October Outtakes

Sometimes, things don't go as planned.  October seemed to be the month of kitchen projects that went awry.  In fact, I had five failed recipes in October.  And three of my five flops involved candy corn (maybe that's a sign?).  Here is the rundown:

1. Ghost Cupcakes

A week before Halloween, I tried making a batch of ghost cupcakes.  They tasted perfectly fine (vanilla chocolate chip cupcake, with marshmallow frosting).  However, I had hoped they would look like these adorable ghost cupcakes from The Comfort of Cooking.  Instead, my ghosts look like the Michelin man!  I attempted to make a frosting using marshmallow creme and it just never set up correctly.  And also, I wasn't happy with the lighting in my photos.  Somehow, these pictures remind me of a 1970s cookbook -- not that there's anything wrong with that; it's just not the look I'm going for.

2. Butterscotch Chocolate Fudge

This fudge was tasty, but the texture remained much too soft.  At room temperature, it was just slightly thicker than the consistency of peanut butter.  Even a novice candy maker like me knows that fudge isn't supposed to be that soft.  But I'll definitely be trying this recipe again.  I liked the layered effect, and it was quite delicious.

  

3-5: Pumpkin Crumb Cake, Candy Corn Magic Bars, and Caramel Candy Corn Rice Krispie Treats

Sadly, these recipe flops all happened in the same week.  

The pumpkin crumb cake was fine, but I just didn't think it was special enough to warrant its own blog post.  The pumpkin flavor was too subtle and the spices were too pronounced.  

I tried (and failed) to make two batches of Candy Corn Magic Bars.  I experimented with making a crust out of crushed Candy Corn Oreos, and included the cream filling because I wanted the crust to have an orange color.  However, the extra fat from the Oreo filling ruined these bars.  The first batch ended up with large pools of oil.  The second batch was better, but still way too oily.  And I had to bake the bars for so long that the candy corn melted.  

The "best" of my failed recipes was the Caramel Candy Corn Rice Krispie Treats.  I melted caramels into the butter/marshmallow mixture, similar to the method I used for my Candy Shop Rice Krispie Treats. The end result was tasty, but the caramel flavor didn't stand out the way I had hoped.  

I'm probably not alone in my recipe missteps.  It may be discouraging, but I know this is par for the course when trying new recipes.  I'd love to hear about any recipe failures you've experienced recently!