Happy New Year Candy Clocks!

It's time to wish you all a

Happy New Year!

I'm thankful for God's blessings in 2020,

and praying for a better year in 2021!

John 3:16

'til we sweet again, Karen 💗

Marshmallow Christmas Yule Logs

Merry Christmas Eve!

This is my absolute favorite time of year.

A time to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ! 

It is truly humbling to think that He gave His life for mine. And He gave it for you too!

He was born to die...for my sins and yours.

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Every year since our first-born grandson Joseph was able to read, we've had him read the story of Christ's birth as told in Luke chapter two. Jojo-he's still a baby to me- is a newlywed now, but I hope this is one tradition that never changes! And, if it's cold enough we get to enjoy this wonderful part of the Christmas season by the fireside.

That's where these yule logs come in. Simple, fun, and sweet yule logs. Made with marshmallows! Let's get crackling! 😜

I used: marshmallows, chocolate coating, holly and berry sprinkles, lollipop sticks, and a dinner fork to make the "bark"

Insert lollipop stick into two marshmallows. Cut tip off another marshmallow and attach the sticky side to the top marshmallow.

Dip in melted chocolate and place on parchment. Let sit just until chocolate begins to set and then drag the tines of the fork through it to resemble tree bark.

Attach holly and berry sprinkles and sit back and sing a few Christmas carols..'cause now you're done!

Go ahead and make some! "Yule" be glad you did!

These little Christmas cuties would make for some sweet little table favors at your holiday meal!

Way down here in Atlanta, we may get a few snow flurries on Christmas morning! That is a very rare occurrence around here and it would sure help our chances of burning a real yule log! 

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

John 3:16

Thanks for stopping by.

'til we sweet again, Karen 💗

Disney Sweets and Christmas Treats!

We went to Disney and ate the World!

Christmas is my favorite time of the year! And y'all know I love some Disney and of course all things sugary! So won't you join me on our sweet adventure?!

Y'all! Disney bakers! They create some of the most fun snacks and treats you ever did see and I couldn't wait to get my hands on a few. Here is just a small sampling of their many offerings! Eight to be exact!

We begin with the very festive Mickey's Holiday Cookie.

I found this one in Disney's Hollywood Studios at Rosie's All-American Cafe for $4.99.

It's a vanilla butter cookie covered in a red tinted white chocolate with sugar snowflakes. 

It was okay. Kind of bland really. In fact, I ate only one ear and ending up tossing the rest.  I would have saved it for the grandkiddos to try, but they were all on the Tower of Terror ride with Pawpaw, my hands were freezing (yes it can get cold in Florida), and I had no container for it. 

But it is a lovely cookie and super Christmassy!

Ah, still at Rosie's All-American Cafe, here we have Olaf's Snow Flurry Cupcake for $7.99.

I liked this one.

It's a yellow cupcake with vanilla buttercream, snow fairy sugar and this cute little Olaf glow clip.

The frosting was thick, creamy and yummy with the fun added crunch of sugar sprinkles. I actually liked the frosting better than the cupcake itself. This one is a cutie!

This was my favorite!

This absolutely adorable Orange Christmas Bird hangs out at the Sunshine Tree Terrace in the Magic Kingdom. He sells for $5.99.

He's made with orange-scented white chocolate mousse and filled with orange curd and topped off with a white chocolate face and Santa hat. Also he sits atop what tasted like vanilla cake that paired well with the creaminess of the mousse. 

I loved this so much. It was very orangey which was very okay with me and that thin, crunchy shell was perfect. 

I will be going back for more of this one!

Orange you happy just looking at this cross section..i know i am!

Another Magic Kingdom find was this Pistachio Chai Tea Float at the Aloha Isle for $6.49.

It's a pistachio soft-serve ice cream with spiced Chai tea and a red velvet cake pop ornament.

