Lisa Demonstrates How She Makes the $10,000 Cupcake

In 2011, Jelly Belly held the $10,000 Cupcake Challenge, asking for crative cupcake designs. Lisa Schrader of Connecticut was awarded the grand prize for her clever "Bubble Trouble" design, inspired by her son and his tendency to overflow the bathtub.



And if you need lots of different colors of jelly beans, we have them at Licorice International.

Caramel Apple Crumble Pie Recipe by Schy's Pies for Peace

Schy, owner of Schy's Pies for Peace, makes and sells pies in Lincoln, Nebraska, giving a portion of her earnings to non-profit organizations. She seeks to use healthy, locally grown ingredients as much as possible. She created this recipe for Caramel Apple Pie, using Butter Caramels, which are available from Licorice International.  She made this recipe without any other sweeteners besides the Butter Caramels, except for a little bit of brown sugar in the crumb topping. Butter Caramels have an excellent quality of melting, she said, and their excellent flavor give this pie a gourmet taste.  

Ingredients for whole wheat pie crust:

• 2 ½ cups organic whole wheat pastry flour
• 8 tablespoons cold Earth Balance Buttery Sticks or local organic sweet cream butter
• Pinch of sea salt
• 4-5 tablespoons of ice water

Directions for Pie Crust:
The key to getting the flakiest crust as possible is using cold ingredients and cold equipment. An hour or so before starting the baking process, put the mixing bowl, flour, Buttery Sticks, and pasty blender all in the freezer. Place the flour in a large mixing bowl that you will be able to get both of your hands into while you mix the dough. Add the pinch of sea salt to flour and mix well by tossing with your hands. Cut up the Buttery Sticks into small pieces and use the pastry blender to cut the shortening into the dry ingredients until the mixture is well blended coarsely together. Add ice water to the mixture and begin mixing the dough and water together with your hands. Do not overwork the dough; it will make the crust tough. Form the dough into a ball and place in freezer while you make the pie filling. 

When you are ready to assemble the pie, lightly dust flour on two 16-inch pieces of wax paper and place the ball of dough in the middle with the floured sides of the wax paper touching each other. Roll the dough out with a rolling pin into a 13-inch in diameter circle. Once the crust is rolled out, remove the top layer of wax paper and invert the pie crust into the center of the pie pan. Once it is in the pan, remove the 2nd piece of wax paper and press the pastry into the pan. Cut the excess edges off with a sharp knife and create a design with the crust edge. (This can be done with your fingers or using a fork.) Rolling out a perfect pie crust, of course, is easier said than done, but with some practice and viewing of Martha Stewart on youtube.com, you will be a pro in no time.

Ingredients for crumb topping:

• 1 cup organic unbleached flour
• ¾ cup organic brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons organic sweet cream butter
• 3 tablespoons organic cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground organic ginger powder

Directions for crumb topping:

Put the flour, sugar and spices in a bowl and cut the butter into small pieces. Place the butter in the bowl with the other ingredients and use your pastry blender to cut the butter into the dry ingredients. Work the mixture until small crumbles form and the butter is fully mixed in.

Equipment Needed:

wax paper, pastry blender, rolling pin,  mixing bowl, sharp knife, 9 inch glass pie plate

Ingredients for Caramel Apple Crumble Pie

• 1 premade whole wheat crust
• 2 cups crumb topping
• 6-8 local apples (I prefer to bake with Granny Smiths or Jonagolds)
• 10 butter caramels cut up into small pieces
• 3 Tbsp. organic lemon juice
• 3 Tbsp. cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp. arrowroot powder or cornstarch

Instructions for Caramel Apple Crumble Pie
First, preheat your oven to 375 and roll out crust. After you have crust rolled out and in the pie pan, place cut up caramels in the bottom of the crust. Next peel, core, and slice apples into 1 inch pieces and immediately cover in lemon juice to keep from turning brown. Next add cinnamon and cornstarch to mixture and let sit for 5 minutes.Pour the apple mixture over the caramels and place in the oven for 20 minutes without crumb topping. After 20 minutes pull the pie out of the oven and check to see that the caramel has fully melted around the apples. If so, sprinkle the crumb topping over everything. Turn your oven down to 350 and bake for an additional 30 minutes.  The crust will be a dark shade of brown and the caramel will bubble up a little through the crumb topping when the pie is finished baking. Remove pie from the oven and let cool. Enjoy this spectacular autumn treat! 

