Stacey Makes It

After I coated the marshmallows in white chocolate couverture, I had some extra white chocolate leftover and I decided to be brave and try making some white chocolate truffles.  I've tried and failed many times to make these.  Because of the high fat content in white chocolate, it tends to seize up and come out of emulsion fairly easily.  There are many painful memories mulling about in my mind of pounds of premium white chocolate couverture turning into a gloppy, oily mess. I started with a recipe from Chocolates & Confections . However, I didn't have any mint, I fear butter because it's even more fat in the recipe (and we just discussed what fat does), and I was afraid of making the whole batch.  So... without further ado... Stacey's Lemon Cream Truffle Ingredients : 2.5 oz heavy cream, organic Lemon zest from 1/2 a lemon (make sure peels are big, without getting the pith) 1 oz glucose syrup 17 oz white chocolate couverture (El Rey), tempered and at 86

My mom and I decided to try and make water chestnut pudding.  I really didn't do much thinking and was really just helping do grunt work.  My favorite part about making this recipe with my mom was learning about how her mom's water chestnut pudding was the best, and that she was sad that she never learned her mom's recipe.  I think she also got her love of cooking / baking / entertaining with food from her mom.  Sadly, I never got to know my grandmother on my mom's side because she died before I was born. All these years, my mom's been trying to make water chestnut puddings and it took me 31 years to figure out why.  We used this recipe: http://cheateat.typepad.com/blog/2005/08/water_chestnut_.html And we used fresh water chestnuts.  My mom's notes, in the margin: 8.8 oz water chestnut flour (this is the box size, so no measuring here) 33.5 oz water 10.6 oz fresh water chestnuts 7.7 oz sugar 4 tbs vegetable oil First she had me peel the water ches

Same friend that wanted plain lip balm also wanted plain lotion. Stacey's Olive Oil Lotion Ingredients : 1/4c olive oil, organic 1/4c emulsifying wax 1c distilled water 1/4c glycerin First I mixed the olive oil and the wax in a pyrex measuring cup . Then I microwaved this at 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until all the wax was melted.  In the meantime, I mixed the water and glycerin together. I microwaved this a little bit (for about 30 seconds) later, just so it would be warm when I poured it into the wax / oil mixture. As I poured the water / glycerin mixture into the wax / oil mixture, I stirred with a small wire whisk. Once the mixture cooled, I poured it into a bottle. It separated a bit as it cooled, but I was able to mix it back up just by swirling it around in the bottle. Once it was cooled to room temperature, it did not separate again. Because this has no preservatives, it should either be used fairly soon or kept refrigerated.  I've seen my pr

I have a friend that was looking for a lip balm that she could use with no chemicals or fragrances.  I thought I'd help her out. Stacey's Plain Lip Balm Ingredients : 1/4c jojoba oil 2 tbs beeswax pellets Lip balm tubes Making lip balm is super easy.  You just put all the ingredients into a pyrex measuring cup and then microwave on 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until all the wax is melted. Beeswax pellets Microwaved with the oil, stirring with a chopstick until wax is melted. The only tricky part is not pouring into the lip balm tubes when the mixture is too hot.  I heated until the wax was melted, and then had to let it cool.  These are supposed to be only tolerant to 120F, but I poured around 130F. Of course, I didn't want plain, so I made 3 of these tubes, and then with the remainder, I added two 99% unsweetened Guittard dark chocolate disks and a few drops of peppermint oil.  Then I poured into a couple more tubes and some of these lip balm pots

Marshmallows have a special place in my heart because my boyfriend and I made these together on our third date.  He's a chemist and I remember commenting on how precise he was with measuring everything.  Nothing sexier than a guy who can cook... and who wants to help make candy. :) Unfortunately, he's on a business trip this week, so I made a half batch by myself from my favorite book, Chocolates & Confections .   And in doing a search I see they have an At Home version !!! Wow.  If only they had this when I started trying to make candy in 2008.  Oh well, the harder path only makes you stronger... right? Anywho... Stacey's Half Batch Vanilla Marshmallow Ingredients : 0.8 oz gelatin (powdered) 4 oz water (for hydration) 12 oz sugar, organic 6 oz glucose syrup 2 oz local honey 2 oz invert sugar 3 oz water 2 tsp vanilla bean paste Parchment paper 9"x9" cake pan Canola oil, organic 1:1 ratio powdered sugar to cornstarch I've found tha