October 19, 2012

So close...so close, but no cigar.  Most of the recipes this week were very close to being keepers, but most didn't make it.  I have high hopes that the three that missed the mark will make it into the keeper realm.  A slow cooker pork roast had fabulous flavor, and made a great gravy, but I didn't like the cut of pork that was called for in the recipe.  A casserole to use leftover ham was great, and the family devoured it, but I think the sauce needs to be doubled, so I will be making it again to test that theory.  And, finally, I made homemade granola.  Some of it tasted amazing, but some tasted bitter and burnt.  After I made it I read a tip about granola on another recipe that says it crisps up as it cools.  Oh my, I wish I had read that before I made it!  I cooked it way past what my recipe called for because it wasn't getting hard - so, I overcooked it.  I will definitely make it again, though, because when the kids and I got some good parts of the granola mix, it was fantastic.

It was book club this week, so I made a dessert to bring and it was the lone keeper of the week.  My candy corn cupcakes were a hit with the ladies, and they were easy.  They are really cute and fun for the autumn.  I can hardly call these a recipe, but cute decorated cupcakes.  You family will love these.

We have a crazy and busy week ahead, so who knows what recipes will even be tried and tested, let alone earn the keeper seal of approval.  We'll just have to see what happens!

New Recipe
Candy Corn Recipe

Candy Corn Cupcakes

Ingredients
* White cake mix
* White frosting
* Yellow and red gel food coloring
* 2 candy corn per cupcake

Directions
1. Make the white cake mix per the box directions. Set the oven to the suggested temperature, and ready your muffin tins with either spray, butter, or cupcake liners.
2.  Dye the batter yellow with the food coloring.  Put half the amount of cupcake batter into each muffin cup.
3. Dye the remaining batter with red food coloring to change it from yellow to orange.  Spoon the orange batter onto the yellow.
4. Bake the cupcakes for the directed amount of time.
5. After the cupcakes have cooled, frost with white frosting and place one or two candy corn on each cupcake.

Notes
When the cupcakes are opened the yellow and orange batter with the white frosting resemble candy corn.  Very cute!  I use gel food coloring because I find it gives vibrant colors to the food it is added to, rather than the results achieved with liquid food coloring.  But, I am sure you can use whatever kind of food coloring you have on hand.

If you have a scratch white cake recipe, or a scratch frosting recipe, feel free to use it here.  I actually tried a new frosting recipe for these, and it was terrible!  So, I ended up at the last second having to go with store-bought frosting.  That was a disappointment, but the cupcakes were still very fun!