Schy works as  a women's advocate at the Friendship home, a shelter for abused women and children. During the Celebration of Motherhood Support Group at the Friendship Home, Schy had the women and children make pies together using this recipe.  

For more information about Schy's Pies for Peace, see her Facebook Page.

How to Make a Gingerbread House for Halloween using Licorice

A Halloween Gingerbread House? 

Why not? And while you're at it, why not make it a haunted gingerbread house with spooky lights shining out the windows? And of course, you'll need to use lots of licorice to decorate your haunted house.



That's what Erin, an employee at Licorice International, made this year. She used regular gingerbread pieces for the body, along with thick pretzel sticks to help support it. For a creepy looking roof, she used homemade waffle cones. To glue the pieces together, she melted sugar in a saucepan over medium heat until it turned a brownish color (330 degrees F). She simply dipped the ends in and stuck them together. Then she used the leftover sugar mixture to make dark "glass" for the windows. After putting the house together, she placed it on a tray and sprinkled crumbled Oreos around to look like dirt. (No grass in this yard.) You can add some gummy worms to the "dirt" if you wish.

Then came the fun: decorating. Erin used dipping chocolate to apply candy to the haunted house, emphasizing creepy instead of colorful. She shared the following tips, using mostly licorice from Licorice International (click on the name of the licorice to order):

Use Black Licorice Laces to wind around posts, trees, anywhere you wish. You can also use them for spider legs or witch hair.

When you unroll Black Licorice Wheels, you get double laces, which make spooky-looking windows and trim for your house.

Kenny's Black Licorice Twists work well for porch rails and make great haunted trees (just untwist the top to make branches). Then cut a Licorice Twist crosswise to make tiny spiders.

Pontefract Cakes and Batzen both work well for spider bodies.

Make tiny ghosts out of Licorice Chalk.

Beehive Honey Licorice makes a beehive on the front porch. "Instead of flowers, this house has a beehive," Erin said.

Cut a piece of Halva Licorice Bar into a doormat.

Decorate the house with Katjes Kinder (cats) and Gustaf's Platinum Select Sweet, which are shaped like goblins and witches.

To add some autumn colors, use candy corn and Reece's pieces.

Put electric lights inside for a spooky glow.

Caramel Apples Using Butter Caramels from Licorice International

How long has it been since you've had a caramel apple? Blending the taste of fresh apples with sweet, chewy caramel is one of the delights of autumn. Making caramel apples is easier than you think. They're especially tasty with butter caramels from Licorice International.  (There's no licorice in these caramels, just delicious butter caramel.)

Here's the recipe:

• 1 pound butter caramels from Licorice International
• 8 medium apples
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 8 sticks

First prepare the apples by washing them and inserting a stick in each one, close to the stem. Grease a cookie sheet or 9 x 10 cake pan.

Unwrap caramels and place in microwave safe bowl. Add milk. Heat caramel and milk mixture in the microwave about two minutes, or just long enough to melt. Stir thoroughly.

Dip the apples one at a time to coat them thoroughly, letting any excess caramel drip off. Place dipped apples on greased cookie sheet. Let cool, repositioning apples several times to keep them from sticking to the surface. 

Eat and enjoy.

You can find the butter caramels here.

Treat yourself to the world's best licorice and other gourmet candies at the Licorice International website. 

A Refreshing Summer Treat - Licorice Iced Tea

Are you looking for something different for a summer thirst-quencher? Try making iced tea out of Licorice Spice teabags, which are available in bulk here. The sweet, spicy flavors of licorice and spice give this iced tea an unexpected taste.  Make it plain for a caffeine-free treat or mix it with black tea, giving a zip to ordinary iced tea.

Simply brew a pot of tea, add sugar or honey (if desired) and pour over ice. You may also make sun tea by steeping tea bags in a jar of water set out in the sun, then refrigerate or pour over ice.

