So Corny: Easter Candy Corn Recipe for Serious Eats

It's time to let you in on a little secret: Easter Corn is the same thing as Candy Corn, but colored differently. And like Candy Corn, it tastes better when made at home.

Of course, you can make the most of this festive treat by coloring it creatively. Instead of tricolors, why not go for five stripes of pastel sweetness? And, going even further, why not serve it in overturned baby-food jars to form the cutest enchanted forest-style terrarium treats you've ever seen? With all that magic, you might just give the Easter Bunny a run for its money.

For the full entry and recipe, visit Serious Eats!

Sweet Fusion: Easter Candy Choco Taco Plate Recipe for Serious Eats

It's true, I am a genius.What happens when you combine Easter Candy with a Choco Taco?

Nothing good, that's what. Instead, you have something great. This Easter-themed "taco plate" is fusion at its best, with sweet "tacos" filled with ice cream and all manner of pastel sweets, topped with green-tinted shredded coconut which simultaneously mimics Easter basket grass and shredded lettuce. Bonus points if you serve it up with a side of "rice and beans"—rice pudding studded with jelly beans, of course.

For the full entry and recipe, visit Serious Eats!

Oh Fudge: Chocolate Covered Cherry Fudge by Fields of Cake

Images: Fields of CakeCheck it. So, a week or two ago, I went to Vermont for the Maple Open House weekend. Which was awesome. You'll totally hear more about it soon. But.

Right now, I want to address a beautiful diversion from said Vermont Maple Weekend. 

So, I have been bloggy BFF's for, like, ever with Fields of Cake. Carrie Fields, the talented proprietress of this blog and Portland, Maine-area home-based baking business, has not only been a customer of mine for years, but has wowed me with her baking prowess on many occasions.

So when she sent me a message that basically amounted to "You're this close, come to Maine!"...I listened.

And I went to Maine, where I was treated to sea, sunshine...and the most delicious fudge I have ever, in my life, tasted.

And I have tried my share of fudge varieties, let me tell you.

This chocolate-covered cherry fudge is extremely sweet in the up-front, assertive way that only fudge can get away with. But Carrie's was a gorgeous variety: completely smooth, none of that "chocolate sand" gritty texture business, and in spite of the sweetness you could still taste the flavor of real cherry shining through.

Basically, this was the type of fudge that could make you swear off chocolate covered cherries forever.

Find the recipe here.

What I Ate On Vacation: An Introduction to Ate from Mexico

Usually, when someone brings you back a souvenir from their vacation, it's a cheesy t-shirt or small creature made from shells or snowglobe or something.

But not Diane, who you may know as the hottie who drives the truck called Street Treats in Seattle. When she recently took a Mexican getaway, she not only thought of me when she tried a local specialty called Ate, but she brought me back a big sack of this sweet stuff.

What is Ate? First off, let's make sure you're pronouncing it right. It's "ah-tay", so basically say "latte" but take off the L. 

As to what it is, it's fairly simple: dried fruit paste coated in sugar. Kind of like real-fruit gumdrops. While it appears that quince is a popular variety, the bag Diane brought me has a mix of (if I translated it right) quince, guava, apple, and Mexican Hawthorn and peach (thanks Adela). The candies are lightly crunchy on the outside but tender on the inside, and what is nice is that they actually taste like fruit--not merely fruit-flavored candy. They are very sweet, however, so a little goes a long way.

Want to eat some Ate? You might have luck purchasing at a Mexican grocery store, if you've got one in your area; otherwise, find a recipe here. Thanks again to Diane from Street Treats for introducing me to this delightful treat!

Devilishly Delicious: Deviled Cadbury Creme Eggs Recipe for Serious Eats

It's the most wonderful time of year, when Cadbury Creme Eggs proliferate in food and drug stores, like sweet little sugarbombs just waiting to be hatched in your mouth.

Last year, I employed these sweet treats to create a masterpiece called Cadbury Creme Eggs Benedict.This year, here's another classic (savory) egg dish reinterpreted in sweet form using these fondant-filled nuggets of joy: Cadbury Creme Deviled Eggs. Extremely easy to make and very sweet to eat, these are a sure-fire way to kick off Easter Candy season in style.

Note: To ensure that your "yolks" aren't runny, chill your Creme Eggs for about an hour before slicing them in half. This will ensure that the filling doesn't run all over.

For the full entry and recipe, visit Serious Eats!

Cake Byte: Introducing Madyson's Marshmallows

Oh, great. Another talented kid has come along to remind me of how little I was accomplishing at age 5.

At said tender young age, your dear spy was showing a great talent for eating macaroni and cheese, watching Danger Mouse on Nickelodeon, and playing with her favorite My Little Pony (her name, not that you asked, was Molly Ringwald). 

