Upcoming Candy Buffet

This Wednesday CandyShopBuffets will be doing a super sweet candy buffet for something very special!  I will be making the finishing touches today and tomorrow and will be uploading pictures as soon as Thursday!  The theme will be silver and metallic and just all over sparkly.  Stay Tuned.... ;)

Fall Favor Bags!

About a month ago I designed favor bags for Krista and Dan's wedding!  Their venue of choice was the Inn at Oneonta in Kentucky.  It was a gorgeous day and the favor bags looked super cute up against the wonderful natural coloring of the venue.  Here are some of our pictures from that day! Enjoy :)

Our Pink and Silver Candy Buffet!

I got asked to do a candy buffet at a wedding in October!  It was a beautiful day, beautiful bride, and wonderful reception.  Here are some pictures of my "mock up" for that day!  Unfortunately I did not have time to snap pictures at the actual venue, but I can assure you it was lovely!

Thank you to Carson and Stephanie for allowing me to be part of their special day!

Halloween Candy Day #5

This is the last one for today, and even easier than the recipes before!
Witches hats are always in fashion around Halloween...what better way to keep the theme of the party, than with mini candy witches hats?  Love how cute these look and how simple they are to make!

Ingredients

• 1 (4.25-ounce) tube orange or red decorating frosting
• 1 (11 1/2-ounce) package fudge-striped shortbread cookies (32 cookies)
• 1/2 (13-ounce) package milk chocolate kisses, unwrapped (32)

Preparation

• Pipe a small mound of frosting in center of each chocolate-covered cookie bottom; press a chocolate kiss on frosting. Pipe a frosting band and bow around base of each kiss.

Credit: Southern Living

Halloween Candy Day #4

I missed Monday and Tuesday this week so stay with me as we get a few more recipes up to date!
This super simple treat will add the chocolatey goodness you need at any party!

Day #4 is Spider Web Candy!

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 6 ounces white baking chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1 teaspoon shortening
• 1/3 cup flaked coconut, coarsely chopped

Directions

• In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt chips; stir until smooth. Cool slightly. Transfer to a heavy-duty resealable plastic bag; cut a small hole in corner of bag and set aside.
• In another small microwave-safe bowl, melt white chocolate and shortening; stir until smooth. Stir in coconut. Spoon 2 tablespoonfuls onto waxed paper-lined baking sheets; spread into a 4-in. circle. Repeat four times.
• Using reserved melted semisweet chocolate, pipe thin concentric circles an 1/8 in. apart on top of each candy. Beginning with the center circle, gently pull a toothpick through circles toward outer edges. Wipe toothpick clean. Repeat to complete web pattern. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until set. Store in an airtight container. Yield: 5 candies.

Credit:Taste of Home.com

Halloween Candy Day #3

These are just too cute and pretty simple if you are good at making meringue!

Day #3- Meringue Ghosts :)

Yield: 24 ghosts

Ingredients:

• 2 egg whites, room temperature
• 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp flavored extract, like vanilla or almond
• 8 oz semi-sweet chocolate
• toasted nuts, coconut, or sprinkles (optional)

