J. C. Haley and Harry Brown decided that the key to success was to innovate. In 1923, the company struck gold with a crunchy, log-shaped candy piece infused with butter and coated with chocolate and diced almonds. This delicious confection was dubbed ALMOND ROCA® by a Tacoma librarian.
In 1927 the candy was first sold in its [now famous] signature pink tin to improve shelf life. The new packaging allowed it to travel easily and so, when WWII required troops to ship out overseas, it was the candy that went with them. It also traveled with U.S. troops to Korea and Vietnam.
Line a cookie sheet with tin foil and grease with cooking spray, set aside.
Combine butter and sugar in a large saucepan over high heat. Attach a candy thermometer to side of saucepan. Stir until mixture comes to a boil. When mixture reaches 290°F, remove from heat and immediately stir in ¾ cup of chopped almonds.
Pour mixture onto cookie sheet and spread evenly.
As caramel mixture cools, microwave chocolate chips with oil in short increments of 20 seconds, stirring after each increment of time, until chocolate is completely melted. Pour melted chocolate over top of slightly cooled toffee-nut mixture.
Sprinkle reserved chopped almonds over top of chocolate. Refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours or overnight before breaking into pieces to serve.
It all started in Latin America. Chocolate’s 4,000-year history began in ancient Mesoamerica, present day Mexico. It’s here that the first cacao plants were found. The Olmec, one of the earliest civilizations in Latin America, were the first to turn the cacao plant into chocolate.
2cupsHershey's dark chocolate chips12 oz pkg divided
4egg yolks
1/3cupcornstarch
2/3cupsugar
3cupsmilk
2tbspbuttersoftened
19 inch Pie Shellpre-made
whip cream for topping (optional)
Instructions
Bake pie shell; cool. Stir together sugar, cornstarch and salt in 2 quart saucepan. Combine egg yolks and milk in container with pouring spout. Gradually blend milk mixture into sugar mixture. (You can use a pre-made pie shell to save time)
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in butter and vanilla. Add 1-3/4 cups chocolate chips; stir until chips are melted and mixture is well blended. Pour into prepared pie shell; press plastic wrap onto filling. Cool. Refrigerate several hours or until chilled and firm. Garnish with whipped cream and remaining chocolate chips, if desired. Makes 8 servings.
Cream Cheese Pound Cake – Butter and cream cheese provide the rich taste in this deliciously dense pound cake. I always top mine with a fresh lemon glaze made of fresh lemon juice and confectioner’s sugar
Origin. The pound cake was named after its recipe. Created in England during the 1700s, original recipes called for one pound each of flour, sugar, butter, and eggs. The large quantities and no leveling made it a large, heavy cake that could easily feed big groups of people. Proportions were altered over time to make a smaller, lighter cake, but the name stuck. In the mid 1800s liquids were added and later baking powder in the 1900s.
Butter and cream cheese provide the rich taste in this deliciously dense pound cake. I always top mine with a fresh lemon glaze made of fresh lemon juice and confectioner’s sugar
Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy (do not over beat)
Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until combined. Crack eggs into a bowl first before adding to the mixture to make sure you avoid shells in the cake mix.
Sift 3 cups of flour. Combine flour and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla.
Pour batter into a greased and floured 10-inch Bundt pan.
Smooth the top of the cake or bottom of the cake (depending how you look at it) with a spatula to even it out.
Bake at 300° for 1 hour and 40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 to 15 minutes; remove from pan, and let cool completely on wire rack.
Notes
My pound cake had a crazy crusty layer on the bottom that I just peeled off. It was like candy, it was so sweet and crunchy but it wasn’t pretty so I just threw it away
Churro Cookies – These cookies are the perfect. Caramel gets sandwiched between puff pastry and then tossed in cinnamon sugar for a simple and fast, yet completely addicting treat.
Where was the churro born? There’s likely a very simple answer to that. It was in Spain, Portugal or China, depending on whether you ask someone from Spain, Portugal or China. No doubt I’m leaving out a dozen countries with persuasive arguments when looked at from the inside, but you get the idea. One thing’s for sure, though. The quickest way to get into an argument over the origin of a food is to claim it as your own.
These cookies are the perfect. Caramel gets sandwiched between puff pastry and then tossed in cinnamon sugar for a simple and fast, yet completely addicting treat.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface unfold one sheet of puff pastry. Using a 3” round cookie cutter, cut out circles. Repeat with other sheet.
Place half the circles on prepared baking sheet and place a caramel square in center of each. Top with remaining puff pastry circles and crimp edges with a fork.
In a small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon. Brush cookies with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
Bake until golden and puff pastry is cooked through, 15 minutes.
Ganache Dipping Sauce
Place chocolate chips in a medium heat-safe bowl. In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat cream until just simmering. Pour cream over chocolate chips and let sit for 2 minutes. Whisk until smooth. Let cool slightly.