Impressive, I know, but not much compared to Madyson Wetzel, the wunderkind entrepreneur behind Madyson's Marshmallows. This 5-year old confectioner's tale goes thusly:

Madyson's Gourmet Marshmallows started with a young girl who asked her Daddy how to make a homemade marshmallow. They played around with different recipes and came up with a unique recipe that made their mouth water! They started blending and mixing this delectable treat together in their small kitchen. The first batch was so fantastic that they made another the very next day. They started sending their homemade marshmallows to friends and family and soon, word of mouth spread like wildfire and everyone they knew was calling to get these tasty homemade marshmallows.

Now, dad has a bit of a flair for cooking. In fact, he really should have gone (and he still should go!) to culinary school. Not too long after the first few batches of gourmet marshmallows, dad and Madyson were taking it up a notch and experimenting with chocolate dip, caramel drizzle, graham cracker bottoms, and peppermint flavoring in the marshmallows. If they could dream it, they would try it. Now, we're dreaming up new flavors every day! Our family is glad to be able to share these delectable chocolate dipped marshmallows with you. Our dipped marshmallows are perfect for so many occasions!

Whatever. Her parents help. (this makes me feel better).

Of course, proof is in the pudding, so how do these 'mallows taste? I haven't had the pleasure of sampling them myself (yet), but doesn't that story make you so, so curious? Especially since the online store has not only basic marshmallows, but all manner of marshmallowey goodness, including marshmallow candy bars, caramels, and espresso marshmallows? Oh yes.

Madyson's Gourmet Marshmallows are sold fresh from the Seattle area and are available to ship within the United States. They ship on Mondays so marshmallows will usually arrive fresh by end of week. You can order here, and follow them on Twitter here.

Life's a Gaz: Delicious Nougat from Iran as Tasted by Cake Gumshoe Nicholas

CakeSpy Note: So, I have a totally sweet customer named Nicholas. He's basically the ideal customer: he comes in and buys stuff, and then tells me all about the delicious sweets he eats when he travels the world. Just looking at his pictures is bound to evoke some seriously sweet wanderlust. Here's where he's been recently:

I've got another exotic treat for you, this time from Iran! No, I haven't been there but living in Sweden means meeting new people from all over and recently a friend of mine gave me a box of "Kermani Gaz" as a house warming gift from his home town, Isfahan in the center of the country. Food knows no borders, so I thought I'd share this with you!

The treat usually goes along with saffron tea and is a nibble, much like tea cookies are. From what I've been told, while it's popular all over Iran it's a specialty of Isfahan and this particular brand has been around since 1902. The treat itself is a type of nougat with pistachio, and the nougat is flavored which what I believe is rose water. It's not sweet like brownies, but the rather a delicate floral flavor mixed with a natural sweetness and a slight crunch of the pistachio. A very refined companion for tea!

Thanks Nicholas for making us all jealous! 

Of course, if you're like me, you like knowing the backstory, so here's a bit more lore on Gaz, as discovered on Wikipedia:

Gaz is the traditional name of Persian nougat originating from the city of Esfahan, located in the central plateau of Iran.

The name gaz is associated with gaz-angebin which translates to "sap of angebin"; a desert plant member of the Tamarisk family and native to the Zagros mountain range located to the west of the city.

The sweet, milky sap of the angebin plant is associated with manna, a food mentioned in the religious texts of the Abrahamic religions. This sap is collected annually and is combined with other ingredients including pistachio or almond kernels, rosewater and egg white. This combination of ingredients give gaz its distinctive flavour, rendering it unique when compared to European nougats.

Want more? I couldn't find a place to buy Gaz online; however, this recipe for Persian Nougat looks like it might fit the bill if you're feeling an intense craving.

A-Maize-Ing: Creamed Candy Corn for Serious Eats

Halloween's over, and chances are, you've got a bunch of leftover candy corn. But what to do with all those extra tricolor kernels?

Here's an idea: cream them. That is, creamed corn style.

Starting with a recipe for creamed corn, I simply revised it a little, substituting candy corn for real corn, and leaving out the pepper and spices in favor of a little pudding mix to thicken the mixture. The resulting candy corn slurry is certainly one of those dishes that straddles the line between awful and awesome: that is to say, you might just like it, but you probably wouldn't confess that to your foodie friends.

Note: It is of utmost importance that you add the candy corn after the other ingredients. Add it at the same time and you'll end up with an orange, candy corn-flavored soup because they'll melt completely!

For the full post and recipe, visit Serious Eats!

Trick Or Sweet: A Look at the History of the Custom of Trick or Treating

Trick or treating. The very phrase evokes a shiver of sweet, sugary anticipation, because basically, it usually culminates in the consumption of candy.