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Place the room temperature egg whites in the clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. (Alternately, you can use a large bowl and a hand mixer with whisk attachments.)
2. Turn the mixer to medium-high speed and beat until the egg whites are foamy. Turn the mixer off, add the cream of tartar, and continue beating on medium-high until the whites have turned an opaque white color and hold soft peaks.
3. At this point, start adding the powdered sugar a few spoonfuls at a time with the mixer running. Once all of the sugar has been added, add any extracts you are using and turn the mixer to high speed. Continue to beat the egg whites until they are very thick, glossy, and a shiny white color. When you stop the mixer and lift the whisk out of the whites, the whites should have a very stiff peak. This process will take about 7-12 minutes in a stand mixer.
4. Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop your meringue mixture into a piping bag fitted with a ½ inch round tip, or if you don’t have this, into a large Ziploc bag with a ½ inch hole cut in the corner.
5. Pipe your meringue into ghost shapes about 1-1/2 inches wide and 2 inches tall. You can either do this by squeezing the bag and pulling up gradually, making one big “blobby” ghost, or by making a series of concentric circles spiraling upward. Pipe 12 ghosts onto each baking sheet, for a total of about 2 dozen meringue ghosts.
6. Bake the meringues in the preheated oven for an hour. After an hour, open the oven door and continue to cook for 30 minutes, then turn the oven off, close the door, and allow the meringues to sit until completely cool, about 1 hour.
7. Once the meringues are crisp and room temperature, melt the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl, stirring after every 30 seconds to prevent overheating. If you want to coat the bottoms in crushed nuts, sprinkles, or toasted coconut as well, place those toppings in small, shallow bowls nearby.
8. Dip the bottoms of the ghosts in the melted chocolate, and scrape the bottoms against the lip of the bowl to remove excess chocolate. If you’re dipping them in other toppings, immediately press the bottom of the ghost into the bowl of toppings so they adhere to the wet chocolate. Replace the dipped ghost back on the baking sheet and repeat with remaining ghosts and chocolate. Dip a toothpick in the remaining melted chocolate and give each ghost two dots for eyes and, if you desire, a mouth or other features.
9. Refrigerate the ghosts to set the chocolate, about 5-10 minutes. Do not refrigerate them any longer than absolutely necessary, as they will absorb moisture from the refrigerator and lose their crispness. Store Meringue Ghosts in an airtight container at room temperature.

Credit: About.com

Halloween Candy Day #2

Day #2- Monster Eyeballs

To me, this seems like a take on the popular buckeye that Ohio is known for.  Since I am based out of Cincinnati, I just had to share this one!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
• 1 (1-pound) package confectioners’ sugar (about 4 cups)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (12-ounce) package semisweet chocolate chips (2 cups)
• 2 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening
• 1 (3-ounce) package miniature M&Ms

Directions:

1. Blend the peanut butter with the butter, sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl. It may be easiest to use your hands (kids love doing this).

2. Line a rimmed baking sheet with wax paper. Roll the peanut butter mixture by teaspoons into small balls and place on the baking sheet. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour to firm up the eyeballs.

3. Put the chocolate chips and shortening in a microwave-safe bowl and melt the chocolate in the microwave: Heat on high for 60 seconds, and then stir well. If it’s not quite smooth, heat in two or three 10-second bursts, stirring well after each burst. (Alternatively, you can melt the chocolate, stirring frequently, in a double boiler, over just-simmering water. Avoid overheating, which can cause chocolate to seize up into a stiff mass.)

4. Take the sheet of balls from the refrigerator; use a fork or a toothpick to dip each one most of the way into the chocolate, leaving a round or oval opening of undipped peanut butter on top. (This opening in the chocolate will be the cornea.) Hold each ball over the chocolate to catch the drips, and then return to the wax paper, cornea side up.

5. Place an M&M in the center of the peanut butter cornea to make an iris. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. Store the eyeballs in the refrigerator or freezer and serve chilled.

Credit: Epicurious.com

Louisville Candy Buffet!

A few months ago, I was busy setting up several candy buffets in Cincinnati, and running down to Louisville KY for another!  The wedding we set up the candy buffet for was amazing.  She had lovely pink and white flowers with some gold accents throughout the room.  This is the style we designed her candy buffet in as well!  It looked gorgeous, the guests loved it, and there was not much candy left when we got back... that, in my book, is a hit!!
Here are some pictures, Enjoy :)

"Sweet Sayings"

Every Candy Buffet should be sweet and personal;  a reflection of you and your groom's personality and style!  This means no two candy buffets should be the same and this goes for candy buffet sayings as well.

Here is a list I came up with, with the help of a few friends and other candy buffet ladies of "sweet sayings" for your candy buffet. 

