Krysten's Confections

Hey guys! I know it’s been a really time since I’ve last updated, but you might just have to wait a little bit longer. My laptop is broken. =( Apparently my hard drive might have crashed, and if that is the case, I hope that I didn’t lose any of my files or pictures. I am also in the middle of completing my finals, which will end tomorrow! Thank goodness. In the mean time, I’ve been on a baking frenzy and once I get my laptop fixed or access to a computer, I will be sure to post up all my desserts! So look forward to all my baked goods.

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Hello All! It has been quite some time! I’m finally home with my family and it feels so wonderful! My last project, involving bake sales, was a Thanksgiving/Christmas theme. I decided to make gingerbread men cookies. I originally wanted to decorate with color, but time is never on my side. How does so much time pass while making these things? If anyone knows a shortcut on decorating 30+ cookies under 7 hours, please let me know! Hope you guys had a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoying the holiday season! =)

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It’s that time of the week again! I finally found some time to blog. It’s almost Thanksgiving break and I am beyond excited to go home and be with my family. I absolutely enjoy the holidays because family and friends get together and the atmosphere is so pleasant, how can you be in a bad mood?

I know many might say that their Mom’s cooking is the best, but I really have to say that my Mom can make just about any and everything. I love that she can put together any idea that she has and every dish comes out simply delicious! If I really had to choose one dish that is my favorite, for Thanksgiving, it would have to be my Mom’s candied yams with marshmallows. Yummy… I’m getting hungry, just thinking about it. HAHA

My two questions this week are:

1.) What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish?
2.) Do you go all out for Thanksgiving with decorations around the house and eye-popping tablescapes?

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To participate in Thursday Two Questions Meme, click the button below!

Hello Readers!!

I feel like it’s been such a long time since my last post. Unfortunately, school has kept me quite busy and will continue to, until this semester is over. Anyway, what comes to mind when you hear the word western? Cowboys, right? Well for this bake sale, since I’ve invested in a box of 100 cookie cutters, I decided to make cowboy hats and boots. Here they are!

This time, I tried something different, instead of using candy melts. I researched and found that using royal icing is a great way to decorate cookies. For some reason, I thought it’d take me less time, but to my surprise, it took me longer! I spent nearly 7 hours altogether. My hands felt so strained from all the pipe work that had to be done. Thank goodness I only made 24 cookies, instead of my usual 36. I would have been up ALL night! Even though this was my first time using royal icing, I was pretty impressed with the way they ended up coming out. I definitely like the smooth finish it gives on the cookies and will most likely use royal icing from now on. =)

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It’s cold outside and the holiday season is in the air! This time of the year is when I usually get to see my favorite pie being sold in local grocery stores! For some reason, I don’t usually see pecan pies sold every weekend when I go grocery shopping. I decided to fulfill my craving and make my own pecan pies, with a little twist. Here is what my mini pies looked like!

What do you guys think? You can either leave them as is, when they come out the oven; or you could sprinkle some powdered sugar on top, when the pies have cooled. I have to say that the powdered sugar gives it that extra flavor that is simply delicious!

I began by using an already made pie crust and a round cookie cutter to form the petite shape.

Next, place the pie crust into each muffin cup and put your pecan filling in. Then bake these mini pies at 375 degrees for 20 minutes! For an extra kick of flavor, I added 1/4 tsp. of ground cinnamon! I simply enjoy the smell of cinnamon baking in the oven and the taste, as well! =) I got this idea and filling recipe from Chef Chuck’s Cucina!

To Make This Recipe:

(Makes 24 mini pecan pies)
2 pre-made pie crusts (whatever brand you want)
1 1/2 cup of chopped pecans
2 tbs melted butter
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
powdered sugar for topping

1.) Roll out your pie crust and cut out 24 round shapes.
2.) Mix all ingredients to form filling.
3.) Place each pie crust into the baking pan and put filling into each cup.
4.) Bake at 375 degrees F for 20 minutes.
5.) Sprinkle powdered sugar on pecan pies, when cooled. (optional)

Thanks for visiting my blog! Hope you liked my mini pecan pies!

