. The following blend is our current family favorite. The coconut milk adds a nice flavor and the avocado really gives the popsicles a smooth, creamy texture. Here I'm using part of the recipe for non-alcoholic zombies and part with rum to make frozen maggots. You could make as much as you want with rum just stick to the 4 to 1 ratio.

 

Refreshingly Undead Pops
Makes 24 oz

One batch (18 oz) Cucumber, Mint and Lime Mix (for more details see previous post):
2 cups peeled, diced and seeded cucumber
1/2 cup lime juice with zest
1/2 cup mint infused simple syrup

4 oz (1/2 cup) coconut milk (Note 1)
2 oz (1/4 cup) avocado (Note 2)

frozen raspberries (garnish)

It works best to use room temperature ingredients or the coconut fat solidifies. Blend all ingredients except raspberries. 16 oz of this delicious nectar will fill two sets of zombie molds. Poke a few pieces of frozen raspberry into the molds, not only for a touch of color, but it tastes awesome too. Reserve the remaining 8 oz for Boozie Maggots.


Note 1: If you're making frozen treats because it's hot out and you have the air conditioning on, the coconut milk fats are probably solid. If you are starting with an unopened can of coconut milk I suggest putting it in a bowl of hot tap water for a few minutes. Otherwise gently heat the coconut milk in the microwave just until it becomes completely liquid. Slowly pouring the coconut milk in while the blender is running will help it evenly incorporate too. Worse case scenario if it does solidify, you wind up with a slightly grainy texture to your popsicle.

Extra coconut milk can be frozen by the tablespoon in an ice cube tray to easily measure out for recipes or smoothies.

Note 2: This is for my daughter's friends after hearing about their avocado woes. California Avocado has lots of good info. Avocado's won't ripen in the fridge, but once they are ripe pop them in the fridge and they'll keep longer.

If you really aren't going to use them anytime soon, freeze them. I will finely dice or puree them with a little lime juice and freeze in single serving sized mounds on freezer paper before transferring to a freezer bag.

You don't have to use an avocado up all at once. Cut it in half lengthwise and give a twist. Whichever half the pit remains attached to cover in plastic and store in the fridge. The pit doesn't have any magical qualities, but air isn't going to get to the surface it's covering. When you finally get to cutting pieces off that half try to keep the pit in place for as long as possible.

Cut whatever you want off the remaining half, skin and all and again plastic wrap and refrigerate the remaining part. Peel the skin off the piece you want and slice, dice or puree and enjoy. Notice I didn't tell you to rub lemon or lime on anything that's being stored. In my experience citrus only delays the inevitable. Even the plastic wrap doesn't create an air tight seal. After a day all cut surfaces brown, no matter what. Just accept that, scrape the brown off and eat the creamy greenness underneath.

In summary a perfectly ripe avocado can last a long time around here, though it might pray for a quick and merciful death.

Finally getting to Boozie Maggots. Remember my Thanksgiving Maggots and Creepmas Maggots? I love the molds I got at Michaels last year and I'm glad I had the foresight to buy four of them. I am hopeful they will bring them back this fall. The maggot shape makes them super easy to fill and unmold, no matter what food stuffs you are using and who doesn't like maggots? The only downside is they need some sort of support when moving the filled molds prior to baking/freezing. They also smell faintly like mint now. Scrubbing with a paste of baking soda and dish soap seems to work the best, but I guess silicone really absorbs odors.

Boozie Maggots with red raspberries.

Boozie Maggots

8 oz Refreshingly Undead Concoction
2 oz of 40% rum
frozen raspberries

Combine and fill molds. The maggots hold one tablespoon each, but you need to allot for expansion as they freeze. 10 oz should be enough to fill 24 maggots. Garnish with frozen raspberries.

It's very important they be frozen. Frozen berries break down faster and give better color. The very first picture with black raspberries, I was impatient and didn't wait for them to freeze all the way. The above picture has red raspberries that were completely frozen, and have a better color spread. Below I used fresh blue berries and the skulls have fresh red raspberries and they just don't look as good.

To serve: I filled small dixie cups with a few maggots and kept them in the freezer until it was time to serve.

Boozie Maggots with fresh blueberries.

Boozie Skulls with fresh raspberries.

Minty Cucumber Zombie Popsicles

It all started with my first trip to the local Night Market.  Even though I knew it wouldn't be, I was secretly hoping it would be like the Floating Market in Neverwhere.  And it didn't disappoint, which is to say it was nothing like the Floating Market in Neverwhere.  