As a literary form, the history of love letters probably began in the early Renaissance. The Age of Chivalry produced a series of discreet correspondences that were based on the chaste compliments and excessive self-deprecation of courtly love.
Preheat oven to 375°. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll out 1 pie crust. Using a paring knife, cut out long square shapes, about 4" on each side. Transfer squares to baking sheet. Reroll extra dough to make more squares. (You should have enough dough to make about 6.)
Fill the center of each square with a very small dollop of strawberry filling. Fold three of the corners into the center so that the dough looks like an open envelope. Press down lightly on dough to seal. Use a small heart cookie cutter to stamp out remaining dough into hearts, and place a heart in the center of each.
Brush envelopes with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until envelopes are golden, about 15 minutes.
Let cool for 10 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
New Orleans Mardi Gras King Cake is so symbolic of the Mardi Gras celebration for residents it is believed that consuming King Cake outside of the Carnival season will result in rain on Mardi Gras day.
The “king cake” takes its name from the biblical Kings. In Western Christian liturgical tradition, the Solemnity of Epiphany—commemorated on January 6—celebrates the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child. The Eve of Epiphany (the night of January 5) is popularly known as Twelfth Night (the Twelve Days of Christmas are counted from Christmas Eve until this night). The season for king cake extends from the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas (Twelfth Night and Epiphany Day), up until the end of Shrovetide: Mardi Gras, “Fat Tuesday,” or Shrove Tuesday; the day before the start of Lent. Some organizations or groups of friends may have “king cake parties” every week through the Carnival season. In Portugal and France, whoever gets the King cake trinket is expected to buy the next cake for these get-togethers.
A popular theory holds that Mardi Gras’ origins lie in ancient pagan celebrations of spring and fertility, such as Saturnalia and Lupercalia. Some experts contend, however, that Mardi Gras-type festivities popped up solely as a result of the Catholic Church’s discouragement of sex and meat during Lent.
Try these other Southern recipes
Mardi Gras King Cake
One of our best memories is of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, The King Cake is a great Mardi Gras tradition.
Dark green, purple, and yellow or gold sugars, If desired.
Miniature Baby, if desired.
Instructions
Mix 2 1/2 cups flour and yeast in mixing bowl of stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, on low for about 30 seconds.
Heat milk, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved and milk is between 120°F to 130°F.
With mixer on low, pour in liquids and mix until incorporated. Add eggs one at a time. Continue mixing until a shaggy dough forms. Clean off paddle and switch to dough hook. Mix in the remaining 1 cup flour a little at a time, adding more or less flour as needed to make a soft dough. Add the softened butter, a piece at a time, kneading until each piece of butter is absorbed.
Knead for eight minutes on low. The dough should completely clear the sides of the bowl. If it is too sticky, add additional flour 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing in thoroughly before determining if more flour is needed. If the dough seems too dry, spritz with water from a spray bottle a couple of times, mixing in thoroughly before determining if more water is needed. Every 2 minutes, stop the machine, scrape the dough off the hook, and then continue kneading.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times by hand to be sure it’s smooth and elastic. Form the dough into a ball. Place dough into a greased bowl. Turn once so greased surface is on top. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Filling
While the dough is chilling, make cinnamon filling. In small bowl, combine the brown sugar and ground cinnamon. Combine butter with cinnamon mixture and mix well.
Roll the chilled dough into a 10 x 20 inch rectangle. Spread the filling on half of the long side of the dough. Fold the dough in half covering the filling. Pat dough down firmly so the dough will stick together. Cut dough into three long strips. Press the tops of the strips together and braid the strips. Press the ends together at the bottom. Gently stretch the braid so that it measures 20 inches again. Shape it into a circle/oval and press the edges together.
Transfer the ring to a parchment lined or greased baking sheet. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled, about 1 hour. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 350°. Bake the cake until it is golden brown, 20 – 35 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes on baking sheet and then place it on a cooling rack to cool completely before icing. To hide the baby in the cake, if desired, make a small slit in the bottom of the cake and put the miniature plastic baby in after the cake has cooled.
Icing
In a small bowl, mix powdered sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth (add additional milk if mixture is too thick or powdered sugar if too thin).
Spoon icing over top of the cake. Immediately sprinkle on colored sugar, alternating between the three colors.
This recipe uses Rapid Rise yeast which eliminates the time consuming first rise in a typical brioche recipe.
Use a pizza cutter to easily cut dough into strips.
The cake can also be made without braiding. Just roll up the dough jelly roll style after spreading the filling.
Mardi Gras conjures up images of fun, frivolity and feasting and no Mardi Gras celebration would be complete with a colorful King Cake. A brioche or sweet roll dough is braided, baked in a circle and decorated with icing and purple, green and gold sugars. Kind of like a crown shaped cinnamon roll all dressed up for a party.
