Corn on the Cob Cupcakes
Makes 8 ears of corn: 24 cupcakes

Our corniest project ever! The ears are bursting with fresh summer flavor. But surprise: those kernels are jelly beans, the butter pats are fruit chews, and the salt and pepper is black and white sugar.

Ingredients
24 vanilla cupcakes baked in white paper liners
1 can (16 ounces) vanilla frosting
Yellow food coloring
About 3 1/2 cups small jelly beans (Jelly Bellys) in assorted yellow, cream, and white colors
4 pieces yellow fruit chews (Laffy Taffys, Starbursts)
1 tablespoon each black and white decorating sugars (available at baking supply stores or see Sources, page 229)
8 sets of corn holders (optional)

Instructions
1. Tint the vanilla frosting pale yellow with the food coloring.

2. Working with 3 cupcakes at a time, spread yellow frosting on top of each. Arrange about 5 rows of jelly beans, close together, on each cupcake. Place the 3 cupcakes side by side on a corn dish or a serving platter. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes, frosting, and jelly beans.

3. Cut the fruit chews into eight 1-inch squares, and soften the edges slightly by hand so that they look melted. Place 1 square on top of each group of 3 cupcakes. Sprinkle with the sugars. Insert 1 corn holder, if using, in each of the end cupcakes.

Recipe excerpt from Hello, Cupcake! by Alan Richardson and Karen Tack, copyright ©2008. Published by Houghton Mifflin Co. Photography © Alan Richarson

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Learn how to:
• raise a big-top circus cupcake tier for a kid’s birthday
• plant candy vegetables on Oreo earth cupcakes for a garden party
• trot out a line of confectionery “pupcakes” for a dog fancier
• serve sausage and pepperoni pizza cupcakes for April Fool’s Day
• bewitch trick-or-treaters with chilly ghost chocolate cupcakes
• create holidays on icing with turkey cupcake place cards, a white cupcake Christmas wreath, and Easter egg cupcakes… And much MORE!!!

Corn on the Cob Cupcakes
Makes 8 ears of corn: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients
24 vanilla cupcakes baked in white paper liners
1 can (16 ounces) vanilla frosting
Yellow food coloring
About 3 1/2 cups small jelly beans (Jelly Bellys) in assorted yellow, cream, and white colors
4 pieces yellow fruit chews (Laffy Taffys, Starbursts)
1 tablespoon each black and white decorating sugars (available at baking supply stores or see Sources, page 229)
8 sets of corn holders (optional)

Instructions
1. Tint the vanilla frosting pale yellow with the food coloring.

2. Working with 3 cupcakes at a time, spread yellow frosting on top of each. Arrange about 5 rows of jelly beans, close together, on each cupcake. Place the 3 cupcakes side by side on a corn dish or a serving platter. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes, frosting, and jelly beans.

3. Cut the fruit chews into eight 1-inch squares, and soften the edges slightly by hand so that they look melted. Place 1 square on top of each group of 3 cupcakes. Sprinkle with the sugars. Insert 1 corn holder, if using, in each of the end cupcakes.

Excerpt from Hello, Cupcake! by Alan Richardson and Karen Tack, copyright ©2008. Published by Houghton Mifflin Co. Photography © Alan Richarson

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THREE lucky winners will each win one half pound box of La Maison du Chocolat Coffret Maison Dark and Milk
This decadent box, composed of milk and dark chocolates, is the ideal gift to discover the marvelous creations of La Maison du Chocolat. US$50.00

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The Spice Kitchen: Everyday Cooking with Organic Spices
by Katie Luber, Sara Engram
In this book there are more than one hundred fuss-free and easy delicious recipes for using herbs and spices to add vibrant flavors to your food at breakfast, lunch, dinner, and any time in between. $29.99; www.andrewsmcmeel.com

Tsp Spices Sweet Heat Organic Twin Set
Sweet Heat contains one can each of true cinnamon from Saigon and crushed ancho chiles. Each spice can contains 12 one-teaspoon packets. Sweet Heat is an age-old taste sensation made dazzlingly new. Awaken your senses with the delicate flavor of true cinnamon and ancho chile. Teaspoon packets allow you to use them singly or together. US$17.99; www.tspspices.com