But it still held it's own charm and one of things that caught my eye was a popsicle vendor, Chrysalis Pops, with it's array of unique flavors.  Now if you think the combination of cucumber, mint and lime would taste like a cool breeze, under a shade tree, on a warm summer's day, you would be correct.  Mostly.  I'll explain:

While my cucumber, mint and lime popsicle did indeed invoke all those sensations, my initial lick gave me pause. It tasted like dill pickle, or at least that's what my brain initially jotted down.  Then it extrapolated all the data from my taste receptors, did an analysis, put it all into a spreadsheet, I think there was even a cute little pie graph to denote the individual flavors and cheerfully concluded that the original assessment was wrong.  It was indeed cucumber, mint & lime, no dill pickles present.  

But once in while the essence of dill pickle would pop back up, only to disappear the moment I tried to pin it down. Much like an optical illusion, or Gestalt switch for taste buds. Yes there's a reason I'm telling you this, and I'll get to it.  Eventually.

First a quick shout to some of the other night marketeers: Artery Ink for awesome anatomy based art, they even have a coloring book and Green Goat Apothecary, who has ensnared me with their blood orange scented goat's milk lotion. It makes my skin feel silky and the smell is divine, nothing like the headache inducing artificial scents that a lot of popular lotions seem to favor.

But back to popsicles, pickle or no pickle my curiosity was peaked and I wondered what life would be like if I could make my own cucumber, mint and lime popsicles.  I found a recipe that looked promising and realized it would be much easier if I procured actual popsicle molds.

That's when I found these lovely Zombie Molds by Tovolo.  I bought two sets online from Target, for $10.99.  Of course they are sold out now.  There are a few vendors that carry them on Amazon but they cost a bit more.  Each mold holds 2 oz and there are 4 zombies per set.

Pros:  They make zombie shaped popsicles! And the popsicle handles are zombie legs! And the part of the handle that goes into the mold, is a rib cage! So you literally eat the zombies down to their bones!

Cons:  The mold is a flexible silicone, which is fine, but tricky to peel off.  I find it best to push down on the top of the zombie heads while peeling the mold off inside out.  This works fine for all the zombies except the one zombie with his tongue hanging out.  Half of the time I break his head off.  (Quick fix: Rub a little water on the neck, push the head on and stick it back in the freezer.)

Or maybe it's just me.  Hungry Happenings not only has a raspberry cheesecake pop recipe, but they have better quality pictures and a video that makes demolding look like the easiest thing in the world.

Silicone apparently really absorbs odors.  This is the first time I've made anything with a strong scent and now all my molds smell like mint. I tried baking soda and I tried vinegar.  Both reduce the odor but do not completely remove it.  I'm not sure how much mint flavor would even transfer if I made something else with the molds.

While the zombie legs are adorable, they do limit the number of full bodied zombies you can make.  (If the legs are otherwise occupied, good old wooden popsicle sticks will do.  Cover the mold with a layer of tinfoil to provide stability and poke the stick through it.)

The recipe that I tried is from SenseAndEdibility.com.  The flavor was spot on, including the random phantom dill pickle.   But never let it be said that there was ever a recipe I didn't bastardize.

First I don't like recipes that give a number of fruits/veggies and not an actual measurement, that had to change.

And I got rid of the phantom pickle flavor by steeping the mint, this also reduced the mint odor left in the molds. Most of the pictures are from the first batch and show green flecks of mint. Most of the zombies using my version were eaten before I could get pictures. 

The Chrysalis Pop popsicle I bought had the most perfect balance of sweetness I have ever had in a popsicle. The Sense and Edibility recipe was way too sweet for my taste. Rather than figuring out the proper amount to decrease the sugar, I decided it was more fun to add additional ingredients. So I consider my modified recipe to be a base mix.



Cucumber Mint & Lime Base Mix
Makes 18oz of mix  (Total of 24oz when combined with additional flavors)

2 cups peeled, diced and seeded cucumber (see Note:1)
1/2 cup lime juice with zest (see Note: 2)
1/2 cup mint infused simple syrup

Mint Infused Simple Syrup
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup packed mint leaves (see Note: 3)

To make the simple syrup gently manhandle the mint leaves to release the oil.  I like to press them firmly between my finger tips as I pluck off the leaves or you can spank them if that's what you're into.  After measuring, I transfer them to a small glass dish and again apply a little more pressure, but not enough to crush or tear the leaves.  In a small pan bring the sugar and water to a boil.  Simmer for one minute, remove from heat and pour over the mint leaves.  Let stand for an hour. Strain before using.  Refrigerate or freeze any leftovers.  It's great to have on hand for a mojito or glass of limeade.

