Edible Antics - Having Fun With Food

Traditional Cookies from Around the World Unite in Wisconsin

Traditional cookies from Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Scotland and Denmark are lovingly baked and decorated right here in Wisconsin. 

 

 

Springerle Cookies - Germany

Beautiful Springerle cookies are baked in molds and hand-painted with intricate designs.The history of Springerle cookies can be traced back to the 1400s to the areas of Europe that are now Germany and Switzerland.The bakers at Embossed Edibles here in Wisconsin take pride in continuing this artistic tradition.

Biscotti - Italy

Biscotti are crunchy Italian cookies designed for dunking in your coffee, so you have an excuse to have cookies for breakfast! The Wisconsin bakery K-Delights bakes them up and covers them with chocolate, nuts, berries and more.They are available online at Wisconsinmade.com.

Bratzeli - Switzerland

These buttery cookies are handmade in the town known as Wisconsin's "Little Swizterland" - New Glarus. The New Glarus Bakery bakes these thin, wafer-like cookies in an iron and flavor them with almond.

Shortbread - Scotland

The history of Shortbread cookies dates back to the middle ages in Scotland. They were considered a luxury and enjoyed at Christmas celebrations and weddings.Today, they are still a Christmas favorite but visitors to the Wisconsin Dells enjoy them by the thousands at Cheesecake Heaven Cafe. If you aren't near the Dells, you can still taste this famous cookie by shopping at Wisconsinmade.com.

Nut Horns - Denmark

A Danish tradition, light and flakey Nut Rolls are handmade in Racine, Wisconsin. Each roll is filled with ground walnuts, cream cheese and topped with icing.They have been a customer favorite for over 20 years and were even featured on the Food Network.

5 Fruit Cake Alternatives

Someone out there must like fruit cake because they keep getting sent as Christmas gifts. Sorry fruit cake lovers, call me a food snob, but I'm not a fan.  I'll concede that fruit cake isn't the worst food ever (I think that title goes to canned ham), but why subject yourself to neon colored "fruit" pieces and dense cake when there are so many festive holiday pastry alternatives. 

Stollen-  This German fruit bread has "stollen" my heart (ha!).  It sort of resembles a fruit cake but it's much, much better!  Instead of the neon fake fruit, the stollen is filled with two kinds of raisins, almonds, spices and a strip of sweet marizpan.  Bakers dust the whole loaf with a generous coating of powdered sugar.  Why is stollen so popular at Christmas time? Because the shape and color symbolize the baby Jesus wrapped in a white cloth.

 

 

Red Velvet Danish Kringle- A Wisconsin Christmas tradition meets a Southern favorite with this sweet pastry.  The giant danish is topped with cream cheese icing and filled with a festive cake-like filling. This is a limited edition holiday flavor but your traditional favorite Kringle flavors like apple, pecan and raspberry are always available at Wisconsinmade.com.

 

 

 

 

Christmas Sugar Cookies- Are you challenged in the baking department?  You can still send gorgeous sugar cookies thanks to the bakers at K-Delights bakery.

 

 

 

 

 

Chocolate Eclairs- These aren't your average eclairs.  They're gigantic! Each one has an inch of chocolaty frosting and is as big as a cell phone from the 1980s.  These eclairs are WAY better than fruit cake. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turtle Cheesecake- This turtle cheesecake is made by a bakery in Wisconsin called Cheesecake Heaven.  It's not just a clever name, it's where you go when you eat it! The creamy cheesecake, crunchy nuts and gooey caramel make a decadent combination that will put any fruit cake to shame. 

 

 

 

Have I convinced you? Forget the fruit cake and browse the holiday desserts at Wisconsinmade.com.

Don't Forget November and December Birthdays

November is here and December is fast approaching. Quick! Deck the halls! Brine the turkey! Vacuum the guest bedroom!

With all the chores to do before Thanksgiving and Christmas, it can be easy to forget November and December birthdays.  Just because someone happens to be born around the same time of year as baby Jesus doesn't mean they don't deserve a special day of their own.  My mom's birthday is November 21st and  she often receives presents with the caveat "This is your birthday AND your Christmas present". 

