Hershey's Kisses Candy Cane Blossoms

I followed the recipe straight from a bag of Hershey's Kisses Candy Cane Mint. This cookie is not only easy to make but also seem to be a hit with a lot of people! I love making these for Christmas because they are so festive and colorful.

10 oz bag of Hershey's Kisses Candy Cane Mint (48 pieces of candy)

1/2 cup butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons milk

Coarse sugar, rainbow nonpareils, and confetti sprinkles for decoration.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove wrappers from candies and leave inside fridge until needed.

Beat butter, granulated sugar, egg and vanilla in large bowl until well blended. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; add alternately with milk to butter mixture, beating until well blended. 

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in coarse sugar, rainbow nonpareils, and confetti sprinkles. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. 

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and cookie is set. Remove from oven; cool 2 to 3 minutes. Press a candy piece into center of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.

Marzipan Carrot

I made these marzipan carrot to decorate Vance's birthday cake. I made a carrot cake for his birthday. This is my first time handling marzipan. I quickly learned that marzipan can get quite sticky. Have some confectioners sugar on hand. You can roll sticky marzipan on confectioners sugar to make it less sticky.

1 tube marzipan

Orange food coloring (or mix yellow with red)

Parsley

Combine marzipan with food coloring until desired color is achieved. Shape into a carrot. Snip a small sprig of parsley (leaves and stem). Stick the stem on top of the marzipan carrot. Let the marzipan carrot chill inside the refrigerator until set.  

Fruitcake Balls

I forgot to line my pans with parchment paper when making fruitcakes this year. Needless to say, the whole cake was stuck into the pan and I had to scrape the whole cake out. Not wanting to waste it, I turned the now giant pile of crumbs into delicious balls that looks like sugar plums. Follow my fruitcake recipe (which makes 2 cakes) and crumble 1 cake into pieces. Recipe as follows:

1 fruitcake, crumbled into pieces
1/2 cup speculoos or smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup brandy or rum (you can add more if you want)
1 cup coarse sugar, for rolling

In an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, add fruitcake crumbs, speculoos and brandy. Mix the ingredients on low speed until crumbs start to stick together.

Shape into 1 inch balls. I used a measuring spoon (1 tablespoon) to make the amount and shape even. Roll balls in coarse sugar. Let chill inside refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Serve cold, or room temperature.