So the muffin cakes were such a hit, I had to try my hand at altering another sweet recipe into a savory... the recipe this time? "Rugelach!" Traditionally a Jewish pastry, sometimes made with a cream cheese dough, and filled with a variety of sweet fruit, nuts, chocolate, or some combination of the above.

I apologize to anyone of strict Jewish faith, I did break some major dietary rules on this one... but oh dear lord are they tasty?! I also broke a lot of baking rules as well. Actually, they probably shouldn't have turned out as well as they did, but fortunately they did... now if only I could stop eating them 

Basically, I took the cream cheese dough recipe (cut in half, which you're not really supposed to do in baking, but I really didn't want a whole batch, and I figured if they turned out horrible I could blame it on that  ). For the filling, my husband had made manicotti a couple nights before and we still had a ton of filling left (it's basically a mix of ricotta, sausage, olives, and herbs). I spread that on, then rolled the little suckers up and "glazed" with a garlic herb butter that I mixed up the night before... here they are in all their glory!



an image of the inside;


and my herb butter, all rolled up and ready to refrigerate for later experiments recipes;
it's not much to look at, but it sure does taste good 


These things turned out incredible! Mostly savory, with a little bit of sweet from the dough, just salty and buttery enough to be really satisfying and moist, without overwhelming you... I think these could be really bad for me, but they taste so good I just don't care!

Oh, and bonus, the husband liked them too (which is good, since he's my excuse to keep experimenting like this )

what a fun idea, i love it  I've been super into altering sweet recipes to savory variations lately, this seems like a great switch the other way 'round... great job!

Thanks! 

They were a blast to make (and roasting garlic is actually super easy, I just followed the Joy of Cooking recipe)... the one thing I would change next time is to mix more sausage in - I forgot how much cornbread expands when it cooks, and the small amount I put in wasn't quite enough (the bites with sausage were super tasty, but almost half the muffin didn't have any sausage bits  )

I also made about twice as much mashed taters as I really needed, but that was ok, cause it was really yummy just by itself (plus it's fun to eat out of a piping bag  )

Hi, my name is Heidi, and I'm addicted to baking Actually, I've been obsessed with cupcakes lately... only thing is, the boy doesn't really eat sweets, so I've been trying to think of ways to appease my desire to make small frosting covered food in a "savory" kind of way. The result? Muffin Cakes!

I made cornbread muffins, with garlic chicken sausage inside. Then I made garlic mashed potatoes (I even roasted the garlic cloves myself!)... then, I "iced" the muffins with the mashed potatoes 

Muffin Cakes in all their glory... and the mashed potato frosting;


An overview of the frosted tops;


The inside view;


This was definitely fun, specially since I was really just wingin' it the whole time... also, I've never actually made mashed potatoes before, or roasted garlic cloves, or piped frosting (of any kind, let alone mashed potato frosting). I was a little worried they wouldn't turn out so good, but some friends came over last night, and just devoured them! 

My two bits, try not to worry so much about it... chances are the relatives that might care will be too busy crying to notice anyway 

As for the Sally Hensen stuff, it's pretty good, and really inexpensive. I know both my local Longs and Rite Aid stores carry it, so it shouldn't be too hard to find 

But really, Congratulations!!! Getting married is seriously stressful and amazing, and the best part is, you really will survive the whole experience

I didn't see the episode, but it seems like it would be fairly simple... just think of the toe end as the top rather than the bottom. If you used stuffing, you could fill the toe of the stocking, use some white thread to tie it off, fill again a bit bigger, tie off, fill a third time even bigger, close up the bottom and cut off the excess.

you could try using crimp beads with fireline, it tends to be pretty tough stuff (usually the one concern with crimping any sort of "thread" is that the crimps can cut into the string, but like i said, fireline is fairly resiliant)... an alternative option would be to use a product called "SoftFlex"; it's similar to Tigertail, but MUCH better quality. It's not only less prone to kinking than tigertail, it also has much nicer drape.  Personally, it's what I use in all of my stringing projects, as well as what I usually recommend to customers (I work at a bead store, and we get this question all the time). Finishing would be the same as for Tigertail... just crimp the ends to your clasp.

Good luck 

this got me curious, so I went web-searching... if you do decide to make your own, I found a great site with some good instructions on working with plexiglass.http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_acrylic.php It's geared towards making aquarium type items, but the ideas would translate fairly easily

are you opposed to making your own? cause it seems it would be pretty simple to use plexiglass sheets glued together with aquarium ceilant... and if you get the plexiglass from a hardware store, they might be able to cut them to size for you.

anywho, good luck, it looks like a really great idea 

evilwench, im so sorry, i cannot get my home computer to work and cannot post pictures of the wonderful jewelry you sent me! I love it all so much and feel horrible about it!!!! Ive been wearing the necklace every day, you are truly a wonderful crafter/beader!!!!! thank you again!!!!!

it's no prob... I'm just happy you like it

and luckily enough, I took pics before I sent 'em off (I was really happy with how they turned out )



(the big round thing at top right is a lapel pin)