Tasty! This was my first experience with Chai tea. I liked it fine but not sure I loved it. My grandson Isaac and I ended up switching drinks which meant that I also got to enjoy my all-time fave Pineapple Dole Whip Float... so we were both happy!

The red velvet cake pop was a nice addition and really made this float P🌟P! 

This little-it's actually huge-beauty can be yours by visiting Karamell-Kuche in the Germany pavilion in EPCOT.

This Gingerbread Salted Caramel Buttercream Cookie Sandwich sells for $5.99.

If I liked gingerbread I would have loved this cookie! It had the perfect moist and chewy texture with a delicious caramel frosting filling. If you like gingerbread, this one is for you!

That filling!😋

Next up in the Magic Kingdom's Cinderella Castle is The Clock Strikes Twelve dessert and it is "right on time" yum!

This is a dark chocolate mousse with a dark chocolate ganache and raspberry coulis. This dessert was the final course of our pre-fixe meal so I don't have a price for it. But I couldn't leave it off because, well..look at it! 

The mousse and ganache were really delicious. I don't care for raspberry but everyone else enjoyed their coulis. The clock on top is made of white chocolate and two of our grandkiddos, Isaac and Lydia ate the pansy garnish! I opted out!😄 

This wonderful treat is a do-over for sure!

I was really excited to find this gorgeous Happy Holidays Grand Cake Pop for $7.99 in the Gasparilla Island Grill at the Grand Floridian. It took a little of the sting out of check-out day from our beautiful resort. And this was prettier in person than it shows up on camera!

This is a triple-chocolate cake pop covered in white chocolate with a festive white chocolate Mickey ears piece.

I loved this Christmassy treat! The chocolate shell was nice and thick with a satisfying crunch against a super moist and tasty chocolate cake pop center! Win!

So last but definitely not least was another surprise favorite for me! 

This one is from Disney Springs' Goofy's Candy Company. It's the Mickey Chocolate Peppermint Marshmallow Wand priced at $4.99.

I loved every single thing about this one. 

The marshmallow, dipped in chocolate and then coated in crushed peppermint was total chewy, gooey, oh my sweet goodness!

I wish I had brought home a dozen of these. But, this is also one of the easiest for me to re-create at home. And so I will! 

Well, that's all there is and there ain't no more!

Until we return to Disney, that is!

Hope you all enjoyed our trip down Sweet Street, USA! See ya real soon!

John 3:16

'til we sweet again, Karen💗

Chocolate Covered Caramel S'mores

Happy Birthday, Mickey Mouse!

We'll see ya real soon because we're taking the grandkiddos to Walt Disney World!!

So last year all I wanted for Christmas was our first Disney annual passes. My sweet Santa came through once again and boy have we had a blast using them! 

Can you guess what tops my list of must-dos every trip? Yep! I have to check out all the fun new treats created in the Disney candy kitchens.

I follow a lot of Disney vloggers so I already know which Christmas themed treats I wanna try and I'm going to be posting them right here at Sugartown Sweets so you can see all the festively sweet and sugary fun!

One of our favorite spots in all of WDW is, Karamell-Kuche (German for caramel kitchen), at EPCOT.

Everything in the shop is made using Werther's caramel!

Here I have recreated their caramel s'mores using my own homemade marshmallows and caramel recipes!

It sure was a fun way to gear up for our trip to see the Mouse!

Of course you can use store-bought marshmallows and Werther's caramels, but if you have the time and don't mind getting a little sticky, get the family together for some fun in your own candy kitchen!

For our marshmallows, we need: sugar, water, corn syrup, unflavored gelatin, and salt.

For the s'mores we will also use:

48 graham cracker squares, caramel, and 3 ten ounce bags Ghirardelli chocolate wafers.

Pour gelatin over cold water in mixer bowl with whisk attachment and set aside.

Combine sugar, hot water, corn syrup, and salt in heavy bottomed 4 quart saucepan over medium heat.  Stir until sugar is dissolved, attach candy thermometer, and continue cooking without stirring until mixture reaches 235 degrees (soft-ball stage)

Remove from heat.

