Bunny Week 2022: Marshmallow Bunnies

If this group of marshmallow bunnies doesn't make you smile, I don't know what will! These were so much fun to make. I'm particularly pleased with how the whiskers came out. That was a spontaneous addition and I think they make a big difference. Give them a try! Affiliate links below. 

Marshmallow Bunnies

Materials: 

• Wilton Candy Melts (white and pink)
• parchment paper
• scribe tool
• jumbo marshmallows
• Wilton Food Writer
• Wilton confetti sprinkles (pink and black)

Steps: 

Draw a pair of rabbit ears on a piece of scratch paper. You'll be using this as a guide to keep the ears in proportion with the marshmallow. 

Slide the ear sketch under a piece of parchment paper, then prepare the pink and white Candy Melts following the instructions on the packages. 

Spoon the white candy onto the parchment paper so that it fills the pattern you made for the ears. Immediately use the scribe tool to drizzle a thin line of pink candy on top of the white candy to make the iner ears. Fix any stray bits or lumps with the scribe tool. I found it easiest to keep two scribe tools handy (one for each color). 

Carefully slide the parchment paper over so that the pattern is under a clean area. Repeat the steps to make the next set of ears. Continue until you have all the sets of ears you'll need. Set them aside to harden completely. 

Use the Food Writer to draw mouths on each marshmallow. Pick out enough pink and black confetti sprinkles to give each bunny two eyes and one nose. 

Remelt the white candy. Dip the scribe tool into the melted white candy and use it to draw whiskers onto each bunny. Then add dots of melted candy to adhere the black sprinkle eyes and pink sprinkle nose in place. 

To attach the ears to the bunnies, you'll need a warm, flat surface. Something like a frying pan would work, but I just used a small ceramic dish. I filled it with water, then put it in the microwave until the water was boiling. I poured out the water, then inverted the dish on a potholder. 

I picked up a pair of ears using kitchen tongs (so my warm fingers wouldn't melt them) and pressed them gently against the bottom of the hot dish. Then I placed them onto a marshmallow. The candy solidified almost instantly, so I didn't even have to worry about propping the ears up as they dried. 

Each bunny looks a bit different from the rest. Marshmallows surprisingly irregular; I tried to find six that were sort of the same size and shape, but gave up and just picked any six. The fact that the marshmallows differ took away any pressure I might have felt to try to make the ears and faces look identical. 

If you make your own marshmallow bunnies, I'd love to see them. For that matter, I always enjoy seeing any crafts made from my tutorials. My email address is right above my picture - send me a photo of your creations!

Dracula Smores

Smores aren't just for summer. Nor are they just for camping. They are just as appropriate indoors for Halloween. Evidence: 

I had so much fun making these! They came out exactly how I'd hoped. Affiliate links and cooking suggestions below. 

Dracula Smores

Materials:

• jumbo marshmallows
• Wilton Candy Melts (black)
• Wilton Candy Eyeballs
• Wilton Valentine Sprinkles (micro hearts)
• graham crackers

Steps: 

Prepare the Candy Melts according to the package directions. You'll need about 1.5 discs per finished smore. (I used 8 discs for 6 smores and it was just right.)

Dip the top of each marshmallow into the melted candy, then turn it to allow the candy to start to drip down one side to make Dracula's famous widow's peak. Stop the dripping by turning it upside down again. Within 20 seconds or so, it will firm up enough not to drip anymore. 

Use a toothpick to dab a small amount of melted candy to the back of the candy eyeballs and place them on the face. The dip the end of the toothpick in candy and press it to the marshmallow, just above the eyes, to make the eyebrows.

Use the toothpick to make a tiny dot for the nose and attach a white heart sprinkle. Draw a melted candy mouth with the toothpick and attach two heart sprinkles to make the fangs. I had to warm up the melted candy halfway through making my six Draculas. 

Place the Draculas on top of graham cracker halves. You can put a dollop of melted candy down first if you want them to stay in place. I didn't, because I wanted to experiment with cooking my smores. 

Experiment 1: Microwave. 

I set one smore on a plate and put it into the oven for 45 seconds at 50% power. As expected, it puffed up huge. I didn't not expect the eyeballs to pop off, nor for the face to basically melt away. 

Verdict: Quick, and easy, but with no browning it's missing most of what's good about smores. Not to mention, the end result is decidedly not adorable.  2/10

Experiment 2: Stovetop.

I poked a skewer into a Dracula and heated it over the stovetop, attempting to get a perfectly-golden toast while not letting anything drip or drop into the stove and make a huge mess.

Verdict: Not as quick and easy as the microwave, and definitely less safe. The eyes slid a bit despite my efforts to keep that side up. The back of the marshmallow got some nice browning and I was able to get some gooey melting going on.  5/10

Experiment 3: Toaster Oven. 

I must have been feeling confident, because I put two smores on foil into the toaster oven with the setting on TOAST. Within 30 seconds, their eyes started sliding downhill and their tops were bubbling...

... so I took them out, laid them on their backs, and put the eyeballs back where they belonged. Then I slid them back into the toaster oven. 

When their faces had a decent tan, I took them out and set them back up on their graham crackers. 

Verdict: This took more effort than the other methods, but it yielded the best browning and melting. I was concerned that the hair was burnt, but it wasn't. It tasted like the sugar on top of creme brulee and was nice and crackly. Yum! I think if I'd used white candy melts to attach the eyeballs, it wouldn't be as obvious that they're drooping in the finished Dracula. Next time.  7/10

Enjoy!