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TWO lucky readers will each win The Spice Kitchen: Everyday Cooking with Organic Spices cookbook PLUS Tsp Spices Sweet Heat Organic Twin Set. US$47.98

To enter please fill the form below:

*NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO WIN. Entry rules and prize details: Open to anyone, but we can only ship to U.S. residents. If you know someone who resides in the U.S. and want to send it to this person, then feel free to enter our Sweet Giveaway. Entries must be received between 12:00 a.m. Pacific Time January 19, 2010 and 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time, February 9, 2010. The winner will be randomly drawn from all valid entries and will be notified via email using the email address supplied for entry into the Sweet Giveaway. Entry can be done only online by submitting an email address and validating the address via an email confirmation sent to the entrant. Entry requires subscribing to the free subscription of Desserts Magazine. Drawing date: February 13, 2010

Chocolates and Confections at Home offers detailed expertise for anyone who wants to make truly amazing homemade confections and candies. The Culinary Institute of America and baking and pastry arts professor Peter Greweling provide recipes and step-by-step techniques that make even the most ambitious treats simple for any home cook.

Inside this gorgeously illustrated book, you’ll find everything you need to make, store, and enjoy hundreds of sweet delights. Chapters include:
*Equipment and Ingredients: Details on exactly what you need—and don’t need—to create treats that will wow your friends and family
*Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate: A comprehensive guide to everyone’s favorite ingredient—exactly what chocolate is, how to decipher chocolate product labels, and tips on selecting the right kinds of chocolate for all your favorite recipes
*Master Techniques: A clear explanation of the key skills needed for candy making—including everything from cooking sugar to chopping, storing, and tempering chocolate
*Truffles and Chocolates: Easy-to-follow recipes for all types of truffles, including Black Forest, Coconut-Lime, and Sesame-Ginger; as well as a variety of barks, t’ings, meltaways, and chocolate-dipped treats
*Brittles, Toffees, and Taffies: Popular candies based on cooked sugar, such as hard candies and lollipops, Chocolate-Coated Caramel Apples, Pecan Buttercrunch, English Toffee, and Peanut Butter Taffy
* Fudge, Fondant, and Pralines: Traditional homemade candies, including ten kinds of fudge and several pralines, as well as more specialized recipes simplified for the home cook, such as fondant and cordials
*Marshmallow, Nougat, and Jellies: Aerated candies like divinity, nougat, marshmallow, and sponge candy, as well as candy jellies and a quick, straightforward version of candied citrus
*Nuts: Nut-based sweets like marzipan and gianduja; Buckeyes, a Midwestern favorite; rochers (clusters); dragées (caramel- or chocolate-coated nuts); and that American classic: Turtles
*Chocolate Molds and Cups: Molded and filled chocolates, including Peanut Butter Bombs, Belle Helene, Buttercreams, and Black Pearls
*Layers of Flavors: Candy bars with layers of fillings enrobed in chocolate, including Kitchen Sink Bars, Marshamels, and PB&J Bars

For each type of confection, Chef Greweling provides detailed descriptions; crystal-clear, illustrated instructions; storage tips; and troubleshooting information to help readers identify and address common problems.

With step-by-step techniques, down-to-earth advice, and expertly tested recipes, Chocolates and Confections at Home with The Culinary Institute of America renders candy making accessible to everyone. Richly illustrated with more than 150 full-color photos that illustrate key techniques as well as finished confections. With Chef Greweling as your guide, you can easily create your own delicious, can’t-eat-just-one, picture-perfect confections at home.

About the Author
Peter P. Greweling, the award-winning author of Chocolates and Confections: Formula, Theory, and Technique for the Artisan Confectioner, is a professor of baking and pastry arts at The Culinary Institute of America, a Certified Master Baker, and a Certified Hospitality Educator.

