Candy Cane Bark And A Winner

So it is getting to be really cold here and that puts me in the mood for some yummy treats. And that right there is a fib, I don't need cold weather to have treats but it sure does make for a good excuse to eat and make them. Don't you think? Well anyway I made some really simple chocolates and I promptly brought them to work. Can you believe I didn't eat even one? Well such is life when you have too many good things to eat all at once. This was a nice quick treat it took all of 10 minutes to make and I got to let Pork Chop beat up some helpless candy. All in all you cannot beat that.

These little candy canes were a real pain to unwrap.

Pork Chop had a good time crushing them, he was all "die you candy cane scum!"  And I am not even joking, that is what he was saying.

  So to make this you need three things, chocolate, candy canes and a chocolate mold. You don't even need the mold if you plan to do a traditional bark, where you just spread the chocolate out on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. But since I have a million chocolate molds and I hate to break up chocolate bark and have it all different sizes and stuff, I did it my way. The only thing I would do differently would be to buy either the pre crushed candy canes or buy the larger ones. The tiny ones I was using were a real pain to unwrap. But other than that it was super easy.

There were a few larger bits left, which was okay as I was too lazy to to anything about it really.

I tried a few molds, but the plastic one was not the best for two layers, as the first one set and I tried to pipe the second layer on and tap the mold the chocolates would pop out.  So silicon is best for this.

That right there is just a big blob of chocolate and candy.

 So to start you want to crush up your candy canes and set them aside. I really don't have amounts for you as I was just doing a bit. But you want enough candy cane in your chocolate so that you can see it and taste it. Once you have your candy cane ready you melt your chocolate. I like to have the white chocolate on the top of my candy, so that is what you start with. Melt your chocolate and mix in some of the candy cane. I didn't add too much but it made the chocolate nice and thick. I put it in a disposable piping bag and snipped off the end. Then I put a thin layer in my molds. I made sure to tap the mold to settle the chocolate and make sure there were no bubbles. I put them all on a cookie sheet and put the whole thing into the freezer. Since it was small molds and a thin layer it didn't take long for it to set.

It gets sort of lumpy but that is no problem.

All ready to pipe.

see how tidy I was this time?  I know I am surprised too.

And the second layer.

This mold was very thin so I just did the white candy and it was perfect.

 While the first layer is freezing you want to melt your second chocolate. I have seen where the bark only has the mint in the first layer but I wanted to use up all the candy I had crushed, so I mixed it into the second layer of chocolate too. I did exactly t he same thing that I did with the first layer, making sure to tap the mold well as I went because the cold chocolate would make the new chocolate set really fast. So that was it. I let it set and when it was hard I just popped out the candy and felt happy that they were so cute. I put them in a container and left them in the fridge as our house gets hot with the heater on. And that was it, I took them to work and they were a hit. Which is nice because sometimes the easiest things are the best.

These are nice and thin.

These ones just look weird, they were from the plastic mold.

I am in love with these little ones, the mold was small but deep just perfect!

And with that done, now we have the results of my give away.  I had a total of  28 entries, and so I just used random.org and let it do it's thing. And the winning number from all the entries was  6 , which is Betsy (pharmgirl)  So thanks all for entering.  Betsy I will try to email you and then we can get this out to you.  If I for some reason cannot get a hold of Betsy in the next 48 hours we will have to move onto another winner.

Chocolate Covered Pretzel Rods, and Bark

 Okay firstly, the fact that the word rods is in my title made me giggle like a 12 year old boy.  " She said rods"  I know, but that is what they are, so that is all I have to say about that.

The rods.

I used up a lot more sprinkles than I thought I would, but they tasted great.

 This is the second time I made these.  I made them a few weeks ago with Pork Chop and his friend, you know the one, the one who says any play date without a baking craft is just not good enough.  So I was tired, I was also making something else, whoopie pies I think, it is all a blur now.  And it was not a hit, it was okay.  I mean they turned out really great and tasted super yummy, it was just a big mess and my kid lost interest after 3 pretzels and the other kid shook sprinkles all over the floor.  So yeah, fun but not great.

I mixed them all together.

 So this time I wanted to make something for Pork Chops last hockey game of the season.  They are in last place I think, but you know what?  This is the first year for them playing actual positions, last year it was just a free for all.  But apparently in other leagues they play positions from the beginning.  What do I know, I am just excited when I know which way they are supposed to be skating.  So you know, I am there for support.  I even scream and yell and stuff, usually at the wrong time, but I am there.  And I try to bring treats, so that totally makes up for it.

