Food Coloring | Mixes, Ingredients, Recipes

Cookies on a Stick

August 30th, 2018Dennis Weaver0 Comments

These are simple and so much fun! Use a cookie mix or your favorite recipe. Just choose a drop cookie with a flat profile. Make the cookie dough according to directions. Scoop dough onto the cookie sheet and insert sticks into each of the cookies. With the cookies that we’ve used, we have not had to flatten the cookies to keep the sticks in place. Bake the cookies. Remove the cookies to wire racks to cool completely. Make the frosting according to directions. You may need to thin the frosting just a little to get a smooth layer of frosting …

How to Make Delightful Frostings with Whipped Cream

July 12th, 2018Dennis Weaver0 Comments

One Saturday, I was tinkering in the test kitchen. I had a ripe pineapple and we were serving cupcakes downstairs in our store. What’s a baker to do? I sliced and trimmed the pineapple. Then, using a chef’s knife, I minced the pineapple. I put the pineapple in paper towels and wrung the juice out of it. Then I made our standard whipped cream frosting—the recipe follows. After whipping, added strawberry flavor and a couple drops of pink food coloring and then folded in the pineapple. I used a little more meringue powder for stabilizer because of the residual moisture …

How to Make Frozen Leprechaun Pies out of Limeade

March 3rd, 2016Dennis Weaver0 Comments

By Dennis Weaver St. Patrick’s day is like the beginning of Spring around here and we are ready to start seeing some green after the white and brown of winter. These fun little pies bring in the green even if Mother Nature doesn’t deliver. Plus, the limeade has such a fresh, happy flavor that they even taste like Spring. These are individual frozen limeade pies made in cupcake pans instead of one spring-form pan. The cupcake pans are great because they don’t take as long to freeze, and nobody has to endure the headache of slicing a frozen pie. These …

Five Essential Frosting Recipes that Every Cupcake Lover Should Have

February 5th, 2016rrf0 Comments

These are your “go to” frosting recipes. These are all you’ll need for most of your cupcakes. Basic Buttercream Frosting Chocolate Buttercream Frosting Best Fudge Frosting Light and Fluffy Cream Cheese Frosting Browned Butter Frosting The first four would make anyone’s list and I’m just in love with browned butter frosting. It’s too good not to include. We also use buttercream frosting mixes for both vanilla and chocolate buttercream. They are nearly foolproof and save loads of time. Basic Buttercream Frosting Use this on cakes and cupcakes. It can be piped or spread. Add color and flavor to it to …

How to Make Candy Popcorn with Pancake Syrup

October 23rd, 2015Dennis Weaver0 Comments

Pancake syrup is sugar syrup made with flavors, juice, or maple. Candy popcorn is made with a sugar syrup cooked to the softball stage. Why not cook a pancake syrup to the softball stage and make candy popcorn? We’ve done that. We’ve cooked pancake syrups to the softball stage and made terrific candy popcorn. Linde, in our store, doesn’t even bother doing that. She simply pours the syrup over her popcorn. And now that we carry syrup mixes, they make perfect candy popcorn mixes. Make it just like you’re making pancake syrup but cook it another five minutes or so, …

The Search for the Best Chiffon Pies

September 8th, 2015Dennis Weaver0 Comments

Dennis Weaver & Debbie Frantzen Chiffon pies are ethereal–light and dreamy, refreshing, melt-in-your-mouth affairs. They are perfect for summertime as well as anytime a light, less-filling dessert is desired. We set off to find the best chiffon pies. Mostly, it was Debbie’s project but she and I (Dennis) collaborated and, as usual, she did the photography and I did most of the writing. A requirement of chiffon pies is gelatin whether it be unflavored or commercial brands with flavor and sugar such as Jell-O®. We concentrated on recipes using unflavored gelatin so that we could experiment with flavors and fruit …

