Ok, I have to ask. I see folks saying that mmf tastes like circus peanuts. Now obviously that is an American thing, because I have never heard the term in Canada, so what the heck are circus peanuts? Are they honey or sugared peanuts or what? Oh wait, hhmn, maybe I have it, are they the marshmallow peanuts like marshmallow bananas and strawberries and such?
Enquiring squirrels want to know!
Hugs Squirrelly
Squirrelly, thanks for asking the question that I am sure most of us Canucks were afraid to! I have often wondered what everyone meant as well. I thought it might be the little peanuts with the bumpy red coating...which of course does not taste anything like MMF!
It all makes sense now! hehehe
Haha, see we learn something every day. We just call them marshmallow peanuts here in Canada. Thanks for solving the mystery, haha!
Hugs Squirrelly
Circus peanuts are one of those things that taste amazing as a kid and then when you get older you realize that anything sweeter than table salt is unbareable.
I must say that I never read anything that said that mmf tastes like circus peanuts but when I used mmf for the first time to make my bbq cake I thought the same exact thing.
Oh my good mess. Anything sweeter than table salt is really unbareable.
I glad to know it's not just me.
I have never liked those things!! It's like eating rolled sugar-I guess MMF is the same thing! Never thought of it like that-but then I don't eat cake or icing or MMF either so I would not have anything to compare the memory of the taste to...but it does put it into perspective for those inquiring minds! Thanks!
circus peanuts do indeed taste exactly like our "marshmallow bananas" here in canada, which is not surprising given that the "banana" flavour isn't exactly banana-like.
i recently saw mammoth bags of marshmallow strawberries and marshmallow bananas at a wal-mart in toronto recently...i have fond childhood memories of the strawberries with their sugary-tart coating...you could get 2 for 5 cents at the corner store.
circus peanuts do indeed taste exactly like our "marshmallow bananas" here in canada, which is not surprising given that the "banana" flavour isn't exactly banana-like.
i recently saw mammoth bags of marshmallow strawberries and marshmallow bananas at a wal-mart in toronto recently...i have fond childhood memories of the strawberries with their sugary-tart coating...you could get 2 for 5 cents at the corner store.
Haha, do I dare say, I remember those same prices, haha! I think we are aging ourselves, haha.
I remember the peanuts well too, they are a bit harder to come by now. Hhmn, do I dare say that I still like all of these things, haha! You folks are missing the point with sweets, let me educate you. The trick to really appreciating sweet things is to eat them when you are really hungry, like first thing in the morning. Then you can truly appreciate sweet but if you eat sweets when you are already content, well then they taste sicky sweet. Which is why candy and cake and such are really good for breakfast, unless you are diabetic!
Haha, I hope you know I am kidding, well sort of. I am terrible for pulling stunts like this. Some of us never grow up and remain a kid in a candy store, haha!
Cotton Candy anyone, haha!
Hugs Squirrelly
I can't get my kids to touch them..... Daddy won't eat them so why should they? They prefer the more expensive items. You know, the sugary koolaid stuff that comes with hard cany suckers shaped like paint brushes and the like.
As for me, give me an Abbazabba, Big Hunk, or a Sugar Mama anytime!
Debbi
I use to love those marshmallow bananas and strawberries..Thing is I remember penny candy.. now that is dating myself..LOL Oh and I have never found anything to be Tooooooo sweet.. I have a Very Sweet Sweet tooth..
Im with nanni .i love to decorate cakes but cant stand frosting ........i always scarape it off.....I agree with squirrley cakes also ....I always find my self sampling my icing when Im hungry ...i like to work late at night when my daughter is in bed so you now when the midnight snack atatck comes I sneak a taste.......
oh we were talking about marshmellow fondant ... yeah it does taste like circus peanuts... taste 500% better than regular fondant
I may suffer from dull taste buds but I dont think marshmallow circus peanuts and MMF taste the same at all....both are great but I dont see/taste it. I wonder if we could make MMF out of circus peanuts...now that would be heaven!!!!!!!!