Now, I know "it's the thought that counts" and most people with November and December birthdays don't make a big deal about their forgotten or otherwise diminished birthdays, but how about we make this year different? Let's give the winter babies a BIRTHDAY present that isn't under the tree or wrapped in red and green, but a legitimate cake, candles, and balloons present.  Here are some festive and tasty ideas for November and December birthday gifts.

 

Hand-Decorated Birthday Sugar Cookies

Freshly baked cookies decorated with cakes and balloons won't be confused as a Christmas present so they make the perfet treat for a December birthday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Popcorn and Seasoning Birthday Gift Set

Freshly popped popcorn makes a yummy birthday treat.  Add two flavors of popcorn seasonings, popcorn forks and a birthday gift box and you've got a popcorn party. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Customized Birthday Cake

Nothing says "Happy Birthday" better than cake! If you aren't a baker, leave it to the experts at O&H Bakery to make a cake that the birthday boy or girl will never forget. 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you have a November or December birthday?  Comment below and tell me your story. 

 

 

What is Sweetest Day?

What is Sweetest Day? According to American Greetings, 44% of people surveyed think Sweetest Day is just another made-up holiday to sell more cards and gifts.  I'm surprised that 44% of people even know Sweetest Day exists. I had never heard of the holiday until my brother's girlfriend from Ohio explained it to me- and it makes sense that she introduced me to Sweetest Day, since it originated in Ohio. 

The true origins of Sweetest Day, according to Sandy Mitchell at About.com, are much more, well, sweet than the old "Halmark made it up" story lets on.  Mitchell says the holiday was started by Herbert Birch Kingston of Cleveland during the Great Depression. Kingston wanted to do something thoughtful for the less fortunate, so he gave out thousands of boxes of candy throughout the city.  Residents of Cleveland began to recreate the tradition yearly, and word spread throughout Ohio and later to other areas of the United States. 

This year, Sweetest Day will be celebrated on October 15th. Made up or not, if you are lucky enough to have a sweetie, it's always a good day to celebrate.  Here are a few sweet gift ideas from Wisconsinmade.com:

For a sweetie as lovely as a rose, chocolate roses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For a sweetie who Backs the Pack, a Packer Chocolate Gift Box:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For an artistic sweetie, hand-painted Kohler chocolates:

Visit Wisconsinmade.com for more sweet gifts for Sweetest Day!

Chewy Brownies: An Accidental Discovery

I accidentally discovered the secret to chewy brownies when I made  "bratwurst on the grill" brownies, an idea from Taste of Home Magazine. 

My coworker Marilyn pointed out to me that she loves chewy brownies, and mine were chewy all the way around.  You've probably heard of those "As Seen on TV", all-corners brownie pans. If you are a chewy brownie lover,  I'm here to tell you, don't buy the over-priced pan! There is a cheaper and easier way to make chewy brownies and you probably have the key piece of equipment in your kitchen right now: the muffin tin.  By putting my brownie batter in a muffin tin, I made chewy brownies without even meaning too.  Not to mention the grill decorations make this the perfect dessert for your next brat cookout. To make your own, just follow these simple steps:

• Take some brownie batter (from a box or from scratch- it's up to you) and fill greased muffin cups most of the way and bake as instructed on the box/in the recipe. 
• After the brownies have baked and cooled, top each brownie with red or orange sugar sprinkles (these are the glowing coals).
• Use black icing to make lines for the grill grate. I used the little tubes of gel you find in the baking section of the grocery store.
• Top each grill with three Hot Tamale candies.
• Make grill marks on your Hot Tamale bratwurst.  I found that using the icing straight out of the tube made the line too thick. Instead, squirt out a bit of icing on to a plate and run a toothpick through it, then run the toothpick over the candy three times to make the grill marks.

For a winter brownie decoration, visit my Snowy Wisconsin Brownies post. 

What brownie do you prefer? The edge, the middle, or the corner?