Cherry Almond Monkey Bread Recipe

June 24th, 2015rrf0 Comments

We got the idea for this monkey bread from a recipe that we found on our friend Linda Kilbride’s site, Recipe Goldmine. We thought our Swedish Vanilla Almond Bread would be a great starting point for this monkey bread. We drained the juice from the maraschino cherries and added that to the liquid for the bread. The result was a nice pink color in a cherry almond bread with a sticky glaze. 4 cups bread flour 1 seven gram instant yeast packet 1 10-ounce jar maraschino cherries 1 large egg 1 1/2 cup combination juice, water and egg 2 tablespoons …

How to Paint Cookies with Food Colors

October 14th, 2014Dennis Weaver0 Comments

The Fun Way to Decorate Cookies for the Holidays When I was a child, my mother made sugar cookies for the holidays. We frosted them and sprinkled them with decorations in different colors. We looked forward to it every year, the bright cookies and that chance to be creative with different colors. It was a happy time. This is even more fun. So fun that even adults get hooked. We’ve taught people how to do this in classes and have seen incredible, delicate scenes painted on cookies. But it’s also easy enough that the kids have a blast. Bake the …

Strawberry Cheesecake Brownies

September 30th, 2014Dennis Weaver0 Comments

Strawberry Cheesecake Brownies Make Strawberry Shortcake Brownies. Add fresh sliced strawberries and whipped cream. Consider Orange Cloud Whipped Cream. Orange and chocolate is a surprisingly delightful combination. Here’s what you’ll need: Brownie mix (choose from seven) or a blondie mix (choose from five) Strawberry flavor Meringue powder (slows melting of your whipped cream) Dessert sauce, chocolate, caramel or other Chocolate Curls STRAWBERRY CREAM CHEESE WHIPPED CREAM Consider this as a colorful topping for any strawberry dessert. It’s also a nice alternative to whipped cream in fruit salads calling for whipped cream 1/3 cup sugar 4 ounces cream cheese 2 cups whipping cream 2 …

Dress up Your Cookies for Fabulous Treats

July 12th, 2014Dennis Weaver0 Comments

It started with macaroons, our coconut macaroon mix. I love them. They are our easiest mix to make. Just add water. This mix makes great thumbprint cookies. I have a whisk with a nice round end on the handle—that’s my “thumb.” I use the whisk handle to make the indentations and then fill them with pastry fillings—lemon, cherry, and raspberry are my favorites. Sometimes I just press two chocolate wafers into the center. A caramel placed in the center will add a pool of melted caramel. It’s all good. (By the way, the pink macaroons to the right were made with …

White Chocolate Cheesecake with Orange-Glazed Strawberries

May 26th, 2014Dennis Weaver0 Comments

This is a great cheesecake recipe. The white chocolate makes this cake particularly rich. Use a good quality white chocolate with high cocoa butter content. We topped this scrumptious cheesecake with orange glazed strawberries. The glaze is a simple sugar syrup with orange zest added. This makes a marvelous dessert. You will need a ten-inch springform pan. Our glass-base springform pans are perfect. This cheesecake was made with a square springform pan. Ingredients For the crust: 1 2/3 cup graham cracker crumbs 1/2 cup butter, melted 2 tablespoons granulated sugar For the filling: 4 8-ounce packages of cream cheese 1 …

Orange Cream Cheesecake Recipe

May 26th, 2014Dennis Weaver0 Comments

When we were kids, we had these orange and vanilla ice cream treats on a stick. The combination was divine. Why not do the same with a cheesecake? The following recipe uses orange juice concentrate for the orange and a smooth vanilla filling. It is easy to make. Additional Recipes and References Free! How to Bake, a free 250 page baking book Free! Easy Cheesecakes from A to Z (Includes “A Cheesecake Troubleshooting Guide) Free! A Manual for No-Bake Cheesecakes Springform Pans from Round to Square Click to see the Cheesecake Recipe Index with over 40 additional recipes For the …

Halloween Face Paint

May 26th, 2014Dennis Weaver0 Comments

1 teaspoon cornstarch 1/2 teaspoon water 1/2 teaspoon cold cream 2 drops food coloring 1. In a small mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix well. Recipe used by permission, Nancy’s Kitchen.