Puree the cucumber, lime juice and half a cup of the mint syrup.

To use: I find a 3 to 1 ratio of cucumber mix to whatever non-alcoholic flavor your heart desires results in the perfect amount of sweetness.  I would keep to mild flavors so you don't overpower anything.  Some suggestions: avocado, coconut milk, more cucumber puree or plain yogurt.  It takes about 3 tablespoons of diced cucumber to equal one ounce of puree.  You don't have to make the whole batch one flavor, try a few different combinations.  You could just dilute with water, but where's the fun in that? Unless it's frozen water. Blending it with ice cubes to make a slushie instead of popsicles would probably be amazing.

One set of zombie molds will hold 8 oz, so 6 oz cucumber mix plus 2 oz of whatever.  Once your mix is complete, fill the molds and for a special touch add a frozen raspberry.  Even if you have fresh raspberries, freeze them first.  Freezing breaks down the cell structure so when you insert them into the molds they start to thaw in the mixture and diffuse their lovely color before they freeze again.  The raspberry adds a nice flavor boost. I like to break it into halves or thirds and then poke it down into the mold with a chopstick. It's always a delight to see how it turned out after the unmolding.  Does the back of this guy look like an exit wound or what?

Obviously this all makes way more than you need for one set of zombies.  So plan accordingly.  I didn't just make zombies, I used my other silicone molds to make skulls & maggots and even utilized an ice cube tray.

I specified non-alcoholic because alcohol requires a different ratio if you want it to freeze and even then it doesn't freeze solid enough to properly unmold zombies.  Which is why shortly I will introduce you to Boozie Maggots and also my favorite flavor combination for frozen zombies.


Note 1: The original recipe calls for those long skinny cucumbers in the shrink wrap called English cucumbers. They are shrink wrapped because their skin is so delicate. They have smaller seeds and are supposedly sweeter. But I think a fresh cuke from the garden or farmer's market could give them a run for their money. I think either type makes a tasty pop. Apparently the trick to further reducing bitterness of any cuke is to cut off both ends prior to peeling.

Note 2: I always zest limes, even when the recipe doesn't call for it. Why just toss that extra flavor? The original recipe calls for 6 limes, I get more juice than I need with 4 average sized limes. First start with room temperature limes. Zest them and then firmly roll them a few times on a clean hard surface until they feel soft and squishy. After all that man handling they should be practically bursting with juice. In fact slice them in half over a bowl because they will ooze out juice when you cut into them. I use a simple hand squeezer. If you follow this tip and slice off the end before juicing, you'll get a lot of juice. After you've squeezed two halves, if you put them both back into the squeezer and give them another squeeze you should get just about every last drop of juice. Toss the zest into the juice and any leftovers can be frozen in an ice tray.

Note 3: Whenever I use the word mint I am referring to spearmint.  The easiest way to tell what kind of mint you have is to taste it. 

As far as my dill pickle experience, I think part of it stems from my lack of exposure to fresh mint.  I'm used to mint that has been refined to an extract or oil or is just plain fake.  Because what I was tasting wasn't anything like dill.  A comparison of real dill made me realize that's not it at all, but I think that's the closest thing my brain had on file to relate to.  (Kind of like in my mind Corey Hart looks just like James Hurley, but side by side they are obviously two different people.  But thank you random internet person for unknowingly validating my feelings.) For the record my daughter had the same experience, with the dill/mint that is.  She's never seen Twin Peaks and doesn't understand why I wear my sunglasses at night.  

But over-muddling, does release bitter chlorophyll which is often described as a grassy taste.  Which is why I chose to steep the leaves in the syrup rather them blend them in the cucumber mix.  The downside is losing the visual appeal of all those little flecks of green.  Below you can see the difference. Don't think that because the leaves have been steeping in sugar water that they are no longer bitter and can now be chopped up and added back in for curb appeal. Bite into one if you don't believe me. That might be a good experiment, chlorophyll might not taste as strong to you and if the flavor doesn't bother you, who doesn't like a little extra green in their zombies?

