* Homemade Marshmallows *

It's the first day of the new year! The date 1/1/11. January, a new start to a new year. What better way to get cozy in January when winter truly starts to show off than with a cup off hot cocoa. My mug of hot cocoa isn't complete without marshmallows floating on top. (And, I always have to add a few dashes of cayenne pepper to my hot cocoa. Mmm.)

So with the start of January and the coldest part of winter on it's way, I thought I would try my hand at homemade marshmallows using a recipe from Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa.

Here is what you need:

3 pkgs unflavored gelatin

1-1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

Confectioner's sugar for dusting

Candy Thermometer

Glass Baking Dish

Here is what you do:

Combine gelatin and 1/2 cup of cold water in a mixing bowl and using an electric mixer, whisk thoroughly.
Next, combine heat until sugar dissolves. Raise the heat to HIGH and cook until the syrup reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer. At this point, remove from heat. Slowly pour the sugar syrup into the mixing bowl of dissolved gelatin. Use electric mixer and whip some more until extremely thick. This takes about 10-15 minutes. Add vanilla and mix thoroughly.
VERY generously dust an 8 x 12-inch GLASS baking dish with confectioners' sugar. Pour the marshmallow mixture into the pan, smooth the top and dust with more confectioner's sugar. Allow to set uncovered overnight.
Turn the marshmallows onto a board coated with confectioner's sugar and cut them in squares. Dust them with more confectioner's sugar if necessary and enjoy!

* "Sugar Plum" Cake Balls *

I've been inspired lately by Bakerella and her book, Cake Pops. So much so that I found an excuse to make some cake pops for my daughter's class. They went on a field trip to see the Nutcracker for the Christmas season so I made the class Sugar Plums to have afterwards. I must say, they looked wonderfully magical when all was said and done as if the Sugar Plum Fairy herself made them.

I followed the regular cake pop recipe from Bakerella and then added sugar plum magic and then Voila!

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Bake one boxed-package store bought vanilla cake mix according to directions on the box. When done, let cool. In a VERY large bowl, break apart the cake into fine crumbs. The best way to do this is with your hands. Add 3/4 of a tub of regular white store-bought frosting into the cake crumb mixture and thoroughly mix. Again, your hands are best for mixing. Once the frosting and cake crumbs are mixed together, start forming small balls---about the size of a golf ball or a little smaller. I was able to make just over 80 cake balls with this mixture. In a separate bowl, melt some candy melting chips which can be bought in a variety of colors at craft stores like Michaels. I purchased 3 bags( you'll need about 3 bags) of a pretty purple-lavender color perfect for cake ball Sugar Plums. Melt the chips in 30 second increments in the microwave and stir between each restart of the microwave. I found that I only had to do a 30 second increment 3x to get a bowl of chips melted. Dip each cake ball into the melted chips and coat thoroughly. Place each ball on wax paper and lightly sprinkle with lavender toned sprinkles. Allow to dry (this doesn't take long) Important----I was able to give the cake ball Sugar Plums an iridescent shimmery look by adding a few dashes of purple edible dusting powder which can be found in the baking aisle of most craft stores. I also used a small paint brush to dust a little bit on the cake balls just before they dried. I think the edible dusting powder added a nice finishing touch. I was very happy with the end result.