Showing posts with label Fruit Dip. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fruit Dip. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Homemade Marshmallow Fluff and Fruit Dip


Here you have two recipes.  It is your lucky day!

My sister-n-law made this fruit dip for us when we visited them last.  I positively could not get enough of it.  I felt so guilty every time I scooped my strawberry or pineapple piece into the luscious dip.

I must have looked like a little piggy and quite honestly, I did not care.  

OOPS, did I say that out loud?

I am not going to lie, there is no way to make this healthy.  I tried to make a batch using rice syrup instead of the corn syrup and that was a total fail. 

I had to reconcile the fact that it is a treat and no matter how hard I tried it was not going to be any other way than sweet, sweet and super good.

Once I allowed myself to enjoy this dessert to its fullest without feeling guilty, I feel it began to taste even sweeter.  LOL

If you are a reader of my blog then you know that I try my best to make most things from scratch.  To buy the jar of premade marshmallow was something I just did not want to do so I decided to try my hand at making this version.

I found the original version from one of my favorite blogs, A Farm Girl Dabbles.  I love her blog because she also likes to cook from scratch and use whole ingredients.  I found the homemade version tasted cleaner.  I didn't have a strange after taste like I did with the jar version.  

We are a few months out from having fresh strawberries in our local farmer's markets but with Valentine's right around the corner I thought a few of you may want to make this dip for school parties, work events or a little something special for your sweetie pie.  

ENJOY!



Fruit Dip

1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cup of homemade marshmallow cream (recipe below) 
                 or 1 7oz jar of premade marshmallow cream
1 Tablespoon of cherry juice, for color
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1.  In a medium bowl, whip cream cheese until fluffy,

2.  Fold in marshmallow cream, juice, and nutmeg.

3.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

4.  Serve with your favorite sliced and prepared fruits.


Homemade Marshmallow Cream

1/3 cup water
3/4 cup light corn syrup
2/3 cup plus 2 T. sugar, divided
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1.  In a small saucepan with heat set to medium-high, add water, corn syrup and the 2/3 cup of sugar.   Cook until boiling.   Continue cooking and stirring (see note below) until the mixture reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer.  Remove from heat.

You do not need to stir the whole time.  Just once in a while to keep the bottom from scorching.

2.  While step number one is cooking and reaching the desired temperature, you can beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar.  The whites should be light and frothy right before you add the 2 tablespoons of sugar.  Continue beating until soft peaks form.  Set aside until syrup from step one is ready.

The easiest way to do this step is using a table top mixer.  I used my kitchenaid. 

3.  Grab the bowl with the egg whites, set your mixer, with the whisk attachment, to low and s.l.o.w.l.y  start pouring the hot syrup into the egg whites.  As egg whites start to stiffen,  increase the speed to high.  Beat on high for 7-9 minutes until the mixture is stiff and glossy.  

4.  Add vanilla and beat until combined, maybe one more minute.

5.  Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

I used mine to make brown butter rice crispy treats.  ENJOY




Written by Sherron Watson


Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Strawberry Cups


We love strawberries!

I try to buy them when they are in season but there are times I just want some in the winter too.

I pay the extra money to get the large strawberries.  They make wonderful cups.

I filled these with a combination of fresh strawberries and mascarpone cheese...oh, were they good!

To make them sit better, I cut the bottoms and dipped them in chocolate AND then dipped them in little white candy balls.

The combination of strawberry, filling, chocolate along with the crunch of the white candy was a delight to our mouths. For an added touch I dusted some dark cocoa over the top.

This is a super easy dessert.  I would suggest that these be made the morning of your event or family function.  The strawberries are juicy and with each passing day they get a bit wilted and the chocolate on the bottom can get sticky--still delicious mind you--just not picture perfect.



Recipe:  Strawberry Cups filled with Mascarpone Cheese

12 large strawberries
1/2 cup of melted chocolate
2 tablespoons of white candy balls (Michaels or any place that sells cake supplies will carry them.)
1/3 cup of soft mascarpone cheese
6-8 fresh raspberries (use jam if you have that instead)
cocoa (optional) for dusting


Wash and dry the strawberries.  With a sharp knife, cut the bottoms and the tops off.

The strawberries should be hollow inside.  If you need to trim a bit out of the strawberry just use a sharp knife and carefully remove the pulp to create a cup.