 

Happy Mother's Day

In this house Mother's Day is synonymous with Dirt 'n Worms.  Back by popular demand we made Deluxe Dirt N Worms with caramel worms thanks to last year's experiments. Not surprisingly caramel tastes way better with chocolate than that gummy nonsense. 

I still had to get gummy worms and sour gummy worms, because my children obviously got their taste buds from the postman.  I even had to get gummy sharks.  So watch out for land sharks the next time you're gardening because apparently that's a thing.   

Orange Cranberry Skull Truffles

Seems I had one more Creepmas recipe in me.  It also helped that the Creepmas Monster didn't make it's rounds until earlier this week, so I had more time.

I think I've hit my Creepmas creativity wall because for the life of me, I can't think of anything clever to call these.  They are based on yet another cranberry truffle recipe that I wanted to try.  All these recipes that I want to try and then I never can just follow the directions. The original recipe is here. I've left out the spices and added a lot more orange.

I really like the combination of cranberry and orange in everything from sweet to savory, but I feel bad that orange is always treated like a side-kick.  So I went full on Super Orange with a slightly less intense cranberry riding shotgun.

This is a two part recipe because it requires candied orange peel. That may seem like a lot of work for the some truffles.  But here's the deal, it's not just for the truffles.  What you do is make a batch of candied orange peel in October.  It's a beautiful orange color, which is very fall/Halloween.  It's also a beautiful orange flavor which pairs very well with other fall/winter foods.  Cranberries of course, but also pumpkin and sweet potatoes.  It adds a nice flavor to breads, cookies and chocolates.  In fact just dipping it in chocolate is a lovely treat, not to mention a very classic orange and black color scheme.  Even just tossed into a bowl along mixed nuts or Chex mix, it adds a little extra excitement for your mouth.  Oh and you can eat it plain, like candy.

I used this recipe for candied orange peel from tiphero.com.  The only change I make is to surpreme the orange, you might remember this from my Krampus Clusters.


Orange Cranberry Truffles

8 ounces white chocolate, chopped
5 Tablespoons unsalted butter
3 Tablespoon heavy whipping cream
½ teaspoon orange extract
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons finely diced candied orange peel

3 tablespoons finely diced dried cranberries

8 ounces of chocolate, white or dark and/or candy melts (All depends on the look you want) to coat molds

In a microwave safe bowl combine chocolate, butter, and heavy cream.  Microwave for one minute at 50% power. Let stand one minute, then stir until melted and smooth. If needed microwave at 50% power for an additional 20 seconds. 

Add orange and vanilla extracts, orange peel and diced cranberries, and stir to combine.

Let cool at room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm.

Melt 4oz of chocolate to coat the molds. Start with microwaving for one minute at 50% power and add 20 second increments as needed.

You may or may not need that much chocolate, it really depends on the size and shape of your molds.  I used some lovely silicone skull molds that I got from Michaels with the maggot molds which of course are no longer available.

If you use straight up chocolate you will have to temper it, you can refer to my method or find a more reliable source.  If you mix the chocolate with candy melts or use plain candy melts, tempering isn't so much an issue.  As I've mentioned before they are infused with voodoo magic.

Chill after coating your molds, fill with truffle mixture.  Chill again, melt more chocolate, coat the backs and Bob's your uncle.  Last truffle recipe I went into more detail if you need it.

Krampus Brownies

I made a lot of different Krampus treats last Creepmas, but I didn't feel like any of them truly embodied the essence of Krampus. These brownies on the other hand are like Krampus himself melting in your mouth.  It's almost a religious experience.  Take of his body and it's rich chocolatey gooiness, take of his blood and it's sweet fiery bitterness, take of his horns and all of their caramelly delights.

So now that I've completely overhyped them, they are fudgy brownies, drizzled with a bourbon, maple syrup, espresso sauce and then topped with caramel horns.

I used the same Best Fudgy Cocoa Brownie recipe from CafeDelites.com, that I used for my deluxe dirt and worms. Feel free to substitute your favorite brownie recipe, the secret is, as they say, in the sauce.

If you do make these brownies, do line your pan with parchment paper.  I would also refrigerate after cooling and not try to cut until they are cold.  These are so soft and wonderfully gooey.

After cutting, plate them, drizzle with a generous amount of bourbon sauce and top with horns.  If you will be giving these as gifts transfer them to cupcake liners.  They can be made in advance and frozen.

