Food Review: Sweet&Sara Toasted Coconut Marshmallows

Warning: If you do not like the taste of coconut try Sweet&Sara Vanilla Marshmallows or Strawberry Marshmallows instead!!! 

A number of people I know have been telling me how good the Sweet&Sara marshmallows are (plus I've seen some of the press coverage) so I decided to buy the toasted coconut flavor. I wanted to see for myself how good they taste.

I took out some of the marshmallow pieces and put them on a plate so I could try some and let the others I live with try some as well . When you have others around that like trying new things you either learn to share or hide your stuff really well.
The idea of coconut and marshmallows sounded so good me so I had to have a bite!

After taking a bite into one of the marshmallow pieces I could taste the toasted coconut and then the texture of the soft vanilla marshmallow. It felt like a bite of pure pleasure and oh so good. You can enjoy the experience for longer if you let it slowly dissolve in your mouth. The website says that they dare anyone to just eat one. It's way too hard for me to do that. The taste delighted my taste buds right away.

The container will probably be empty soon since it's not just me that's loving the taste of these marshmallows! I'd have to say this is the best tasting marshmallow I've ever had - they're way better than the ones in the grocery store!!! From just this one pack I've got to say that they're quite addictive since right after having just one marshmallow piece I wanted another then another.

The place I bought a package from only sells the Toasted Coconut, Strawberry, and Vanilla marshmallows by Sweet&Sara. It definitely makes me think of trying the Peanut Butter Smores, Original Smores, Cinnamon Pecan Marshmallows, Rocky Road Bark, and Rice Crispy Treats sometime in the future.
Sharing the marshmallows with friends is a good idea so you don't eat the whole thing yourself ;)

Chocolate Easter Eggs and Using Chocolate Molds

I'm getting excited for Easter to come so I thought why not go ahead and start making some Easter themed treats. Chocolates are one of the things my family tends to give one another on Easter so this year I made some Chocolate Easter Eggs.

Chocolate Easter Eggs

Ingredients:

At least 1 cup of Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate or White Chocolate (I used  compound milk chocolate - you can find it at a bulk store)

Colored Molding Chocolate (optional: Use some of this if you want to add color accents)

Tools Needed: 

• Solid plastic molds or molds designed specifically for chocolate work best.
• Offset spatula to scrape away excess chocolate
• Bowls to melt chocolate in, or a double boiler pot to melt chocolate 

Note: Amount of chocolate you need depends on the size of your chocolate mold(s) and how much you plan to make. I made over 12 eggs and the molds were about 2.5 inches (or about 6 cm) in length. 

Directions:

1. If you're adding color accents to the Chocolates: melt down the chocolate carefully (chocolate burns easily). Mix the colored chocolate until it becomes smooth. Add to the bottom of the mold by brushing the areas you want covered with a small paintbrush, back part of a chopstick, or other small tool. Let the colored chocolate cool before going to the next step.

2. Melt down the milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or white chocolate and pour into the molds. If you melt it in the microwave be careful about how long you leave it in there. Stirring the chocolate every 15 seconds for microwave method helps to evenly melt the chocolate. Once it's close to completely melted make sure you mix it until it becomes smooth.
For solid eggs fill to the top and then level off the tops and make smooth. Let cool at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. If you try and take out of molds too soon they will fall apart.
For Hollow Egg: fill chocolates to top (make sure you have some wax paper underneath; or you can tap the molds above a large bowl), level off the amounts in each mold then turn upside down and tap out the excess chocolate. Once this is done return the mold right side up, scrape off the chocolate left on top of the mold and let the chocolate harden.

Note: One way off telling if your Chocolates are getting closer to being ready is when the color changes from being shiny and wet looking to more of a dull color. The chocolates should not jiggle if you shake the mold gently. If you're unsure if they're ready leave it sit for longer.

What's your favorite thing to do during Easter?