Popcorn Cake

When I was a kid, my friends knew that when they came to my birthday party, they'd be served a money cake. My friend Rachael had a similarly-distinctive cake at her birthday parties: her mom always served a popcorn cake. Mrs. Sato made her version of a popcorn cake in a bundt pan. It had colorful mini gumdrops throughout. She served it in thick wedges we ate with our hands, like a popcorn ball. It was delicious. 

I've been thinking about that popcorn cake recently. I've never been served a popcorn cake by anyone but Mrs. Sato, and Steve and Trevor had never had one. I'm not sure of her recipe, but it was basically rice krispie treats with popcorn instead of cereal, so I started from there and did some experimenting. I didn't have gumdrops on hand, but I had M&M's, so I made a chocolate version and added a drizzle of ganache and sprinkles to my popcorn cake. 

While the ganache looks pretty and tastes great, I honestly think the cake doesn't need it. Give it a try and tell me if you think the chocolate adds anything, or if the plain cake is the way to go. 

Popcorn Cake

12 c. popcorn

1-2 c. candy (M&M's, gumdrops, etc)

16 oz. marshmallows 

3/4 c. butter, divided

You will need approximately 12 cups of popcorn to make a cake. If you use microwave popcorn, this is 2 bags. Carefully pick out any unpopped kernels. Pour the popcorn into a springform tube pan. It should fill the pan completely. You may need to add more popcorn. 

Transfer the popcorn to a large bowl. Check again for any unpopped kernels (they like to hide). 

Generously grease the pan with 1/4 c. butter, making sure to cover every surface, including the tube. This will seem like a lot of butter. That is ok. Put any extra butter into a saucepan, along with the remaining 1/2 c. butter. Melt the butter and the marshmallows together over medium low heat, stirring frequently. Remove the marshmallow mix from the stove and pour it over the popcorn. Stir completely until all the popcorn is coated with marshmallows. Stir in the candy. 

Cover your hand with a piece of plastic wrap, then press the popcorn into the buttered tube pan. 

Let it sit for 10 minutes, then release the spring and invert the cake onto a cake stand. Let it cool completely.

This is the way Rachael's mom did (just imagine those M&M's are gumdrops). Feel free to serve it like this, or add the ganache, sprinkles, and candles.  

This cake brought me right back to Rachael's June birthday parties in the 1970's. Good times. 

No-Melt Banana Split

I'm not a huge fan of bananas, but there's no question my favorite way to eat them is in a banana split. This one is unusual, because you can leave it out all day and it will never melt. 

The secret? That's not ice cream. Affiliate links below. 

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No-Melt Banana Split

To make your own no-melt banana split, put three jumbo marshmallows in an oval ramekin. Slice a banana in half lengthwise and put one half on either side of the marshmallows. Pour chocolate over the middle marshmallow, mashed strawberries over another, and pineapple over another (I actually used orange marmalade instead. It was delicious.) Sprinkle chopped peanuts over all three sauces, then add a maraschino cherry. 

Since it's not ice cream, you can't eat it effectively with a spoon. Instead, use a knife to slice the bananas, then use a fork or skewer to pick up banana pieces and dip them in sauce. Then you can enjoy the marshmallows with whatever sauce remains. Yum!

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Speaking of Banana Splits, does anyone else remember this? 

 

What was the plot? Was there one? I literally don't remember anything about it except that I used to watch it when I was really young. Wikipedia to the rescue! And then I found this, which doesn't answer my questions, but raised a whole lot more.

Thank you for joining me on this unplanned, nonsensical stroll down memory lane. Well, less like a stroll and more like a confusing, yet strangely groovy, dance. 

Marbled Marshmallows

Marbled marshmallows. What do you think?!

After making Pac-Man Marshmallows, you're going to have small amounts of red, pink, blue, orange and yellow Candy Melts left in little bowls. Don't rinse them out! Instead, scrape the remaining bits into a separate bowl. Drag a toothpick or the edge of the spoon through the colors to mix them slightly, but do not stir or drag too much.

 

Drop a large marshmallow into the bowl. Gently roll it until it is coated on all sides. 

 

Remove it gently with a spoon, then set it on waxed paper to dry.

 

I was able to make 5 marbled marshmallows using just the leftovers from Pac-Man. I put one in Trevor's lunchbox yesterday and it was a big hit with his friends.  

I'm definitely going to be doing this again.

Pac-Man Marshmallow Treats

Marshmallows + Candy Melts + Candy Eyeballs = Pac-Man marshmallows! Now I have an edible Pac-Man set to go with the definitely not-edible Pac-Man rubber finger tips. This post contains affiliate links.

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Pac-Man Marshmallows

Materials: 

• large marshmallows
• Wilton Candy Melts (yellow, red, white, blue, and orange)
• Wilton Candy Eyeballs 
• waxed paper

Steps to make the ghosts:

Melt one color of candy in a small bowl. Drop a marshmallow in and swirl it around until it's completely covered. Lift it out with a fork and let it drain slightly. When it's done dripping, transfer it to waxed paper. Let it cool for a minute or two, then put the eyeballs in place. If they slump downhill, remove them and wait another minute and try again. Or leave them that way, like my Clyde (orange). Repeat for the rest of the ghosts.

Steps to make Pac-Man:

Compress one marshmallow vertically until it is more round than cylindrical. Use kitchen shears to snip out a triangle from one side. 

Dip it in yellow and swirl to coat it completely. Lift Pac-Man out with a fork, allowing all the extra candy to drip off. Put it on waxed paper and let it cool for a minute or two before adding a single eye. 

Oh, and don't rinse out the bowls of melted candy yet. Tomorrow I'll show you how to use up the little bits that were left over.