Founded in 1946, The Culinary Institute Of America is an independent, not?for?profit college offering bachelor’s and associate degrees in culinary arts and baking and pastry arts, as well as certificate programs in culinary arts and wine and beverage studies. A network of more than 39,000 alumni has helped the CIA earn its reputation as the world’s premier culinary college. The CIA, which also offers courses for industry professionals and food enthusiasts, has campuses in New York (Hyde Park), California (St. Helena), and Texas (San Antonio).

Product Details
* Hardcover: 304 pages
* Publisher: Wiley (December 30, 2009)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 0470189576

Chocolates and Confections at Home with The Culinary Institute of America

List Price: $34.95
Price: $23.07 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25.

This is the dessert I consider our signature, the flavors best match the rest of the menu. It has been on the menu for almost nine years. We change what we serve it with seasonally and how we choose to mold it.

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OLEANA
134 Hampshire St
Cambridge, MA 02139
www.oleanarestaurant.com

Consider the strawberry: its familiar flavor and texture; its fresh, sweet smell. Now imagine the same fruit distilled and carbonated for a refreshing soda, slow-roasted for a reinvented strawberry shortcake, made into a creamy strawberry ice cream and a chewy strawberry leather, and combined with coconut cream and crisp chocolate pastry. Alone, each dessert is a taste of paradise, but together this “fourplay,” or tasting, created by Johnny Iuzzini, superstar pastry chef of the celebrated four-star restaurant Jean Georges in New York, is a sophisticated explosion of a familiar flavor that begins with the taste of strawberry rich on your tongue and ends with an effervescent tingle in your nose.

Far from the conventional slice of cake at the end of a meal, Johnny’s seasonal creations—four mini desserts in a quartet of complementary flavors and textures—are a culinary adventure. In Dessert FourPlay, he shares his secrets and inspirations, delivering standout recipes for incredible desserts that can be served alone or combined into his signature fourplay groupings, creating the perfect sweet finale for any meal.

With the home cook in mind, Johnny offers tips on simplifying professional recipes and provides basic recipes for transcendent cakes, cookies, tuiles, ice creams, sorbets, granités, and more. These building blocks can be used to create magnificent multifaceted desserts, or they can be perfect desserts by themselves. Some recipes have surprising versatility: the shiny smooth chocolate glaze Johnny uses to ice cakes doubles as the ultimate hot fudge sauce; a lemony madeleine batter becomes a layer in a cake.

Iuzzini pairs cool with hot, crispy with creamy, sweet with spicy, and the expected—chocolate, strawberries, and cinnamon—with the unexpected—chiles, beets, and chocolatey puffs. The result: desserts that refresh, inspire, and satisfy beyond expectations. Dessert FourPlay invigorates all the senses and inspires home cooks to create innovative desserts of their own.

“Johnny Iuzzini is one of the most talented pastry chefs in America. He is experimental and creative, but his originality and wit are carefully balanced by his classic pastry training. Johnny’s first book, Dessert FourPlay, will be a great inspiration for anyone who has a love of sweets.”
—Daniel Boulud, chef/restaurateur

About the Author
JOHNNY IUZZINI, executive pastry chef of the world-renowned Jean Georges restaurant in New York City, won the award for Outstanding Pastry Chef from the James Beard Foundation in 2006. This is his first book.

ROY FINAMORE, a publishing veteran of more than thirty years, has worked with many bestselling cookbook authors. He is the author of three books: One Potato, Two Potato; Tasty, which won a James Beard Foundation award; and Fish Without a Doubt.

Product Details
* Hardcover: 288 pages
* Publisher: Clarkson Potter (December 30, 2008)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 0307351378

Dessert FourPlay: Sweet Quartets from a Four-Star Pastry Chef
List Price: $35.00
Price: $23.10 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25

How Baking Works, thoroughly covers the entire baking process, emphasizing the “whys” at work behind basic techniques. The book takes the user through the major ingredient groups, explaining how sweeteners, fats, milk, leavening agents, and other ingredients affect the appearance, flavor, and texture of the end product. The coverage also includes scaling and measurements, heat transfer, and sensory properties in baking.

