American Baker in Germany

 Candy corn is something I remember from my childhood. I've always liked it. I know that's a controversial opinion. So, I was disappointed to discover that candy corn isn't available outside the United States. Then, last year, a friend of mine brought some candy corn from the US and after eating some, I realized it wouldn't be too difficult to make. It's really very similar to fondant. So, I tried a few variations until I got it as close as I could to store bought flavor. Homemade Candy Corn: 100g white fondant 1 tbsp honey 3/4 tsp vanilla extract or ground vanilla beans 1 tsp tylo powder powdered sugar to maintain consistency yellow and red gel food coloring Beginning with the white fondant, I kneaded it a bit and added the vanilla extract to it. Since vanilla extract is a liquid, it breaks down the fondant a bit and makes it very sticky. So, I added some extra powdered sugar until it returned to fondant consistency. Then I added the honey. Honey is even stickier t...

 Every year I try to make at least one steampunk cake. I just like the style and think it's fun. So, here's my version this year. I used 6-inch and a 4-inch cake dummy and frosted it with vegan American buttercream. Then I rolled out a strip of white fondant. Then I used a edging cutter to make a lace edge. And I added small holes with a round piping tip. And wrapped it around the bottom of the 6-inch cake. I covered the top of the cake as well as the top edge with forest green fondant. There was still a gap between the edge of the green fondant and the lace. Then I cut out some half circles with a circle cutter out of the forest green. I laid it along the edge of the cake overlapping until the entire gap was covered. Then I covered the top tier with burgundy fondant. Obviously, it was quite dry and cracked quite a bit. But instead of ripping it off and trying again, I decided to use it how it is. So, I stacked the tiers on top of each other. I rolled out some gold fondant and ...

 Funny story: when I was pregnant with my second child I craved fruit in all shapes and sizes really badly. I really wanted fig newtons at one point, and guess what you can't find anywhere in Germany? You guessed it. Fig newtons. So, when the opportunity arose, I knew I had to try to make them myself from scratch.  Fig Newtons: For the Fig Jam: 500g (about 8) fresh figs 1/2 cup (100g) brown sugar 1/4 tsp salt 1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 tbsp vanilla sugar 1 tbsp lemon juice For the shortbread crust: 1 1/2 cups (190g) flour 1/2 cup (60g) powdered sugar 2/3 cup (170g) butter 1/2 tsp vanilla extract or 1/2 tbsp vanilla sugar 1/4 tsp salt Start out making the fig jam. Cut the tips off the figs and quarter them.  Put them into a small saucepan. Add the brown sugar, salt, vanilla and lemon juice.  Stir well.  Heat over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Then reduce heat to low and simmer the figs, stirring occasionally for 45 minutes to an hour.  The outsi...