Beer in Food and Other Unexpected Places

It's no secret that in Wisconsin we like beer.  We like beer so much we put beer in food whenever possible- like beer brats and beer cheese soup.  We even like to come up with new ways to use beer- like in an unexpected recipe or even in soap! A beer gift makes a great Father's Day  surprise, so here's a list of my top 5 favorite Wisconsin beer related foods and gifts.

 

 

 

1. Beer Brats - A secret to delicious Wisconsin beer brats is a quick boil in some Wisconsin beer.  Save a step and send your brats straight to the grill with precooked red lager beer brats.  They are already boiled so all you have to do is seer them on the grill, pop them into a bun and top with your favorite brat toppings.  Perfect for a Father's Day cookout.

2. Beer Cheese Soup- On my previous post I wondered if beer cheese soup was Wisconsin's OFFICIAL soup, and according to my Twitter followers ( @Wisconsinmade ) it actually is! Who knew?

3. Beer Bread- Beer bread is a perfect accompaniment for soup and chili, but if you aren't much of a  baker, don't worry because there are plenty of tasty beer bread mixes out there. 

4. Beer Soap- No, that's not a typo, I do mean SOAP not SOUP.  Talk about an unexpected place to find beer!  This Wisconsin beer Soap Gift set is free of unnecessary chemicals and preservatives, but it does have beer from the Capital Brewery in Middleton, Wisconsin.

5. Drink Your Beer and Eat It Too Cookbook - When I first saw this beer cookbook I expected your standard beer recipes like beer brats and beer soup, and sure enough, this book has that! It also has some surprising uses for beer like in baked pork chops or desserts like gingerbread. A great gift for a Dad who likes to spend time in the kitchen.

 

Top 5 Edible Wedding Anniversary Gifts By Year

With all of the buzz about the royal wedding, everyone here at WisconsinMade has been thinking about wedding anniversary gifts by year.  This tradition involves giving a gift based on the type of gift assigned to each year- 1st is paper, 2nd is cotton, 3rd is leather and so on. When creating the new anniversary gifts by year section of our website, we realized how much fun it can be to get creative with anniversary gifts.  For example, the 2nd year anniversary is china... how about sending the happy couple a gift card to their favorite chinese restaurant?  Here are some more food related wedding anniversary gift ideas.

 

 

 

 

1) Cookbook- 1st Anniversary- Paper-  Not exactly edible, but it can lead to some tasty edibles! One of my favorites is the From Asparagus to Zucchini cookbook which is filled with recipes that use the fruits and veggies of the season.

2) Candy Apples- 4th Anniversary - Fruit- A fruit basket is a nice gift, but cover that fruit with chocolate, caramel, nuts and candies and you have an AMAZING gift.  Check out these decadent creations by Amy's Apples for inspiration.

3) Cow Pies- 6th Anniversary - Chocolate- You can go two ways with this one.  Handpainted Kohler chocolates will impress even a royal couple like Will & Kate, but if your friends are a pair of fun loving, cow-tipping, goofy Wisconsinites, they might apperciate some chocolate cow pies. 

4) Popcorn Tin- 10th Anniversary- Tin- This is another non-edible gift category that a little creativity can turn into a tasty treat. Give a tin full of popcorn.  Popcorn tins come in many different designs from hearts to sports teams so it will be easy to find one that fits your couples unique personality.

5) Packer Snacks - 50th Anniversary - Gold - In Wisconsin, when you hear gold, you think green and gold! Go Pack Go! After fifty years of watching Packer games together,  what gift could be more perfect than a gift basket in a cheesehead? Ok, MAYBE Super Bowl tickets...

Food and Coffee: Return of the Coffee Snob

Have you ever had a bite of chocolate cake, then a sip of coffee and noticed how the coffee tastes even better than usual?  Careful pairing will make you enjoy your coffee and food even more.  Not sure which coffees go with which foods? The coffee snob is here to help! Below are a few of the coffee varieties from the Wisconsinmade.com Coffee of the Month Club and some foods to try with your cup of joe.  