I loved them when I was a child. We would eat so many that we would actually get sick
Hey SquirrellyCake, talk about dating yourself, guess what? I can remember when gas was $.25 a gallon, Mary Jane bread was $.25 to .50 a loaf depending on where you brought it.
Chicken was a Sunday dinner only, Turkey was Thanksgiving and Christmas only. And you lived for Christmas @ our church because they passed out snack treat brown bag goodies to the children.
Enough, I could go on and on about the good old days. lol
Heehee, sounds all too familar! Gee and in those days, the only times you saw turkeys at the stores was at those times!
Hugs Squirrely
Back in those days, I never dreamed that I would come to say that "I am sick and tired of chicken and turkey"
I sure do miss the Mom & Pop stores; everything now is so in-personal.
Everyone in the store that is close by get a laugh off me because I'm always saying "you have to go to the bank and get a loan to come food shopping". Prices are outrageous, doesn't make sense.
Haha, I know what it is like to get sick of turkey. A few years ago we were on a diet and fresh turkeys were on sale. Well every week my hubby was picking up a turkey, I got so that when Thankgiving and Christmas came, I could hardly stand the smell, haha! You can get sick of anything!
Gosh yes, the prices of groceries! I remember when my mother's Christmas grocery order was $12. Now the turkeys alone are over $40 here. Fruit cakes cost as much as a case of wine to make, haha!
Hugs Squirrelly
Haha, well you are in good company, lots of folks don't like it. Some are dry and hard, but some are moist and wonderful. Lots of calories though, haha!
Hugs Squirrelly
I love Christmas cake and I make it every year for my family and as gifts for friends .My recipe is moist as soon as it is done no need to let it sit for months to moitsten up.
I put almond paste on some of them and they are delicious.
I will enclose the recipe in case anyone would like to try it.. This makes a dark fruit cake. I don't measure out the fruits and nuts exactly I always add a little extra.. and as for the brandy I use whatever we have.. Last yr it was spiced rum , I have used grandmarinier or cognac other yrs.
_Christmas Cake_
2 cups whole blanched almonds
2 cups seeded raisins {I just use 2 cups light and 2 cups dark raisins if
2 cups seedless raisins if can't find these}
2 cups currants
2 1/2 cups chopped dates
1 cup mixed peel {I like to use a little more}
1 cup mixed fruit
1 12 oz bottle of red maraschino cherries
1/2 cup brandy, sherry or cognac etc. {I use about 1 cup instead..}
1 19 oz can of crushed pineapple
2 cups white sugar
1 cup strawberry jam
4 cups flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp allspice
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 lb butter- not margarine
2 1/4 cups white sugar
12 eggs
The Day Before
Measure{aprox} nuts, raisins, currants, dates and mixed peel and fruit
into a large bowl. I use my roasting pan. Drain cherries and keep the juice.
Chop cherries and add to fruit/ nut mixture. Stir in brandy and cover with plastic wrap and store at room temperature overnight ..at least one day..
In a heavy saucepan simmer the can of crushed pineapple{ dont drain }with 2 cups of sugar, cook uncovered for 30 minutes until mixture is thick.. Add the reserved cherry juice and strawberry jam. This must be cool before adding to the cake mixture,so I do it the day before or early in the day that I make the cake..
_Cake Pans_
Prepare the cake pans by greasing them, then lining them with heavy brown
paper and then greasing the paper. I only line the bottoms of the pans. This recipe makes enough to fill 4 or 5 loaf pans . I use small ones for gifts.
_Day Of Baking_
Preheat oven to 275*
Sift flour, spices salt and soda together. Sprinkle 1 cup of this over fruits and nuts and toss well to coat. Set remaining flour aside.
In a large bowl cream 2 1/4 cups if sugar wth the butter. Beat eggs in one at a time. Still in dry ingredients alternating with the pineapple jam mixture. Pour this over the floured nuts and fruit. Mix until well combined. Turn into prepared pans .