An easy way to make iced tea is simply to put the tea bags into a pitcher of cold water and leave in the refrigerator for several hours. This produces a slightly weaker tea, so you may need to use more tea bags.

Enjoy!

Licorice Liqueur Recipe: Licorice Root and Time

Licorice Liqueur takes a while to make, but the results are worth it. Although some recipes use anise, only real licorice root gives the liqueur that authentic licorice taste. You can purchase licorice root here.

Ingredients
2 1/2 tablespoons licorice root, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups vodka
1/2 cup sugar syrup

Wash the licorice root and chop into small pieces. Add to vodka and let stand for one week. Strain and filter. Add sugar syrup* and let stand for another week. Ready to serve. Yield: one pint.

*To make sugar syrup dissolve one pound of sugar in four cups of water and bring to a boi. Cool before using. Yield: 7 cups.

NOTE: Elizabeth Erlandson, one of the "Licorice Ladies" who own Licorice International, recently discussed licorice liqueur with Judy Gilliard on the "Judy a la Carte" program on KFOR radio in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Chocolate spider cakes

Here's another great idea for Halloween: Chocolate Spider Cakes. The recipe comes from Europe, so you may need to modify it slightly. Be sure to use self-rising flour.  You would use about one and a fourth cups to equal 150 grams. If you don't have any available, just use regular flour and add a half a teaspoon salt and one and a half teaspoons baking powder.

You can find the complete recipe here.

You can find Licorice Allsorts here and Black Licorice Laces here.

Happy baking!

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Licorice in Fondue

I just discovered another great use for licorice: Fondue. Simply mix 5 ounces of dark chocolate, 4 ounces black licorice, and 2 tablespoons kirsch or any type of brandy. Melt slowly and serve in a warmer or fondue pot. Dip fruit, cookies, or pound cake into the fondue.

What a great way to add a unique taste to your fondue, and not just at Halloween!

I would recommend using a sweet, soft licorice, such as Finnish Black Tire Tread or Australian Kookaburra Black Twists, Pontefract Cakes, Soft Licorice Drops from Holland, or any of the sweet licorice at Licorice International.

Cute "Mice" cakes decorated with Licorice

I discovered another use for those ever-handy licorice laces: Cute mice cakes. Because of the unique combination of pumpkin, maple syrup and German chocolate, it makes a great fall treat, if you want to serve something a little less scary-looking than typical Halloween fare. Perfect for a "harvest party," kids birthday party or game night. You can even add a whimsical touch to your Thanksgiving celebration. You can find the complete recipe and directions here.

If you can't find black food coloring, you can make the mice pure white and use bits of licorice laces for the eyes, nose and mouth.

Licorice Laces are available from Licorice International Just click on the word licorice laces to go directly to the page. These tasty treats are made with real licorice root and come from Finland, where licorice is especially popular.

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Licorice All Sorts Ice Cream

Here's another great recipe for Licorice Ice Cream.  This one uses Licorice All Sorts.  You can find the recipe here.

The recipe is from Europe, so you may not be familiar with the measurements and ingredients. Here are some hints for substitution:

Caster sugar is a very fine sugar. You can use "superfine" sugar or simply run regular sugar through a food processor (let the dust settle before opening.)

Simbuca is an Italian anise-flavored liqueur. If you can't find it, you may substitute 2 teaspoons anise extract for the 2 tablespoons Sambuca.

Here are the conversions of the measurements:

300 ml (milk or cream) = 1 1/4 cups

200 g. sugar = 1 cup

You can buy Licorice AllSorts at Licorice International (click here for the direct link to Allsorts).  Either kind will work for this recipe.  One-half pound equals about 225 grams.  A half a package of RJ's Allsorts equals the amount used in the recipe.

Licorice Allsorts come in fun shapes and colors that are fun to serve guests.  So you may want to buy a few extra bags.

Enjoy!

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Yum! Licorice Chunk Ice Cream!

If you like homemade ice cream (and licorice), you'll LOVE this recipe for Licorice Chunk Ice Cream.  Be sure to follow the recipe exactly.  Egg yolks MUST be cooked before putting in the ice cream freezer.  Get ready for a sweet, creamy licorice treat!

