Valentine Candy Cane Chocolate Hearts

This is my other quick no bake recipe for Valentine. I actually made these chocolate candy cane hearts for Christmas but didn't get round to posting it. Everyone loved them so I saved a box of candy canes to make these for Valentine's Day. It's ever so simple and takes about 5 minutes to prepare, depending on how many you are making. 

I made a short video to show you how to make the candy cane hearts.

Unwrap the candy canes and pair them up on a large sheet of greaseproof paper. Place them facing each other to form a heart shape. Using a kitchen lighter, heat the ends of the candy canes where they join together until you can see bubbles. Push them together gently until they create a seal. Be careful not too push too hard or the candy canes will break. Melt the chocolate in 30 second bursts in the microwave. Carefully spoon the chocolate into the hearts and decorate with sprinkles. Place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or until set. 

As before I'm sending this to a few blog challenges this month

AlphaBakes hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes and myself on alternate months. The letter this month is "V" and Caroline is accepting all Valentine related treats. 

Treat Petite hosted by Kat from the Baking Explorer and Stuart from Cakey Boi. The theme this month is 'Love is in the air'.

Foodie Friday hosted by Helen from Casa Costello. 

#FoodYearLinkup hosted by Charlotte from My Recipe Book. The link up is open to any foodie posts related to events in the Food Bloggers Calendar for February. These are quite obviously for Valentine's Day!

Mini Gingerbread House

This is another cute gingerbread project that I made to give away as gifts. I saw this idea on not martha and thought it was really cute. It's a mini gingerbread house that perches on your mug. I remember seeing these before but have never attempted to make one until now. This project took about a week to make as it involves several steps. It's a bit fiddly and time consuming but the finished product looks good! I think I'll stick to making my Christmas Tree Gingerbread Cookies with a hidden surprise as they were less fiddly than these and much quicker too. I used the template provided on not martha and thought my houses turned out bigger than hers. Either that or she has larger mugs as mine seemed to take up half a mug! I also personalised them by writing names on the walls.

My tips/learning from this project - as with the Christmas Tree gingerbread cookies, chill the dough before baking to prevent spreading. Re cut the baked cookies so they are the exact size that you want. Allow the house to set overnight before decorating the roof to ensure that the house does not collapse. Fill your mug half full if you are perching these on your mug as you don't want to get a soggy bottom.

I am again sharing this with several blog challenges

AlphaBakes which I am hosting this month and co host with Caroline from Caroline Makes. The letter this month is X for this Xmas inspired bake - mini gingerbread house.

Tea Time Treats hosted by Kate from What Kate Baked and co-hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage. The theme this month is Festive Food Gifts and I think these would make a great festive gift especially with personalised names on the walls.

Calendar Cakes hosted by Rachel from Dolly Bakes and co-hosted by Laura from Laura loves Cakes. The theme this month is Jingle Bell Rock.

Treat Petite hosted by Stuart from Cakeyboi and co-hosted by Kat from the Baking Explorer. The theme this month is Happy Holidays.

Four Seasons Food hosted by Anneli from Delicieux and Louisa from Eat your Veg. The theme this month is Party Food. These would brighten up any party and can be used as place holders if you write names on the walls.

Let's Cook Christmas Party Food hosted by Nayna from Simply Food.

Family Foodies hosted by Louisa from Eat Your Veg and Vanesther from Bangers & Mash. The theme this month is Kids Christmas and this is a perfect project to make with the kids plus they will also enjoy eating them!

Secret Recipe Club Holiday Treats Party 

 print out the template 

 I used a small sharp knife to cut out the shapes 

 I baked the houses 1 at a time so that I could recut the shapes after baking - you have to be quick as the cookies harden as they cool. 