Hello everyone! For those of you who were keeping up with my previous my blog, I decided to switch from Blogspot. Hope you guys continue to follow here! And this one is here to stay! =)

I’ve decided to participate in this meme created by Blessing Reflections.  Hopefully I will be able to post something every Thursday! =)

Being a college student and living away from home, it’s pretty hard to have time to prepare a really good home cooked meal.  I basically eat when I have time and, sometimes, I’ll even forget I haven’t eaten dinner yet. Some days get overwhelming with homework, quizzes, and preparation for tests.  However, no matter what day it is, I always find myself craving Chicken Pad Thai.  I always want to try other Thai dishes, but I love Pad Thai so much, I just can’t pass up the opportunity of ordering it.  At some places, dishes can be served in such big portions that you can share some of your dishes.  That’s when I finally got to try the Basil Chicken dish, on the left.  It was simply delicious! I’m not a big fan of any dishes with an immense amount of herbs, but the basil definitely gives it an incredible taste.

And this leads to my two questions for the week:

Now if you haven’t already seen these all over the web, then you are surely missing out!  I have had plenty of opportunities to make cake pops; and they are, by far, the most easy, fun, and creative desserts to make!  Not only are they cute, but they are simply scrumptious!  The idea came from no other than the infamous, Bakerella.  She has plenty of wonderful ideas and step by step instructions!  Here’s how I made my vanilla cake pops:

Take your cake mix and follow the instructions on the box. I baked my cake in a 13×9 cake pan, but it doesn’t really matter which pan you use

Once your cake is baked and cooled, crumble the entire cake into a bowl, and mix in the entire can of your selected frosting.  Then, form your cake into the size and shape of your preference.  I chose to form round balls for my pumpkins and a cone-like shape for my ghosts.  After you finish shaping, place your cake into the refrigerator or freezer for a faster chill.  I actually froze my cake overnight  to have a firmer consistency, but you can chill the cake, until it is firm to the touch.

Melt the candy melt color of your choice.  Candy melts will have a thicker consistency, which will be hard to perform a smooth dip.  However, to get your candy melt to become thinner, add some vegetable oil, until the consistency is thin enough to dip. Then dip one end of your lollipop stick into the candy melt and place the stick into your cake.  **** Make sure to just dip your cake into the candy melt straight down.  Do not twist and twirl your cake around, or the cake will fall off the stick!

Chill your coated cake in the refrigerator until the coating hardens and then decorate your cake pops the way you please!

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I’d have to say that Halloween is one of my favorite holidays! There are many creative desserts that you can make! For the Halloween bake sale, I decided to make snickerdoodle and sugar cookies again.  I just recently invested in a box of 100 cookie cutters; and I might as well make use of all the shapes that are available.  I decided to make pumpkin and ghost cookies.

After using the cookie cutters to form the shapes that I wanted, I then used a stencil to make an imprint for faces on the pumpkins.  Then off into the oven they go!

And these were the final products! These cookies, too, took 5-6 hours long! I am quite a perfectionist and made sure the faces would come out as evenly and symmetrical as I could.  I used a toothpick to add all the extra features on these pumpkins and ghosts! I know there is probably an easier way than using a toothpick, but that’s all I had at the time. Haha

Thanks for reading! I hope you guys have a wonderful Halloween!

Hello Readers!

I am a simple college student, who loves to bake at any given opportunity.  I’ve been following so many baking blogs that have inspired me to make my own.  So here goes my first post!

I’ve been involved in baking for one of my school’s organization baked sales, this semester.  I never knew just how well any of my baked goods would sell, but apparently, I’ve done a pretty good job! The second bake sale involved an 80′s theme.  I honestly didn’t know what I was suppose to create, until I did a little online researching.  I came to the conclusion that the Pac Man game was quite popular, in the 80′s, so I went with that.  I decided to make Pac Man and the monsters that he eats, in the game.

I spent a lovely 5-6 hours on these characters.  The Pac Man was made from Betty Crocker’s Sugar Cookie Mix and the monsters were made from Pillsbury’s Snickerdoodle Cookie Mix. I haven’t quite figured out what frosting/icing to use that would harden, so that when I individually wrap each cookie, it wouldn’t smear all over.  I decided to go with candy melts! I didn’t think the combination would taste that good, but evidently they do!

Hope you guys enjoyed my first blog! Please feel free to leave any feedback! Thank you for visiting & continue to follow me!