Click here for the recipe.

Where the recipe calls for "Licorice Whips," we recommend using Licorice Laces from Holland, available from Licorice International.  They're great plain or in recipes and are made with licorice root for that "real licorice" flavor.  You can get a 4-ounce package here or a 2-pound bag here.

Enjoy!

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Licorice Delight Cake

Wow - A wedding cake decorated with licorice! Now that's a treat for licorice lovers (pun intended).

The black licorice laces (available here) add an elegant--yet whimsical--touch to this five-tiered cake. The laces are attached with a "paste" made of corn syrup and water, lightly brushed on with a fine-tipped natural bristle paintbrush. This cake would be great for an anniversary or graduation party as well.

You can find the recipe and directions here.

Flag Cake Made from Licorice Candy Twists

Here's a great way to decorate a cake for the Fourth of July: Make a flag out of Kenny's Licorice Candy Twists.

To make the flag I simply used Red Raspberry and Pina Colada for the stripes and Blue Raspberry for the star field.

Fourteen flavors of Licorice Candy Twists are available from Licorice International.

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Licorice, Almonds and Pears -- Not a Joke

It's not an April Fool's joke. Licorice, almonds and pears really do go together! And they look like mice, if done right! Try this fun recipe for "Mice Pears," which was included in the food section of Northwest Arkansas "Morning News." Although the recipe calls for angelica, it also suggests you substitute black licorice. You can use our Black licorice laces (available here) for the tail and also add some whiskers, to make it even more fun.

Click here for the recipe (look for "Mice Pears").

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Coolest Ladybug Cake: A great use for licorice

Here's a great cake for a child's birthday party or any time you want to have a bit of whimsical fun. The "coolest Ladybug Cake" is made out of a devil's food cake mix and uses black licorice for the legs, black stripe and antennas of the ladybug. See a photo and complete directions here.

Don't settle for the bland "licorice" you find in the grocery store. Make this cake really special by using real licorice from Licorice International. We recommend Kenny's Black Licorice Twists, available here or Dutch Black Licorice Laces, available here.

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Great Recipe: Licorice Allsort Slice

Here's a special treat for a cold January evening: Licorice Allsort Slices. Not only is it yummy, it just looks great, because it uses multi-colored Licorice Allsorts. Click on the link to see the recipe.
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/3353/licorice+allsort+slice

Licorice International sells two different kinds of Licorice Allsorts. Bassett's Allsorts from England (available by clicking here) or RJ's Allsorts from New Zealand (Available by clicking here.)

This recipe is from Australia, where licorice is very popular. Here are some hints for converting the recipe to U.S. measurements and ingredients:

125g butter equals about one half cup (one stick)
Instead of golden syrup, you can use corn syrup or equal parts corn syrup and honey
Marie sweet biscuits are similar to shortbread cookies. 250g equals about 9 ounces.
Desiccated coconut is flaked, dried coconut. To dry coconut, spread it evenly on a cookie sheet and bake in a 250-degree oven. Check it often to make sure it doesn't burn.
375g Licorice Allsorts equals a little over 13 ounces. You can use one bag of Basset's Allsorts and have a few left over to sample.
200g dark cooking chocolate equals about 7 ounces.
Copha is hydrogenated coconut oil. You can substitute shortening. 30g equals about 2 tablespooons.
Because the pan measurements are for the base, you can use a regular 9 x 13 baking pan.



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Licorice Cupcakes

Here's an idea for something different: Licorice cupcakes. You can see the recipe here:
The recipe uses Licorice Spice tea, which you can get here. For the licorice pieces on top, I recommend Black Tire Tread, which you can get here. If you prefer organic products, try Tubi's Organic Soft Licorice, which you can get here.

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Mussels in Tomato-Licorice Broth

Imagine making Good and Plenty candies into a gourmet meal. This recipe, from Every Day with Rachel Ray, uses a combination of Good and Plenty candies (available through Licorice International), dry white wine, diced tomatoes, heavy cream, onion and seasonings to create a tangy broth for mussels. For the complete recipe, click here:
Mussles in Tomato-Licorice Broth

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