Bake in a slow oven 3-3 1/2 hrs Put a shallow pan of water on the bottom rack . Cake should be fairly firm to the touch when done. Remove from oven and peel off papers , cool on rack. Wrap in plastic wrap or foil . Keep in fridge or freeze..
Makes 11 1/2 pounds
Happy Baking
Liz
I can remember going to the movies for a quarter, babysitting was 50cents an hour and you thought you hit it big if you sat for a few hours-what a treat-that meant movies, snacks etc on the weekend!! Bonanza and Walt Disney on Sunday evening after baths, REAL cartoons on Saturday mornings, and actually having time for family things during the week! What a tough life we had back then, huh>>
Crimson Hair,
Thank you for posting your recipe, it sounds very much the same as my late mother's! When she passed away we looked for her recipe and the cookbook where she had handwritten it, was water damaged and we could not make out the recipe. So this is a real treat for me and I will try it this Christmas!
My mother used to soak the fruit overnight. Funny thing, Mom never used brandy or anything to wrap it and it still was moist. She did, however use wine. That was a running joke because when she bought her fruitcake supplies she would buy a bottle of a sweet wine or sherry. However the wine or sherry didn't go into the cake, they went into the cook. Sort of a reward for all of the work, haha!
Haha, Nanni, I remember, black and white movies were $.25 and coloured were $.35. And you could sit there and watch every showing too! The Ed Sullivan Show too, life was good, haha!
Hugs Squirrelly
squirrelly: i'm only a few years older than your kids (i'm 31), but i do remember when my mother would treat me and my two siblings to a candy bar each on the way home (purchased in the subway station no less, which is always more expensive) for a dollar, TOTAL. nowadays, a pack of gum is $1.30 or more in the subway station .
a lot of folks don't like fruitcake...but LOVE stollen. i'm one of those people. it's easy to make too, or even easier to buy at your local german bakery/deli at christmastime.
If only I could return to 31, I would even except 40!!!
Do you remember finding empty soda cans and stomping them on your feet and go walking down the road clunking (sp), everyone could hear you coming.
My favorite was mud pies, and plaiting grass...no kidding, we would plait the grass for hair. Everyone's yard had plaited hair with rubber bands all around. Something to see, all these rubber bands sticking up in the yard.
How about when you had to earn your allowance the hard way...Chores!!!
Everyone in the neighborhood help raise each other's children. You couldn't do nothing without someone peeking out the window to see if you were playing nicely and not being bad.
I could go on and on.
aunt-judy, haha, I just about fell over at Christmas time. I am not a gum chewer, but I still make up Christmas stockings for the girls and some of their adult friends. One friend loves gum, so I bought several packages for her stocking and I was in shock at the cost, geesh! Haha, yes I can handle stollen too, not much I don't like!
Ah, mud pies, the beginning of every cake decorator! Gee, we didn't plait grass, but we did have a lot of fun with milk weed and such! And games like, "Hide the button"!
Oh gosh you are so right, the neighbourhood did participate in the raising of children, I think that still goes on in some smaller areas. We used to get in trouble if we walked by a neighbour without greeting them. God forbid you walked on someone's lawn! And we used to be able to roam the streets all day without anyone worrying about something happening to us. The good old days!
Hugs Squirrelly
Well its still like that up here where I live Squirrelly.. Our town has a population of only 1500 so everyone knows everyone.. If you don't know what your kids are doing your neighbour sure does..LOL. Not much shopping here we only have one little family run grocery store , a drug store a few restaurants and conveinience store.. I'd love to have more stores but wouldn't trade the safety of my town for anything. My children are grown now.. my son is 36 and daughter 32 but it was great raising kids here and still is.. It is a safe town and everyone looks out for everyone else..
Hope you enjoy the Christmas cake Squirrelly..
Liz
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