Dip the bottom of each strawberry in the melted chocolate and then the white candy.  Let set on a lined cookie tray.

In a small bowl add the raspberries and mash them.  Add the mascarpone cheese and blend well.

I used a baggie and piped the filling into each strawberry.

Dust with chocolate if you desire to do so.

Refrigerate the strawberry cups until ready to serve.

Written by Sherron Watson

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Apple Nacho's



I remember coming home every day from school hungry.

I usually had cereal for breakfast and a school lunch.  Most of the time I did not eat lunch because I was too rushed to play.

After all, all the fun stuff happened on the play ground; not in the classroom.  Of course now I beg to differ.

At the age of 8, I was all about playing in the dirt, hanging upside down on the monkey bars and chasing my friends in a game of tag.

My friends and I would go into the furthest parts of the dirt fields.  This must have been strange to the school aides watching from the steps of the playground to see 4 girls run and spend their time dragging their feet in the ground, occasionally running around holding our hands like "hooves".  You know, your elbows bent to a 90 degree angle, close to your bodies with the tips of your hands curved.

Horses.  We were busy playing horses, building corrals and running free in the wind.  Our mains (strawberry blond, dark chestnut brown and blonde hair) blowing freely in the crisp California mountain air.

15 minutes. 30 minutes.

It did not matter how much time we had, we did the same thing everyday.

On the weekends we were riding real horses.  At school we were imaginary horses.  My Little Pony was a glimmer of an idea in some young entrepreneurs mind as we were playing the real thing everyday.

Coming home from school hungry, I would have enjoyed this treat welcoming me on the counter every once in a while.  I lived a different life.  I usually had another bowl of cereal or a Pop Tart.

I try to have healthy snacks ready for the kids because I know one thing after all these years, kids still come home hungry.  They may not be playing horses in the fields but they skip out a bit early on lunches to meet up with friends in the halls or the foyers of most schools.

What were your favorite after school snacks as a kid?

Recipe: Apple Nacho's

1 red apple, sliced thinly
1 green apple, sliced thinly
caramel sauce (recipe below)
mini chocolate chips

Spread apples on a plate.  Put caramel in a baggie to pipe on or use a spoon to drizzle sauce over apples.  Sprinkle with chocolate chips.

NOTE:  You can also serve the apples sliced with the caramel in a bowl.


Recipe:  Peanut Butter Caramel
This makes one cup of sauce.  It is great served over ice cream or over a skillet cookie.

1/2 cup of coconut oil, warmed
1/2 cup of peanut butter
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon  of real maple syrup
1 tablespoon of vanilla
pinch of salt

Combine all of the above ingredients into a blender.  Blend for 3 minutes until thick.   Refrigerate leftovers.






Saturday, September 22, 2012

Apple Dip



"An apple a day will keep the doctor away." 

I must have heard this several times a week as a kid.  I tell my own kids this more than they probably care to admit.

I think fruit is important and sometimes it's boring to just eat a plain apple or banana.  

I try to come up with creative ways of encouraging the kidlets and their friends to eat a bit healthier.  I say a bit, because the dip is, well, a bit sugary.

We make our popcorn in a plain brown bag with REAL butter and salt.  That's it; nothing more or nothing less.



I found a small bag of Halloween popcorn that the kids must have gotten last year hidden behind a box in my pantry yesterday. 

 SCORE, was my first thought. 

 YUCK, was what happened after I tried the first popped kernel.

I personally could not handle all of the "seasoning" on the popcorn.  

I will stick to buying my organic, Amish sold popcorn kernels.  I love the whiteness of the popcorn once it is popped.  I can gage the amount of butter and salt.  It works for us.

This little after school snack has been a treat in our family for a few years.  We shared it with the cousins and now they love it too.  

The apple is crunch, the dip is soft.  The apple is sweet and the popcorn is salty.  With this combination you will soon find yourself looking into the bottom of an empty bowl.  

Oh, maybe that is just me…LOL

It's pretty dang good.  I recommend it.  ENJOY!


Recipe:  Apple Dip

1 package of cream cheese, soft
1/2 cup of packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Blend all together until smooth.

You will need apples, popcorn and dip.  Take apple wedge, dunk into dip then roll in popcorn.  DONE.






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