Slowly pour hot sugar mixture into mixer bowl with gelatin mixture mixing on low speed.

When fully combined, add vanilla and turn mixer to high speed. Whisk for 10 minutes.

Prepare 3 cups fitted with decorator bags. Fold the tops of bags over cup edges and fill bags with marshmallow mixture. Cut tips off bags to pipe.

Pipe marshmallow onto 24 graham cracker squares. 

Let marshmallow set for 2-3 hours before popping into broiler for a couple of minutes to toast.

Make caramel or melt down Werther's chewy caramels to top marshmallows. If making your own, let cool down a bit first. Here is my caramel recipe.

Pour remaining caramel into lightly greased, parchment lined pan to set. Cut into squares to use later for drizzling onto s'mores.

Oh my word. Open-faced s'mores!

Top treats with remaining graham squares.

 

Melt chocolate in microwave in 30 second increments on 50% power stirring each time until melted and smooth. Dip s'mores into melted chocolate and place on parchment lined pan until set.

Melt down about 9 caramel squares in microwave in 30 second increments until fully melted. Drizzle onto s'mores and let set.

If you're using store-bought caramels, I used about a cup of melted caramel.

C.A.R.A.M.E.L.

Time to taste!!

Oh y'all, I ain't gonna brag..well wait! 

Yes I am!!

Hubby really loved these and scarfed down two as soon as he walked in the door!

They're a hit!

Vanilla Marshmallows

2 tablespoons unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup cold water

Sprinkle gelatin over cold water in mixer bowl with whisk attachment and set aside.

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup hot water

1/2 cup corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a heavy bottomed, 4 quart saucepan, combine sugar, hot water, corn syrup, and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Attach candy thermometer and continue cooking without stirring until mixture reaches softball stage-235 degrees.

Remove from heat. Slowly pour hot sugar mixture into mixer bowl with gelatin mixture. Whisk on low speed until all combined. Add vanilla, turn mixer on high speed and continue mixing for 10 minutes.

If you simply want to eat these "out of hand", pour the mixture into a pan lined with parchment sprayed with non-stick spray. Let set and cut.

 

Since we are piping these onto graham crackers for our s'mores,  I set up 3 cups with decorator bags folding the top edges over the top of the cups. Then I filled each one with marshmallow mixture and snipped the tip off each bag to pipe.

With 24 graham cracker squares lined up on a parchment lined pan, pipe marshmallow onto each cracker. Let sit 2 -3 hours before popping into oven on broil for a couple of minutes to toast the marshmallow.

I piped the remaining marshmallow into my silicone mold pan lightly sprayed with non-stick spray.

Caramel

Now we can top each treat with a dollop of caramel and top with remaining graham cracker squares.

You can melt down caramels for this step or you can make your own. Here is my caramel recipe I posted last month to make caramel apples. It's my family's favorite!

If you do make your own, let it cool down a bit before you dollop! When cool, dollop caramel onto marshmallow and top with another cracker.

Pour the remaining caramel into a lightly greased, parchment lined pan.

You can cut these into squares later and melt down to drizzle on top of the s'mores.

Dipping Chocolate

3 ten ounce bags Ghirardelli chocolate wafers

Melt chocolate in microwave in 30 second increments on 50% power stirring each time until melted and smooth.

Dip each s'more in chocolate and place on parchment lined pan to set.

Caramel Drizzle

Now that our s'mores are ready for their caramel drizzle, melt a few squares of caramels (I used about 9) in microwave in 30 second increments until melted. I added just a smidge (teaspoon or so) of cream to make it more "drizzly".😊

I made 20 s'mores and used a little less than a cup of caramel for my drizzle.

Drizzle away!

Hope you enjoy your Chocolate Covered Caramel S'mores!

Ok! Disney, here we come!