 I feel sort of horrible though, this year I have my part time job so I miss a lot of the games.  I gave up on practices last year as they are as early as 6am.  I told Hubby that if we had a girl I would be the one taking her to early horseback riding lessons or something, but we had a boy so it was his job.  Forget the fact that most of the kids have their moms there, I try not to think about it.  Anyway, I have missed some games and feel horrible about it, I tell Pork Chop how proud I am of him and what not.  He seems okay with it, I tell him it is bonding time for him and daddy.  Not sure he buys that, can you tell I feel guilty?

I hate working with white candy melts, no matter what I do they always get lumpy.  Now if I knew how to get my microwave on half power we might have a chance.  But that would mean I would have read the stupid instructions and that isn't going to happen.

   So for this last game, which I am missing again, I wanted to make something.  But it had to be small, as Hubby and Pork Chop hate handing things out.  I always get stuck handing things out and I feel stupid.  One mom even made a comment about how it must be nice to have time to bake things. I just smiled and said something about how I don't always get to bake.

That showed her.

Anyway this is easy, they are cheap ( that's what she said!) ( I have been dying to say that, and it wasn't even a good one, darn it) and Hubby can just give them to the coach to hand out.  So it is a win win all around.

Make sure the chocolate sets a bit or the sprinkles just drop off.

 To start, you just melt the chocolate you want to use. I went with white because I wanted to use coloured sprinkles and felt it would show more.  I thought about how much I hate working with white chocolate and then did it anyway.  I mean it doesn't have to be smooth when you cover it in sprinkles, so whatever.  Just melt the chocolate and put it in a deep bowl, or like I saw on other blogs, in a cup. I like the bowl as it was easier to catch the drips.

I bury the pretzel and leave it while I dip another one.

 Then I put the sprinkles in a 8x8 cake pan.  I chose to use chocolate jimmies because I like the taste and then I mixed in some shamrock sprinkles, because it was St. Patrick's day after all.  This makes it easier to roll the pretzel without getting the sprinkles everywhere. That is the plan, which did not work when Pork Chops friend decided to shake the darn pan all over the place and sent sprinkles flying.  So in theory it works, just don't let a hyped up 7 year old near it.

So take a pretzel and dip it as much or as little as you want in the chocolate, then tap it a lot on the side of the bowl to get the extra off.  Also you want the chocolate to start setting a bit as once the sprinkles are on they can sort of slide off if it is too runny.

Just leave them to dry.

 So once dipped and what not, put the pretzel in the sprinkles and roll it around to cover.  I let it sit while I dip another pretzel, then place it on wax paper to set up.  I have the fan on high as it is super crazy hot here right now, which is nuts since there was snow just a week or so ago.  I mean it's Canada, I remember having to be in snow pants and boots in April when I was a kid.  I am not complaining, except for the heat when I am working with chocolate.

Anyway, once they are set enough move them into a box or like I did put them into a cake pan and put them in the fridge.  I did this so they would be hard before I started packing them.  I just got the cheapest cookie bags I could at the bakers warehouse.  I also got the pretzels there too.  They came in a bag of 20 for about $2, the only issue was about 3 or 4 in every bag were broken.  This was no problem, either you just dip the broken bits, or like I did crush them up, mix them with the left over chocolate and put them in a silicon mold to make bark.  See two treats for the price of one.  Anyway, just put the pretzels in a bag and tie with ribbon and send to the hockey game with your kid.  Then be the best mom ever, or the one who obviously has too much time on her hands. (No snark there at all right?!)

The bag was a tight fit, I only tied up the kids because I didn't want to put staples in theirs.

I stapled the ones for my friends, because I am the lazy kind of baker.

Some of the left over pretzels that I smashed.

 I have to say that these are one of the tastiest things ever, and there are lots of people making these I am sure, but Love from the Oven is the one that reminded me to make them.  I love that by just changing the sprinkle or sugar you use you can match any holiday or theme.  Have fun and try to not to cover your floor in sprinkles, you don't want to actually have to clean after this or something.  Who has time for that?

And then you mix it all up

And try to get it in the mold.  I had flash backs of the stupid oreo bark and again said next time I would use a food processor to get smaller pieces.  I will forget you know that right?

They kind of look like soap, what can you do?  They still taste good.