The Ten Days of Carpmas

This project is inspired by all of the Food Channel dessert-sculpting competitions I watched prior to Halloween. Crisp-Rice Treats seemed to be the fall-back medium whenever a chef couldn’t structurally use pulled sugar, fondant or molding chocolate. Crisp-rice treats are to food art what papier-mâché is to prop-building! 

Here is the link to the brand-name recipe.

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan. Keeping the burner on lowish-heat melt in 4 cups of miniature marshmallows. When they are completely melted fold in 6 cups of crisp rice cereal. Stir until the cereal is covered.

Turn the cereal mixture onto a working surface. Wait sixty-seconds (as the material is quite hot and I don’t want you to burn yourself — but don’t wait TOO long. It needs to still be warm).

Butter your hands so they don’t stick to the material.

Mold into a fish.

Decorate as you see fit.

Don’t  forget — with Carpmas, less is more!

Slice and serve!

Observe the joy on the faces of the Sugar Cookie School – they await the warmth found within the oven. They are not afraid of what lies ahead – they have each other. That’s why the rule must be maintained. You can’t eat just one…

A dessert inspired by the European trick of keeping a carp fresh, by letting it swim in one’s bathtub until you are ready to kill and clean it (seriously – Google it).

Berries in a Bathtub

Directions

Instructions in this case are very ephemeral. “I made a batch of meringue using three warm egg whites to which I added one quarter tea-spoon Cream of Tartar, then slowly beat in confectioners sugar (likely about two cups) until it got stiff and held its shape. A piping bag was used to build “tub-like” shapes onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Cook in a very slow oven (110C) until they are dry and solid. They will puff up in the centre, the top/lid of puff was removed with a sharp knife to create a bowl area to house the berries. Woulda tasted better with a bit of vanilla”

There ya go!