Disclosure: I got the candy for free, and I got paid to play with it! Some gigs are just better than others
A friend of mine is a marketing manager with Goetze Candy, the lovely folks that have been making Cow Tales and Caramel Creams in Maryland since 1895. (Full disclosure, Cow Tales got me through grad school. I used to use them as rewards for a finishing a chapter, completing an assignment or going to class. So Cow Tales and I go way back.)
A couple weeks ago, my friend reached out and asked if I’d be up for making a few batches of treats for a Goetze Candy sales meeting in Chicago. And then she said, “I’ll send you a whole box of Cow Tales and Caramel Cremes, will you do it?”
Well duh, Chelsea.
But you can’t send candy to a crafter without expecting her to craft. And she sent a LOT of Cow Tales and Caramel Cremes. When I popped the first one in my mouth, I just sighed. They are really good. Soft delicious caramel, nice chew without being too overly sweet, and this great creme center. Usually I stop myself at one. But when you’re on assignment, you should make a conscious effort to get to know your product better. (I may have eaten 10 in a single sitting. You know, for research.)
Through the haze of my sugar coma, I came up with the idea of…
Caramel Creme + Play-Doh Fun Factory = infinite candy toppers! They came out beautifully and were a quick and easy project.
Instructions
1. Wait for toddler to go to sleep. Stealthily and with great care, remove Play-Doh Fun Factory from their room and ease out quickly. Shut door. Resume breathing.
2. Ensure the Play Doh Fun Factory, and your hands, are clean. Dish soap, hot water, you know the drill.
3. Remove wrapper from a caramel creme and pop out the creme center with a chopstick or other implement (helps keep a clean color during the molding process, or leave it in for striations).
4. Cut the caramel creme into four pieces using clean kitchen scissors.
5. Position one of the quartered caramel cremes into your mold of choice, caramel side down, and press.
6. Remove candy from mold, and use kitchen scissors to snip around the border. Make small snips. If you try to do a continuous cut, you’ll squish the lovely caramel softness. That’s it! Enjoy!
