At each stop along the way we’ll give away copies of our books along with other goodies. We’ll share recipes, too, at a different blog every day. To be eligible, leave a comment at each blog you visit. A new winner will be chosen daily at each author’s site. At the end of the hop, one extra-lucky person will receive the Grand Prize.
Grand Prize: One lucky person will receive an ebook/print book from all 10 authors. Grand Prize to be announced on Jan. 12th.
Today I’m talking about my baking disaster that I had over the holidays. Every year, I like to bake and give away goodies to family members. This year was no exception. I made four kinds of cookies, a pound cake, an apple pie and what was supposed to be peppermint bark.
I have this wonderful recipe that is SUPER easy to make. But I was low on white chocolate. So off to the store I went. I couldn’t find the Ghirardelli baking squares like I already had. Instead, I bought white chocolate chips. I figured that would be easier to melt than the baking squares anyway. But I needed 12 oz and the bag was only 11 oz. They also had peppermint bark baking squares and I thought I’d give that a try.
That weekend, I went to make the bark. The chips melted beautifully. When I added the peppermint bark baking squares–which had regular chocolate on the backside–it turned the melted chocolate from a lovely winter white to, um, well…poop colored. I decided to go with it anyway.
My other problem was I didn’t have any parchment paper. I used wax paper instead. I poured out the melted chocolate that looked like poop and sprinkled on the crushed peppermints. It looked awful. I let is sit overnight but it never hardened like it was supposed to. So I had a soft gooey mess on my hands. I threw the entire batch in the trash, sadly. My sister suggested I should put it in bags and call it Snowman Poop. LOL I may have done that if I hadn’t tossed it all already. Plus it didn’t break like bark should.
So here’s your tip: Don’t use wax paper! And don’t use anything other than white chocolate. Trust me on this. đŸ˜‰
Here is my recipe for white chocolate peppermint bark:
Melt 12 ounces finely chopped white chocolate in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds. Stir in 1 tablespoon melted shortening and 4 ounces chopped white chocolate until smooth. Spread on parchment paper-lined baked sheet and sprinkle with 1 cup chopped peppermint candies. Let harden; break into pieces.
So tell me: do you have any baking disasters you want to share? Today I’m giving away one of my Coffee House books, winner’s choice, to a commenter.
And tomorrow hop on over to see Karilyn Bentley’s blog post for more fun and games!
wax paper? What were you thinking? ox
LOL I don’t know! I didn’t want to go to the store. Haha that’ll teach me đŸ™‚
Snowman poop! LOL
I’ve used wax paper before, too. Big mistake. What a mess. I do love peppermint bark though. I like to alternate the white chocolate and dark chocolate, swirl it on the parchment paper first for a marbled effect and then add the peppermint pieces. Yep, I’m a chocolate fiend. đŸ™‚
That sounds yummy, Kathy!
I have a recipe called Rolo bites. It’s very simple. You buy a package of the little grid pretzels and a bag of Rolos. You place several pretzel grids on a cookie sheet and a Rolo on each grid. You place the candy and pretzels in a 200 degree oven for three minutes, take them out of the oven and place another pretzel grid on top and gently mash the melted candy and pretzels together. Easy, right?! Important tip: If you are multitasking or you are the forgetful type, set the oven timer! When you leave the candy in the oven even just a little more than 3 minutes, the melted Rolos slide right off the pretzel grid. The result is a messy, melted gooey mess!
Pam P.
I’m definitely a forgetful type! LOL Sounds so easy and fun. I’m going to try this!
This year I managed to avoid any major baking disasters. Although, my brother did try to throw out my perfectly good fudge. I had used butter to grease the cookie sheet, which melted & left some yellow/white spots on the edges of a few pieces, which he apparently thought was mold. Luckily, the not moldy fudge did not land in the trash can. I’ve been rationing it & still have a few pieces left. Yum!!
drainbamaged.gyzmo at gmail.com
Shaking head slowly–I totally get your logic. I probably would have done the same thing.
The Snowman poop cracked me up! The recipe sounds yummy! I’m going to have to make some!
My baking mistake almost destroyed my oven… lol I had a frozen pizza and I had one of those big round lap trays. Well it didn’t occur to me for some reason that it was plastic… So I put it in the preheated oven with the pizza on it… and within moments I smelled burnt plastic and rushed to the oven…
I wasn’t feeling well that day so I always blame that! lol