Neapolitan Cookies and More

May 26th, 2014Dennis Weaver0 Comments

You can tell that we had fun with these cookies. We made Neapolitan Cookies—but with one part chocolate, one part almond, and one part cherry—but think of it as a method, not a recipe. By changing flavors and colors, you can make any combination you desire. Use your imagination. Make circles, stripes, swirls, or squares. These make great kids cookies, great holiday cookies, and great party cookies. How to Make Neapolitan Cookies You can make a variety of shapes, colors, and flavors with this basic recipe–from shamrocks to Christmas cookies. In the accompanying pictures, we made tri-colored cookies with …

Making Cookies with Multi-Colored Dough

May 26th, 2014Dennis Weaver0 Comments

You can tell that we had fun with these cookies. We made Neapolitan cookies—but with one part chocolate, one part almond, and one part cherry—but think of it as a method, not a recipe. By changing flavors and colors, you can make any combination you desire. Use your imagination. Make circles, stripes, swirls, or squares. (If you look at the cookies in the background, you’ll see three part cookies—pink, then white, then chocolate.) These make great kids cookies, great holiday cookies, and great party cookies. How to Make Neapolitan Cookies You can make a variety of shapes, colors, and flavors …

Neapolitan Cookies and More

May 26th, 2014Dennis Weaver0 Comments

Fresh Strawberry Vanilla Cream Pie

May 25th, 2014Dennis Weaver0 Comments

This is simply a vanilla cream pie made in a deep dish pie pan so that you can pile fresh strawberries and glace on top. Adorned with whipped cream it is very attractive. Fresh strawberries and vanilla cream make a wonderful combination. This pie has four components plus the whipped cream: The crust, the vanilla cream filling, the strawberries and the glace. The crust: Make a pie crust from your favorite recipe and fill a deep-dish, nine-inch pie pan. Prick the crust with the tines of a fork so that steam can escape while baking. Bake it at 450 degrees …

Lemon Chicken

May 25th, 2014Dennis Weaver0 Comments

What You’ll Need 3-4 chicken breasts 2 eggs 2 tablespoons water 2 cups panko vegetable oil for frying Lemon Sauce 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1/3 cup chicken broth 1 teaspoon lemon zest 3 tablespoons lemon juice 2 tablespoons rice vinegar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 garlic clove, minced 1-2 drops yellow food coloring (optional) 1 tablespoon cornstarch 1 tablespoon water Make an egg wash by slightly beating two eggs with one tablespoon of water. In a separateflat-bottomed dish, place the two cups of panko. With a meat mallet, pound each chicken breast to 1/4 inch thick. Dip each chicken breast inegg …

Cookie Decorating Tips

May 25th, 2014Dennis Weaver0 Comments

• Let your cookies cool completely before decorating. If the cookie is not completely cool, the frosting will trap moisture and the cookie will sweat. • Decorating sugar is graded by size with AA being the most popular large crystal size. It’s easiest to buy in white. That’s okay. Put some white crystals in a bowl, add a drop or two of food coloring, stir, and you have colored sugar crystals. There’s no need to stock a rainbow of colors. You can purchase AA sugar crystals on our site. • Turbinado sugar is made of large crystals and is …

Leprechaun Pie

May 25th, 2014Dennis Weaver0 Comments

This is a fun dessert! We took our luscious Pink Lemonade Pie and made it green for St. Patrick’s Day. Since this is made with cream cheese, it’s very cheesecake like. It also contains frozen lemonade or limeade concentrate. You’ll need a nine-inch springform pan. We use a glass base silicone springform pan. With the graham cracker crust, it’s easy to peel the ring from the pie and cut nice, neat slices right on the glass base. Get a Candy-apple Red Springform Pan for under $20 Crust 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs 1/4 cup sugar 1/3 cup butter 1. …