1. "All you need is Love..and Candy"

2. "Nothing is sweeter  than our love!"

3. “Enjoy the sweetness!

         - from the new Mr. & Mrs”

4." Love is Sweet! Enjoy a Treat!"

5. "Serving you a little treat, to say we think your pretty sweet!"

6." Love is Sweet!"

7. "Our love is as sweet as candy!"

8. " We would like to thank you for joining us on our wedding day!

        Before you leave take a treat and always remember

           ….Love is Sweet!"

There are so many more that you could use that are not listed here!  Remember, if need something custom created for your event, please let your candy buffet lady know.  We are always looking for new sayings and creative ways to incorporate them into your candy buffet!

Popcorn Buffets: Coming to CandyShopBuffets!

Fun Scoops that you can display your popcorn with!

Candy Buffets are amazing, but if you are not a "sweet" fan, you may not be in love with the idea of designing a whole buffet around sugary goodness!  Well an alternative, that will be offered at CandyShopBuffets, is a popcorn buffet.  With a popcorn buffet, you can select a wide array of flavors for your guests to nibble on.  You can just have "salty" popcorn or just "sweet"popcorn, or you can combine the two if you want your guests to have their pick!

The favor bags for these can be decorated with an old school theme, in keeping with the traditional red and white popcorn design.  The favor bags can also be a more understated brown or white paper bags with a formal design to them!

The possibilities for popcorn choices are really endless!  Caramel is guaranteed to be a popular one, but chocolate and caramel popcorn chunks in a "cookie bar shape" can also be a fun idea.  Obviously still popular with our salt lovers is cheddar, sour cream, and plain old salty popcorn.

Popcorn buffets are a really fun concept and are sure to make your guests talk as they would with a candy buffet!  CandyShopBuffets is excited to bring this unique idea in to our product line!

Colorful "Confetti" popcorn to add dimension to your buffet!

These are the standard popcorn bags you can use for guest favors!  

Variety of Popcorn that you can fill your table up with! The more it overflows the better it looks!

Cupcake Tower

Cupcake Tower, a photo by PinkCakeBox on Flickr.

Cute cupcake tower by pinkcakebox.com! Beautiful colors and a sweet arrangement :)

Cupcakes have become really popular in lieu of a wedding cake during the last couple of years.  Theweddingvendor.com recently did a post about these sweet desserts and how they can be utilized in several different ways!

Check out this article and start planning your dessert table today!

The article is by www.cutiepiecupcakes.ca and a must read.

Cupcakes on Wedding Vendor!

Updates!

Hi everyone!

We are getting ready to head into wedding season at CandyShopBuffets!  We have two candy buffets coming up and we will be posting pictures as soon as we can after.  These brides are amazing and both have unique styles.  One is a clean lines/modern look, the other bride has opted for a romantic, lacy look!  Both are going to be beautiful and I am enjoying the opportunity to work on these for them!

Also, our first promotional bridal shower buffet was this past weekend, so we will have pictures of the party soon as well!  Congrats Tasha on your upcoming marriage!

CandyShopBuffets also has a photo shoot for its candy buffets coming up in a week!  We will also post these pictures and keep you updated on when these pictures and our website candyshopbuffet.com will be up and running!

So many new things happening this spring!  Keep your family and friends in the loop and let them know about our company and how we can "sweeten their day"!!

Winners of our Promotion!

We announced a couple weeks ago, that we were going to hold a drawing on February 28th for 2 "at cost" candy buffets!  Well, February 28th is upon us and we drew the names our winners at 1 p.m. today.

We are really excited to announce these winners and are looking forward to working with them to plan their "sweet" candy buffet!

Winners:

Mirande from Kansas

 
Carcyle from Kentucky

Thank you all who entered.  We wish you luck and success in your wedding planning activities!

-Dani G. 
 

Megans Bridal Shower Buffet!

I uploaded most of the pictures to the slideshow but I will also put a few in this post for you all to look at!