 

 ready to assemble 

 I used my spice jars for support 

 added crushed candy cane to the roof 

 perched on a mug 

I wrote names on the walls for an extra personal touch :) 

For the gingerbread
125g butter
110g dark brown sugar
1 egg yolk
310g plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
6 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons mixed spice
100-130 mls golden syrup

For the royal icing
2 egg whites
400g icing sugar

• Preheat the oven to 160C.
• Beat butter, sugar and egg yolk in a bowl until smooth.
• Stir in the remaining ingredients until its mixed properly.
• You may need to add a little more golden syrup if the mixture is crumbly.
• Place dough in the fridge for 15-30 minutes.
• Knead the dough on a floured surface and roll it out to approximately 5mm in thickness.
• Cut shapes using a printed template.
• Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before baking. 
• Bake for approximately 7-9 minutes until they are brown.
• Re cut the shapes using the same template as soon as they are out of the oven so that all the pieces are equal sizes and have sharp edges. 
• To make the royal icing, beat ingredients together until smooth and glossy - you may need a bit more sugar or a few drops of water depending on the consistency required. 
• Pipe royal icing on the walls and add on the doors. Add the roof and allow to dry preferably overnight. You will need to support the house whilst it's drying.
• Crush candy canes in a food processor and sprinkle over the roof. 
• Use glitter writing icing to write names on the walls (optional) 

Hershey's Candy Cane Kiss Cookies

Did everyone have a good Christmas? This is better late than never - the last of my festive baking this year. I saw a bag of Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses on my travels and decided I had to make thumbprint cookies with them in red and green colours of course! The cookie recipe is adapted from the Hershey's website - the major change I made was to add half a bag (approximately 30 kisses) of chopped kisses into the batter.  The cookies were buttery, crumbly and minty. The sugar coating gave it a lovely sweet crunch and the kisses on top were cute and delicious! 

I'm sending this to Calendar Cakes hosted by Rachel from Dolly Bakes and Laura from Laura Loves Cakes.  The theme this month is 'Go Crackers for Christmas'. 

 candy cane kisses

 adding chopped kisses to the batter 

 I could only find a bottle of green sugar so I made my own red sugar by adding a little red colouring to a bag of granulated sugar and giving it a good shake! It worked really well so I'm making all my own coloured sugar in the future as they are quite expensive to buy. 

Recipe adapted from Hersheys website
Makes approximately 48 cookies

110g icing sugar
250g butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
330g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
approximately 30 candy cane kisses roughly chopped
30-48 candy cane kisses to decorate
Red and green granulated sugar

• Preheat the oven to 175C
• Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add in the egg and vanilla extract.
• Stir in the flour, baking powder and salt. 
• Stir in the chopped kisses.
• Shape dough into balls and roll in granulated sugar. 
• Place on a baking tray spaced apart and bake for approximately 10-12 minutes until the cookie is set. 
• Allow to cool for 1-2 minutes then press a candy cane kiss in the centre. 
• Allow to cool completely on a wire rack. 

Candy Cane Cupcakes

This is one of my entries at the Iron Cupcake December/Christmas challenge http://www.ironcupcake.co.uk/
The cake itself is a light, peppermint flavoured sponge. I alternated red and white sponge to create a candy cane effect.
I made a few variations of this during December mainly trying out different frostings and colours. I still can't decide if the red & green or the white frosting looks better. Any thoughts?

For the cupcakes:
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 tsp peppermint extract
1 cup plain flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 red food colouring

For the cream cheese frosting:
300g icing sugar, sifted
50g unsalted butter, at room temperature
125g cold cream cheese

• Preheat oven to 180C.
  
• In a large bowl, mix together the eggs and sugar until light and creamy.


• Stir in milk, vegetable oil, vanilla and peppermint extracts.


• In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.


• Pour into wet ingredients and whisk just until batter is smooth.


• Measure out 1 cup of batter and place it back in the medium bowl.


• Add red food colouring to this bowl and mix well.


• Put a spoonful of the white batter into each cupcake case. Put a spoonful of red batter in the centre of the white.


• Alternate spoonfuls of the two batters until all the batter has been used up.


• Bake for about 15 minutes until a tester inserted into the centre comes out clean.


• Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.\I used cream cheese frosting - white/red/green and decorated with crushed candy cane and edible glitter.