 

 

 

 

Columbian - The medium acidity, strong body and hints of caramel flavor make Columbia blend a perfect pair for zuchinni breads or carrot cake.

Coasta Rican - This full bodied coffee makes a great partner for lightly flavored baked goods, so try this with a fruity muffin instead of sugary Kringle.

Guatemalan- This richly flavored, heavy bodied brew can stand up to a chocolate Kringle or even a caramel apple.

Kona- An aromatic cup of Kona coffee goes well with oatmeal, but tastes even better along side oatmeal cookies or O&H Bakery's famous Seven Sister's Coffee Cake.

Visit my Coffee Tips post if you can't get enough of my ex-barista coffee snobbery, and for more tasty coffee and food pairings, check out this helpful chart.

Cooking and Baking Disasters: The Tale of the Bleeding Cake

I talk a good game with all of my cooking and baking tips, but the truth is I've had some major kitchen disasters. There have been awesome triumphs too, but the failures are more fun to talk about.  The story of how I made perfect muffins is WAY less interesting than the time I made a bleeding cake.  Yep, that's right, a bleeding cake.

I grew up in the south and one day I discovered the joy of red velvet cake. This is what a red velvet cake is suppose to look like:

 

I bought some red velvet cake mix so I could try it at home.  I baked up two layers and anxiously awaited my delicious cake. I was so excited that I couldn't wait to put the icing on and dig in.  I thought the cake was "cool enough" and started icing.  This is when I discovered that red velvet cake mix is just chocolate cake mix with some red food dye.   The still hot cake caused the red dye to turn the white icing red, and this created creepy blood like red drops running down the side of the cake as the icing melted- not very appetizing. I was so embarrassed at the time I didn't take a picture so please enjoy the Microsoft Paint rendering of the event:

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, maybe my amateur sketch is a little exaggerated.... the cake didn't have red eyes and angry eye brows, but you get the idea. So the moral of the story?

1) Wait until your cake is COMPLETELY cool before icing it, or leave the cake baking to the professionals.

 2) Kitchen disasters can turn into fun cooking stories.

3) Kitchen disasters can sometimes lead to cool Halloween party ideas, like a bleeding cake!

Have you had some funny cooking and baking mishaps? Comment below and tell me your story. 

Fat Tuesday: 5 Ways To "Pig Out" Before Lent

Fat Tuesday sure is a perfect name for today, the last day before Lent.  Many people give up a certain indulgence for the 40 days of Lent- popular choices are chocolate, soda, meat...so Fat Tuesday is the day to pig out on all of those goodies before the sacrifice starts.  In honor of Fat Tuesday, here are five of Wisconsin's most indulgent, guilty pleasure foods.  If you happen to be fasting by the time you read this, I apologize. Put your email address in on the right under my picture so you can receive updates as soon as I post!

 1. Chocolate Eclairs-  Eclairs are a sinful food in general, but the eclairs from O&H Bakery bring gluttony to a whole new level.  As big as your hand and with 1/2 an inch of chocolate frosting, one of these monster eclairs can feed a small family. 

 

2. Bacon Burgers- You've heard of bacon on a burger, but now there's bacon IN a burger.  As if the delicious apple wood smoked Nueske bacon wasn't tempting enough, now it's mixed in with juicy beef. 

3. Fried Cheese Curds-  Can I go ONE post without talking about cheese curds? I guess not.  I'll keep it simple- if fried cheese curds are wrong, I don't want to be right.  For more info on curds check out: What's a Cheese Curd? and 5 Things to Do With a Cheese Curd.

4. Gourmet Turtle Cheesecake- I think it's ok to eat this one during Lent because it's made by Cheesecake Heaven.  This rich creamy cheesecake (pictured at top left) is topped with gooey caramel, crunchy nuts and chocolate chips, yum!

5.Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream-  The side of the carton says "Nutrition Information: Don't even ask.  If you want healthy, eat carrots.".  Hmm, so if I don't know about the calories they don't count, right?