Brandon Graduation

Graduation Cake

Congrats Cake

Rum Balls

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar (Divided)
1/2 cup dark rum (I used Sailor Jerry)
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 1/2 cups finely crushed vanilla wafers (I used graham crackers)
1 cup finely chopped, toasted walnuts (I used pecan)


Into a large bowl, sift together 1 cup of the confectioners' sugar. Stir in the rum and corn syrup. Stir in the vanilla wafers and walnuts, and mix well. Place in the refrigerator to firm up slightly, about 30 minutes. (The mixture may appear crumbly and dry; this is O.K.) Place the remaining 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar in a shallow bowl or dish. Using a tablespoon, scoop out portions of the rum ball mixture and press into 1-inch balls. Using your hands, roll the balls in the confectioners' sugar, coating evenly. Place on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, placing waxed paper between the layers to prevent sticking.

Bubble Tea 泡沫紅茶

Ingredients:
tea milk
large tapioca pearls
sweetener

Directions
Brew tea. Let cool. Boil tapioca pearls until they are chewy and puffy. (Follow package directions) Drain most of the water from the tapioca, then add sweetener. This will prevent your tapioca from sticking together. Add pearls to bottom of a glass. In a separate glass add equal parts milk and tea, and ice. Shake together until beverage is cold. Add milk tea to tapioca glass, sweeten to your liking. In this picture, I used raspberry tea, and honey.

Hard Boiled Eggs

Yes, there is in fact a wrong way to hard-boil eggs. And the wrong way results in rubbery whites and yolks with that signature grey/brown coloring on the outside. Follow these simple steps to a perfectly cooked egg every time!


1. Place eggs in saucepan in a single layer.
2. Fill pan with cold water, covering eggs by 1 inch.
3. Place over medium-high heat. Cover; bring to a boil. When you see the water just starting to get tiny bubbles from the heat, add a spoonful of salt and place lid back on.
4. As soon as the eggs come to a rolling boil, turn off heat; let stand, covered (don't even think about peeking in there or you'll lose all of the heat), 12 minutes.
5. Transfer eggs to bowl of ice water. Let stand for about 5 minutes, then remove.

Glace Icing

Glacé Icing
1 lb powdered sugar (about 3 3/4 C)
6 T milk (low-fat actually works, but use whole if you can)
6 T light Corn Syrup (6T is equal to 1/4 C plus another 2 T)
1 t extract (I prefer almond)

Directions:
With a whisk, combine sugar and milk until smooth (no lumps!) Then stir in corn syrup and extract.

You will use this same recipe for both glazing and piping. The way it is right now is the consistency you want for glazing. It easily runs off the whisk in a thin drizzle. To prepare the icing for piping, you just add more powdered sugar. You can't really mess it up because if it's too thick you just add more milk and if it's to thin, you add more powdered sugar. It gets to a point where it's relatively hard to whisk it by hand. When I pick up the whisk, it still runs off, but in a very slow, thick stream. For thin icing, use a small spoon to add icing to cookie. You need to wait for the icing to set before you pipe on top of it. It doesn't have to be completely dry, but just set on top. An hour or two will probably be enough. If it's dry to the touch you can go ahead and decorate.
This is a good frosting recipe because when the icing drys you can stack the cookies with no fear of smudging the decorating.