birthday cakes and cupcakes)
4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter, softened to room temperature
1-2 tablespoons milk
1½ cups powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon peppermint extract or 1 tablespoon peppermint schnapps
¼ cup candy canes, finely crushed (see note)
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until it’s light and fluffy. Stop the mixer! Add the milk, sugar, and peppermint extract. Fire up that mixer again—at a low speed—and blend until the sugar is fully dissolved (about 1 minute). Add the crushed candy canes and beat at a higher speed until the frosting is light and fluffy (about 1 minute more). If the frosting is too stiff, add 1 tablespoon of milk. Frost your brownies, cut, and enjoy!
NOTE: To make finely crushed candy canes, simply place your store-bought candy canes in a plastic storage bag and bang the heck out of them with the back of a ladle or meat hammer. An instant holiday stress reliever, too.
Mike Quinn’s Chocolate Cherry Cordials See photos of this recipe at www.CoffeehouseMystery.com Yes, this is the recipe Mike made for Clare. Mike’s mom gave him the recipe for this candy with helpful, handwritten notes. She made it almost every year at Christmas for family and friends.
30 maraschino cherries with stems (one 10-ounce jar has about 30 cherries)
¼ cup amaretto or other liqueur (optional)
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/3 cups powdered sugar
3 cups chocolate chips (see note)
NOTE: If you would like to use blocks of chocolate instead of chips, you’ll need 18 ounces, chopped into small, uniform pieces to ensure even melting. You can use milk, dark, or white chocolate for this recipe, depending on your preference. Or divide the total amount of chocolate into thirds and make a variety of chocolate cherry cordials: 1 cup of melted chocolate chips will cover 10-12 cherries.
Helpful hint on chocolate conversion:
6 ounces of block chocolate = 1 cup chips
Recipe notes from Mike’s mom: There are four simple steps to making this candy. Step 1 is getting the liqueur flavor into your cherries, which you need to do the day before you make this candy. If you don’t want your cherries to have any alcohol infused in them, you can skip the first step. Step 2 is creating the sugar coating around the cherry. Step 3 is dipping the candy-coated cherry in chocolate. Step 4 is letting the finished chocolate-dipped candy set in the fridge for 1-2 weeks so the sugar coating around the cherry has time to liquefy inside the chocolate shell, giving you the sweet liquid around the cherry center. So keep the timing in mind if you are planning to serve this candy for a special occasion. In other words, be sure to start well in advance!
Step 1—(Optional) Infuse cherries with liqueur flavor: Drain the liquid from one 10-ounce jar of maraschino cherries, reserving the juice. If the reserved cherry juice measures less than ¾ cup, add water to make ¾ cup of liquid. In a saucepan, bring the cherry liquid to a boil. Remove from the heat and let cool for 2 minutes before stirring in ¼ cup of any one of the following: amaretto (almond-flavored liqueur), Frangelico (hazelnut-flavored liqueur), white crème de cacao (clear chocolate- flavored liqueur), OR kirsch (cherry-flavored liqueur). Add the cherries and stir. Once the mixture has reached room temperature, transfer the cherries and the liquid to a bowl, cover tightly, and store in the refrigerator overnight or even longer if you’re in no hurry. You can allow them to sit for a few days or even a week. (NOTE: Liqueurs work best to create “spirited” cherries because of their high sugar content. Sweet wines and champagnes will also work, but stay away from hard alcohols like rum, whiskey, gin, and vodka—they’re strong, but they won’t give you a pleasant taste.)
Step 2—Create sugar coating: In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and stir in the corn syrup. Add the sugar and continue stirring until it’s completely dissolved. Remove pan from heat and transfer the thick white mixture to a bowl. Let cool for a full 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep smooth. Use your fingers to mold about a teaspoonful of the white doughy mixture around each cherry. Be generous and make sure the entire cherry is covered, sealing it up to the stem. Place the finished cherries (stem-side up) on plates lined with wax or parchment paper. Chill in the fridge until firm—at least 3 hours.
Step 3—Briefly freeze cherries: To prevent the white sugar coating from melting off your cherries during this process, transfer the cherries from the fridge to the freezer for at least 10 minutes before you begin enrobing them in warm chocolate.
Step 4—Melt chocolate: You’ll need a heatproof bowl and a rubber spatula. Make sure both are completely dry. (Even a few drops of water can ruin the texture.) Place chocolate chips or pieces into the bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan with water. Turn heat to low and stir chocolate with your dry rubber spatula until it’s completely melted and smooth. Make sure the chocolate stays melted during the coating process or you’ll have trouble working with it. Just keep the heat on low beneath the pan and every so often, stir the melted chocolate. (Do not let the water boil or touch the bowl’s bottom or you’ll risk scorching the chocolate and ruining its taste.) For advice on properly melting chocolate, see How to Melt Chocolate instructions on page 335.
Step 5—Cover cherries with chocolate: Work in small batches, taking only five or six cherries out of the freezer at a time, keeping the rest chilled until it’s their turn. Do not dip the cherries. If you do, the sugar coating may melt right off into the bowl of hot chocolate! Instead, hold each cherry by its stem over the melted chocolate. Using a rubber spatula (spoons won’t work, the chocolate sticks too much), drip gobs of the melted chocolate down over the cherry, gently turning the cherry by its stem until it’s completely covered. As the chocolate drips off, pat the bottom with more chocolate to make sure the cherry is completely coated. For the candy to be successful, you need to seal up the entire cherry with chocolate, from the bottom to the cherry stem. Allow excess chocolate to drip off each cherry and then place them on a baking sheet lined with wax or parchment paper. Once the chocolate shells around the cherries have cooled and firmed up, transfer to a tightly covered container and store in the fridge for 1 week.
Step 6—Taste test: After 1 week in the fridge, the sugar coating around each cherry will break down and liquefy. Do a taste test to gauge when the cherry cordials are ready to serve. When you bite through the crisp chocolate shell, you should have a sweet semi-liquid center around your cherry. If you don’t, give it another 2 days and test again until your candy is ready to serve. (It can take up to 2 weeks.)
Mike Quinn’s Cherry Cordial Fudge As a holiday tradition, Mike Quinn’s mother would infuse maraschino cherries with liqueur for her Chocolate Cherry Cordials (see the preceding recipe). What cherries were left over ended up in this quick and easy holiday fudge.
Makes about 2½ pounds of fudge
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