The bourbon sauce is from this sweet potato recipe I tried for Turkey Day.  I've never made anything like it and figured I'd either love it or hate it.  Well I loved it.  It was wonderful with the sweet potatoes, but I would also pair it with any winter squash or carrots.  I could see this drizzled on just about anything sweet, ice cream, cheesecake, bread pudding...anywhere you might normally use a flavored syrup, sauce or glaze.  I would lick this stuff off of Krampus' cloven hooves.

I would lick it off a mouse,
I would lick it in a house,
I would lick on a box,
I would lick it with fox.
I would lick it here or there,
I would lick it anywhere,
I would lick it like a boss,
I do so like my bourbon sauce.  

This is the recipe for the sauce which I am now unofficially rebranding "Krampus Sauce".  This recipe makes way more sauce than you need for the brownies. It's easy enough to just make half.

For once I actually followed the recipe, minus seasoning it with salt and pepper.  But I've added some notes for minor alterations I might make in the future and issues I came across that I'm too inexperienced to know if it's the recipe or me.


1 1/2 cups strong hot coffee (Note 1)
9 tablespoons pure maple syrup
3 tablespoons (packed) dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
1/3 cup bourbon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Stir coffee, maple syrup, sugar, and espresso powder in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves. Bring mixture to a boil; cook until thickened and reduced by half, 6-7 minutes. (Note 2)
Remove syrup from heat; add bourbon and 2 tablespoons butter. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until sauce is reduced to about 3/4 cup, 40-45 minutes (mixture should be thick enough to coat a spoon, but not sticky, and will thicken as it cools). DO AHEAD: Sauce can be made 2 days ahead. Cover; chill. Rewarm before serving. (Note 3)

Recipe Notes

1.  I used instant. Taster's Choice House Blend to be exact, which says it's a lighter roast, not sure how it compares to other instants, it's just what my father-in-law likes.  According to the internet 2 teaspoons per 8oz of water equals strong coffee, so 1 tablespoon can be used for the 1 1/2 cups needed.

2. It took a lot longer than 6-7 minutes to reduce. It took more like 20 and most recipes say to bring to boil, then reduce heat.  This stuff doesn't just boil, it starts to bubble up and expand, so you are going to want to turn the heat down a little.  Reducing by half means about one cup by the way.

Next time I'm going to use the same amount of instant coffee, but only use 1 cup of water instead of the cup and half called for and see if I can save some time with the reduction.

3.  My sauce crystalized around the outside.  It was fine for a while once it reached room temperature and then it started to develop crystals. Refrigeration made it even worse. The first time I thought maybe I messed something up because I halved the recipe for Turkey Day.  But it happened the second time too.

After doing a little research I found this happens when there isn't a high enough percentage of liquid in a sugar syrup. Since you do want this reduced, more liquid isn't an option. Reheating melted the crystals again, but the more you reheat it the more liquid that is going to evaporate.  If you are going to be reheating more than once I would add a little bit of water the next time.

My suggestion is to drizzle it over the brownies once it's cooled to room temperature before it gets a chance to form crystals.  If they are just starting to form, give a good stir and you'll be fine.

For the horns I used Kraft caramel squares.  When I made worms I discovered some caramels lose their shape, Kraft does not.  Tootsie Rolls will also keep their shaped, I'm not a huge fan, but I did play around with using them too for a little extra color.

Divide one caramel square in half and roll each piece into a long worm, taper the ends.  You can see where I've scored lines on one of them, it's not worth the effort, by the end they've all but disappeared. Cut each worm in half.   

 

Twist the two halves together and roll them just a little more in a cone shape.  Give them a curve and you have tasty horns.  

If you want you can mix a little edible black glitter dust with alcohol and paint the horns.  Most people use vodka because it doesn't impart any flavor, but since I had bourbon and these were going to be paired with a bourbon sauce, that's what I used. 

Here I twisted a thin worm of Tootsie Roll in for color. 

I like this one better where I marbled the Tootsie Roll

 into the caramel before making the worms.

I started to wonder if I was just being too picky and how it would look just folding the worms instead of cutting before twisting.  [Halfway through making horns my attention started to wane and started looking for any way to speed the process up.]

This how they look rolled out a little more.  If  you look at the plate of brownies, it shows a mix of all the variations and I think they all look pretty much the same, so do whatever is easiest for you.  

I hope you get a chance to make your own Krampus Brownies. They are so sinfully delicious, they're sure to earn you a place on the naughty list.  Merry Creepmas everyone!