Peppermint Snowmen

Well, this I'ble comes from getting bored last week and making some sweet treats for the guys and gals in work...  Since we where all working hard on Christmas Eve, I decided to bring some eddible outdoors-indoors.... All week we had had Snow and Ice, and people had got a little down about it... so well, I decided to make these little guys to brighten up peoples day... they went down a treat, and would make Brilliant Christmas presents!

So Sit back Enjoy and Let me know what you think!

-Biggsy


I have entered this into the Snow sculpture contest, as well.... Our Snow has melted, and this is all I could come up with...

AND
It's in Holiday Gifts too, because I think they would make a great Gift!

As for Ingredients, this is as SIMPLE as it gets... It's only *REALLY* got three essential ones... the rest are just pomp and glory... delicious pomp and glory

Watcha gunna need:

• Icing sugar (300g, BUT I would have extra, you'll see why later)
• 1x Egg white
• Peppermint flavouring (The natural stuff is best, but go with what you can get)

Pomp and Glory:

• Orange food colouring, or Orange sweets for his nose
• Silver Catering balls for his eyes

Utensils:

• Scales for weighing out the Icing sugar
• Spatula, or spoon
• Big bowl
• Plate
• Cocktail stick

See this REALLY annoys me, when someone makes something for you to CONSUME and they don't bother to wash their hands before hand... So I have decided to make a point of a few things that TV Chefs or whatnot don't seem to be able to do

# Remove any rings/ Jewellery that may come in contact with the food
# Wash your hands before you cook
# After handling Eggs, its good practice to wash your hands (Stops the spread of Salmonella and such)
# DO NOT Lick or taste off a spoon THEN put it back into the bowl you took the sample from... EWW... If I wanted your germs I would kiss you!

Before I start sounding like a rambling germ freak, I'm sure you'll agree this is all common sense... But some people just don't ...get... that its not hygienic

Firstly, measure out your 300g of Icing sugar and sieve it into your large bowl... I didn't sieve it, because I'm an idiot... I spent AAAAGES trying to mix the lumps out *sigh* seriously... sieve... It will save you loads of hastle.

Now, crack your egg, and seperate your white from the yolk...personally I like to crack my egg in half, and pass the yolk from one half to another so that the white lands into my mix... there are other ways,

• like cracking the egg onto a plate and manually lifting out the yolk with a spoon...
• Or... Pouring the egg into a sieve so that the white runs through the holes and the yolk stays in the sieve 
• Buy a carton of eggwhite

Whichever you decide to use... pop your eggwhite into your Icing sugar.

It is at this time, that you need to add your flavouring... Add 2-3 cap fuls of your flavouring, but if you think it doesn't taste strong enough... add a dash more in until your happy!

Now, using your spatula, or whatever stirring implement you have on hand give the Goop a good old mix... And if your feeling particularily inclined... dive in with your hands it's quite cathartic!

Now in step 1 I mentioned about having extra Icing sugar....  Well...this is where it comes in (maybe)... Now not all eggs are a standard size and weight... so your mix (or hereafter refered to as Goop) may be a little bit runny, and may not hold together like it should... My Goop was abit of a runny mess, so I added little ammounts of icing sugar until it became a firm white ball. that doesn't feel wet to the touch.

IF you add too much icing sugar... add a tiny bit of liquid (egg white, water, or more flavouring) but I mean TINY... we don't want to be constantly adding more of one thing then another

I found at this point that since I had been kneeding the Goop with my hands It was a little too warm to model, So I bunged it in the refridgerator for about 5minutes to firm up.  You should be able to roll small balls of the mix and have it hold together

Damnation, part of my I'ble didn't save... right lets try and remember what whitty comment I made here


Now, I'm not going to teach you how to suck eggs, as I'm assuming that most of you at some point in your lives will have made an ACCTUAL Snowman. What you need do, is to roll out a seris of balls...

the one on the bottom must me slightly larger than the one which will form the head... Stick one to the other and repete until your bored ;)

If you intend to get creative and make your decorations with the Goop, remember to leave some to one side for that task.

Now you have a little army of blind Snowmen, don't you think it's time we gave him some eyes, and a nose?

Or well... Now's the time to go mad with your decoration... I was getting sleey at this point so I stuck on some little silver balls for eyes, and cut up some orange sweets for a nose... BUT you could draw it on with icing, or eddible ink... Or make him a scarf... I don't know, do what makes you feel happy ;)

To make the eyes and nose stick, I made a little hole with a toothpick and jammed them in the hole.

If you are making your own nose, take your left over Goop, and mix in a little orange food colouring, roll into a carrot shape and stick it to the front of your snowmans face.

You will have to work quick as I found that my Goop went hard very quickly... but then again I was working quite slowly. ;)

This is a last minute thought.

Possible Variations:

• Make round disks of your goop, add a small ammount of green food colouring and half dip with milk chocolate.
• Cut out into festive shapes and hand out as peppermint thins
• Completly dip in chocolate and serve as a cheep alternative to After Eight mints
• Get gorey... Make into an eyeball shape (make two balls, one white, one red... or fill the inside with red jelly or cornstarch blood) Paint on an Iris and a few veins and hand out at Halloween!

Go nuts and enjoy people :)

Well, now, It's best to leave your Snowmen to set over night, either in the Refrigerator or somewhere equally as cool...

Then when theyre set, hand them out to your nearest and dearest... or just gobble them yourself. My collegues loved them, and I'm sure your mates will love them too

For other Ideas go and look at my other I'bles. If the I'ble needs explaining or altering let me know... Vote, Reply, Rate and Enjoy

Cheerio

Biggsy