Gifts on a Stick

I'm probably the last one to blog about these.  I know...I made them last year too.  But they're just so friggin cute and delicious to boot.  I think these make a nice gift all winter long (hostess, Valentine, whatever).

The recipe is here from King Arthur.  I made another recipe last year that had cocoa and they just weren't as good.  Nothing beats realchocolate and heavy cream.  Just make sure you don't cut your tongue on the sweetened condensed milk can.  

I have no personal experience with this, I've just *heard* it can happen.

Anyway, here's the step by delicious step:

Okay, not exactly step by step, but melting chocolate isn't very interesting.  So, I simmered the heavy cream and condensed milk and then dumped the chocolates in and melted them. Then I poured the whole mess into a *foil-lined pan.  *Note: HH thought I was a genius even though I told him this wasn't my trick.  To line a pan with foil, turn the pan over and then smooth the foil on, folding corners like a present.  Then flip pan right side up and the foil slides right in.

 So the recipe says to let it sit overnight but who has time for that? Let it set up a bit (why? I don't know) at room temp and then throw it into the fridge until it's solid.  Then, cut into 36 squares.

While those bad boys are setting up, you're going to make your own marshmallows.  YES.  You ARE.  Because it's easy and because the crap in the supermarket is only good for camping trips after you've tasted these!  Follow this recipe but don't line the pan with parchment and do NOT sprinkle the pan with a mixture of cornstarch and powdered sugar, even if you've heard this is the right thing to do.  Because corn starch is gross and makes a squeaky sound akin to Styrofoam and I hate that.  Just spray the pan with nonstick spray, sift some powdered sugar over the top of the goo once you've poured it in, and  when they're ready, dump them out onto more powdered sugar.  Cutting them is a pain in the butt--I've tried scissors with success but think I'm going to try my mondo pizza cutter next time.  Because there will be a next time.

Now get ready for sticking!  You've already bought some sticks from here, right?  Next time I'm going to put them on a candy cane, I think.  Yeah.  Anyway, line everything up and have at it.  After I was done putting everything together on a big piece of parchment, I cut it into squares around the chocolate so they wouldn't stick to the plastic wrap I was wrapping them with.  LEARN FROM ME:This was stupid.  Spend about 3 minutes cutting out about a million 2-inch squares and then plop the finished stick onto the squares instead of cutting around them like an idiot.  I'm here to make the mistakes so you don't have to.  I'm a giver.

See? Like this.  I got smart(er) with the second batch.  Then wrap them up in nice cellophane or not-as-nice saran wrap because damn-it, that's what you have lying around, and tie with a ribbon.  I put 4-6 each in coffee bags with windows I got from here last year.  I'm almost out of them and I love them. Then give to your friends and they can make this:

Or they can just be like my barbarians children and eat the whole thing right off the stick. Whatever.