John 3:16

'til we sweet again! Karen 💗

Loaded Caramel Apples

Do y'all love you some caramel apples?? Woohoo! Me too!

So we have an awesome Kilwin's over in Atlantic Station and several years ago on our first visit we spotted some crazy amazing chocolate covered candy loaded caramel apples! I mean these things really were works of edible art! They were absolutely jam-packed with candy bars, cookies, and nuts..oh my!

I know my candy loving peeps will get the fascination I had/have with these sweet candy covered fruity orbs!

I made these to celebrate -as of today- 9 years of creating sweets treats here at Sugartown Sweets! Yay! 🥳

So c'mon! Let's make some! 

Y'all!

First, you will need some caramel apples, and I can help you with that!

If you were here last week, you know we made some yummy ones. I used my own homemade caramel, so if you'd like to try my recipe, click here. You can also use store bought caramels and melt them down with a little cream to dip your apples in.

Next, you will need a boatload of candy which you may very well have on hand given the fact that trick-or-treaters could be knocking on your door as you're reading this post!

 

For my chocolate coating, I used three 10 ounce bags of Ghirardelli milk chocolate wafers. I only made a total of 6 apples and had plenty of chocolate left over that I used to cover my homemade caramel candies.

I wanted to be sure my container had enough melted chocolate to easily dip and cover each apple.

I'm looking at these now and I'm thinking some chocolate coated nuts would be a fun and crunchy addition to our loaded caramel apples!

I'm so happy you stopped by today! Leaving me a comment letting me know if you are making caramel apples this fall season makes me smile!

John 3:16

'til we sweet again, Karen 💗

Caramel Apples

 

My grandson called me the other day and wanted to know why he couldn't find my caramel apple recipe on the blog! Well I was flabbbergasted as I realized that I had never posted it! And seeing how we are already a third of the way through fall,  I thought now is the perfect time. Thanks, Isaac! 

There are tons of beautiful caramel apples on the web. Today I am sharing with you how I make mine! 

Five simple ingredients of, butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla are all you need to cook up this sweet confectionery treat.

I couldn't believe my luck at finding a pack of these adorable treat sticks in my sugar supplies. You can always use candy apple sticks or popsicle sticks as well.

After thoroughly washing and drying apples, insert sticks. I use a dab of dish soap to wash my apples and I also wash my tomatoes and citrus fruits this way and have for many years. 

Now let's make some caramel! Melt butter over low heat. Stir in corn syrup and then condensed milk.

Attach candy thermometer and crank up the heat to medium, stirring candy mixture constantly.

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Set aside to cool 15 to 20 minutes so the caramel won't slide right off the apples!

You can do a dip test to see if the caramel has thickened up enough to adhere to apple.

Yep! It's just right. Dip and then place on parchment lined pan.

If you look closely at the core, you can see the juice sizzle a tiny bit as you dip the apples!

Oh yum!! We did it! 🍏

Y'all! Ain't these perty?!

It's time to dig in and enjoy!

Caramel Apples

12 medium Granny Smith apples

Caramel Recipe

2 sticks (1 cup) butter

2 1/4 cups brown sugar, firmly packed

1 cup light corn syrup

1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

In a heavy saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Stir in brown sugar, then add corn syrup and condensed milk, mixing well.

Clip on your candy thermometer while making sure the tip does not touch bottom of pan. 

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until temperature reaches 246 degrees F. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Set aside for 15-20 minutes to cool slightly.

While caramel is cooling, wash apples and dry thoroughly. I use a dab of dish soap to wash mine.

Insert sticks into apples.

Line a pan with parchment paper.

By now, caramel should be ready for dipping. Test an apple to see if caramel adheres without sliding off. 

Dip apples and place on parchment paper.

I made 6 caramel apples and poured up the other half so my sweet hubby could have his favorite caramels! 😋

Happy Fall Y'all!

John 3:16

'til we sweet again, Karen! 💗