But where on earth did this sweet tradition come from? Let's learn a bit about the history of Halloween and how it ultimately equaled candy corn overdose, shall we?

First: What is Halloween? Per the Encyclopedia,

The word comes from medieval England's All Hallows' eve (Old Eng. hallow = "saint" ). However, many of these customs predate Christianity, going back to Celtic practices associated with Nov. 1, which was Samhain , the beginning of winter and the Celtic new year. Witches and other evil spirits were believed to roam the earth on this evening, playing tricks on human beings to mark the season of diminishing sunlight. Bonfires were lit, offerings were made of dainty foods and sweets, and people would disguise themselves as one of the roaming spirits, to avoid demonic persecution.

Per this site, it is the Celts who are credited with bringing Halloween stateside:

Halloween was brought to America in the 1840's by Irish immigrant fleeing their country's potato famine. New England added pranks like tipping over outhouses and unhinging gates to the practive of dressing up.

But what of Trick or Treating itself? From the same source cited above,

"Trick-or-treating" came from a 9th century European custom called "souling." On November 2, All Souls Day, Christians would walk from village to village begging for "soul cakes" made from bread and currants. People would offer paryers for the deceased believing it would speed up a soul's passage to heaven. The more cakes given out, the more prayers offered.

Of course, it wasn't really til the 20th century that Trick or Treating really began in earnest. Now, I'm just spitballing here, but it seems rather timely that this coincides with a large increase with commercial production of candy. Per an article I discovered on What's Cooking America,

"Sometime in the middle of the 1930s, enterprising householders, fed up with soaped windows and worse, began experimenting with a home-based variation on the old protection racket practiced between shopkeepers and Thanksgiving ragamuffins. Doris Hudson Moss, writing for American Home in 1939, told of her success, begun several years earlier, of hosting a Halloween open house for neighborhood children...The American Home article is significant because it is apparently the first time the expression "trick or treat" is used in a mass-circulation periodical in the United States...It is probably that trick-or-treating had its immediate origins in thy myriad of organized celebrations mounted by schools and civic groups across the country specifically to curb vandalism...It is the postwar years that are generally regarded as the glorious heyday of trick-or-treating. Like the consumer economy, Halloween itself grew by leaps and bounds. Major candy companies like Curtiss and Brach, no longer constrained by sugar rationing, launched national advertising campaigns specifically aimed at Halloween. If trick-or-treating had previously been a localized, hit-or-miss phenomenon, it was now a national duty." ---Death Makes a Holiday: A Cultural History of Halloween, David J. Skal [Bloomsbury:New York] 2002 (p. 52-5)

As I also learned on What's Cooking America,

After World War II, the American practice of Trick-or-Treat began in earnest. Sprawing suburban neighborhoods delighted in watching costumed boomer children "beg" from door to door. Traditional Halloween party foods (candied/toffee apples, popcorn balls, nuts) were proferred along with pre-wrapped commercial candies. Savvy candy companies capitalized on this lucrative opportunity by selling seasonal packages containing smaller sized products. "Back in the Day" (your editor trick-or-treated on Long Island in the 1960s) it was fairly usual to get little decorative halloween bags containing all sorts of things. These were assembled at home, usually composed of loose candies (candy corn, Hershey Kisses, marsmallows, MaryJanes or Tootsie Rolls, etc.), some pennies and maybe a small toy. We also carried little milk-carton shaped boxes distributed in school and said "Trick or Treat for Unicef." Beginning in 1952, UNICEF's halloween program thrives today.

As for the Fun-Size treat?

As I learned here,

The "fun size" candy bar was introduced in 1968 by the Mars candy company. The resulting "fun size" Milky Way candy bars were 25 percent lower in total calories and had 50 percent fewer calories from fat.

But knowing that doesn't change the fact that if I could, I'd go back in time and punch the inventor. Because seriously--there is nothing fun about less candy (but here are some suggestions for how to bring the "fun" back to fun size).

Have a happy, safe, and sweet Halloween!

Fry, Baby: Deep-Fried Halloween Candy for Serious Eats

It's a funny thing about Halloween candy: it actually makes you hungrier. At least, that's my theory behind how the same person who can't finish off an entire candy bar can easily put away ten "fun size" candy bars or 30 mellowcreme pumpkins in one sitting.

But there's a way to bring a substantial dimension of deliciousness to your Halloween candy: deep-fry it.

That's right. Batter up your Halloween candy and fry it in hot oil, and you've got yourself little nuggets that are beyond decadent, and bound to satisfy—one or two of these morsels is more than enough.

Note: I tried a variety of Halloween candies in this experiment, including candy corn, mellowcreme pumpkins, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Twix, Kit-Kats, and Whoppers. The biggest hit by far was the Peanut butter cups.

For the full entry and recipe, visit Serious Eats!