This revised and updated Second Edition features:
* Hands-on exercises and experiments at the end of each chapter, with many involving the sensory evaluation of ingredients
* Expanded coverage of sweeteners, variety grains, enzymes, starch structure and gelatinization, and gluten structure
* Important coverage of changes to federal laws, such as food allergen labeling
* Coverage reflecting consumer awareness of nutrition and health, including information on dietary fiber, trans fats, and trans-free fats in the baking context
* More photographs to illustrate the science of baking
* End-of-chapter questions that both review content and require readers to apply and synthesize what they’ve learned

How Baking Works, offers a dynamic, hands-on learning experience to both practicing and future bakers and pastry chefs.

About the Author
Paula Figoni is a food scientist and associate professor in the International Baking and Pastry Institute in the College of Culinary Arts at Johnson & Wales University, Providence, Rhode Island. She has more than ten years of experience in product development and food science at The Pillsbury Company and Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc.

Product Details
* Paperback: 416 pages
* Publisher: Wiley; 2 edition (October 5, 2007)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 0471747238
* ISBN-13: 978-0471747239

How Baking Works: Exploring the Fundamentals of Baking Science
List Price: $40.00
Price: $27.82 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping.

These easy, no-bake marzipan mice cookie recipe will delights adults and children alike. Marzipan is a mixture of almond paste, sugar and glucose that may be colored and used to sculpture small fruits, flowers or other objects.

Makes 2 dozen
Prep Time: 45 min (plus chilling)

One 7-ounce package marzipan, such as Love n’ Bake
48 almond slices (about 1/4 cup)
1-1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Black licorice laces, cut into twenty-four 1 1/2-inch tails and 24 dots for eyes

1. Cut the marzipan roll in half lengthwise, then cut each half into 12 equal pieces and shape each piece into an oval. Pinch the small end to make the nose and eyes.
2. To make the ears, working with 1 mouse at a time, wet 1 end of 2 almond slices and stick them into the marzipan above the eyes.
3. Line a baking sheet with wax paper. In a small bowl, microwave the chocolate chips at high power, stirring every 20 seconds, until smooth, about 1 minute.
4. Insert a toothpick into the wide end of each of 12 mice. Working with 1 at a time, dip the mice into the chocolate, tapping the toothpick on the side of the bowl to remove any excess. Transfer to the prepared pan and refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, using a toothpick, make a hole in the wide end of each white mouse; insert the licorice tails and place the eyes. Remove the toothpicks from the chocolate mice, then insert the licorice tails. Serve at room temperature.

Source: 2008 December/January issue of Every Day Rachel Ray. Click here for $4.69 MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS!

THREE lucky readers will win BITE-SIZE DESSERTS by Carole Bloom. You can purchase at www.amazon.com

To WIN complete the form below:

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STERNO® LARGE BUFFET KIT

Re-usable and portable kit contains: 1 Foldable, Wire Rack, 1 Deep Water Pan, 2 Food Pans, 2 Cans of Sterno Cooking Fuel, Serving Spoon and Fork. The folding chafing rack makes storage easier. Uses standard sized foil pans so you can use the rack again and again. Water pan included to keep uniform food temperatures and textures. Disposable serving spoon and fork for your convenience. Comes with Sterno’s patented Ethanol-based gel fuel. For more information visit www.sterno.com

FOUR lucky readers will win STERNO® LARGE BUFFET KIT.

To WIN complete the form below:

*NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO WIN. Entry rules and prize details: Open to anyone, but we can only ship to U.S. residents. If you know someone who resides in the U.S. and want to send it to this person, then feel free to enter our Sweet Giveaway. Entries must be received between 12:00 a.m. Pacific Time November 24, 2009 and 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time, December 24, 2009. The winner will be randomly drawn from all valid entries and will be notified via email using the email address supplied for entry into the Sweet Giveaway. Entry can be done only online by submitting an email address and validating the address via an email confirmation sent to the entrant. Entry requires subscribing to the free subscription of Desserts Magazine. Drawing date: January 15, 2010