with Mary Anne Mohanraj
Little molded milk chocolates for the top two tiers of the Autumn Wonderland treat boxes. Time-consuming to make, but I like the results on the leaf, hedgehog, and acorn molds. The hedgehog and acorn would make adorable cupcake toppers too, I think.
The twig broke every single time I tried to get chocolate out, bah, and the tiny bunnies were just too tiny for me. If anyone local would like those two molds, please let me know; maybe you’ll have better luck than I did!
Milk toffee for the flash sale. Yumyum. I’ve finally figured out how to make it come out right with a different pot (because my old one died).
Candy-making = fussy!
Kavi came home when I was packing up marshmallows for the Wonderland treat boxes, and asked if there were any bad ones she could eat, and I had to say no, because I’d made just enough this time.
Don’t feel too sorry for her, though; I’ll probably make another batch of passionfruit marshmallows in the next day or two, so she’ll get plenty, and those are her favorites. 
The Caterpillar says, “Won’t you try my marshmallows? They’ll have you seeing stars…”
Smoked & salted vanilla marshmallows three ways:
– dark chocolate with crumbled graham crackers
– ruby chocolate with a dizzying array of colored sprinkles
– white chocolate with green glitter and gold stars
It’s really satisfying when you finally solve a problem, even a little one. I’ve been making chocolate bars for some years now, and I’ve never been happy with the packaging — the foil wrappers I was using never seemed to be the right size, and the final result often looked sort of crinkly and unprofessional.
Then I found these self-adhesive cellophane bags with accompanying labels, and they just worked. It makes me so happy.
Ruby chocolate with mulled apple cider marshmallows and a drizzle of milk chocolate. Simple, sweet, kid-friendly. I’ll put full-size bars in the top-tier boxes, and smaller samples in the other tiers.
Now, eventually, I’d love to design my own Serendib House labels (or have Kavi design them for me), but this will do very nicely for now. Link to packaging in comments, for anyone else searching for such a solution.
Usually I use these as the base for my dragon s’mores, but I’m pondering whether I might do something more Wonderland-ish with them this time. Something inspired by the caterpillar’s smoke? Hmm…
Marshmallow recipe here: https://serendibkitchen.com/…/dragon-smore-marshmallows/
(35-40 minutes, makes 16 mini scones)
Yes, I know ‘tarts’ would rhyme and ‘scones’ doesn’t, but I really wanted to bake scones…
2 3/4 cups flour
1/3 cup jaggery (or dark brown sugar)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup cold butter
3/4 c. dried cherries, halved
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 T rosewater
1/2 cup milk
1. Preheat oven to 375F. Spray mini scone pan with Baker’s Joy (or butter and flour pan).
(If you don’t have a mini scone pan, you can cut and shape these by hand, and bake on a regular baking sheet, placing them quite close together. If you pop them in the freezer for 30 minute before baking, they’ll hold shape better.)
2. Mix first 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Chop butter in small pieces and cut into flour with a pastry cutter (or with your fingers) until mixture resembles coarse meal. (It’s fine to have small lumps.) Stir in cherries.
3. In a medium bowl, combine remaining 4 wet ingredients, beating eggs lightly. Pour into dry mixture and stir with a fork until a soft dough forms.
4. Turn out onto a lightly floured board and gently knead a few times until it comes together into a dough. Cut into 16 equal pieces and press into the cavities of the pan.
5. Bake 20-25 or until medium brown. Remove from pan to wire rack and cool completely. Serve warm, with coffee or tea.
Two Wonderland guards, a conversation:
Bob: “But Joe, *why* does the Red Queen want us to gild all the animals of the forest?”
Joe: “Come on, Bob, you know better than that. You remember when the Red Queen made us paint all the white roses red?”
Bob: “Yes, of course. That took us three solid weeks! The bloomin’ rose trees kept putting out more roses — we could barely keep up!”
Joe: “And you remember what happened to Tim when he started asking questions?”
Bob: “Not really. Though, now that you mention it, I haven’t seen Tim around in quite a while.”
Joe: “Exactly, Bob. Exactly. Word to the wise, innit?”
Bob: “If you say so, Joe.”
Joe: “Just gild, Bob. Gild like your life depends on it…”
“…(and be grateful that these animals are only going in the higher tier boxes…)”
The autumn leaves are veined with gold in Wonderland…
Will you believe me if I tell you they taste even better if you make them with apples you picked yourself? Honestly, I have no idea if they do — the apples Jed and I picked will be saved for cheddar-apple pie and chai-spiced apple bread.
I use ready-made grocery store cider for mulling, because I don’t actually have the time or energy to press enough apples to get a decent quantity of cider. 
They still come out DELICIOUS.
Recipe here: https://serendibkitchen.com/2019/11/14/1859/
