Christmas Tree Cinnamon Rolls, Homemade fudge and Cake Balls

Baking during the holidays, has always been a favorite tradition of mine.

Christmas Tree Cinnamon Rolls came from one of my mom's good friends.
She started this tradition maybe ten or so years ago?
She'd come over to our house every year w/this delicious treat and I looked forward to it every year.
One year she didn't stop by and I was quite disappointed, but she taught a class at her house instead. I was so excited!
I now, make it every year, and deliver it to a few close friends myself.
I love carrying on this tradition, and I get better & better at making it every year.
It's quite the art and takes talent to make it look like an actual tree.
I'm still working on the visual part ;)

This year, I decided to try something new.
I've never made homemade fudge syrup, so I was really excited!
I know, sounds nerdy right?!!
It ended up turning out delicious and was very easy to make! 
I'll definitely be making more, for Jake and I to have on our ice cream at home :) 

Cake balls has been in our family for a few years now, and they are so much fun!
There are so many different combinations you can use. The possibilities are endless!

From the time I could remember, my family always made treats & delivered them to the neighborhood kids.
Yes, we were that family.
We would all get in our Christmas pajamas, pile in the car, and fight over who would get out at what house, to deliver the goodies.
My mom was always very good at making treats for all our school teachers, friends, and close families at church.
I loved it and look forward to doing this w/my own kids.
Jake is learning how to bake as well, and it's really exciting to get so festive during this time of year. 

May your home smell delicious as well!

Christmas Tree Cinnamon Rolls

Makes 3-4 trees

Dough:

3 pkg. or 3 TBSP yeast

3/4 cup lukewarm water

3 cups milk

3/4 cups sugar

1 cup butter

1 TBSP salt

3 eggs, beaten

10-12+ cups flour

Filling:

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 TBSP cinnamon

1 cup butter, softened

nuts and or raisins if desired

Glaze:

8 oz. cream cheese

1/2 cup butter (do not use margarine)

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 cup milk or orange juice for an orange glaze 

(omit vanilla if using an orange glaze)

*If you leave the vanilla in with the orange, it gives it a yummy orange vanilla flavor and tastes really good FYI

1 jar Maraschino cherries to decorate tree

Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water and let stand. Heat milk, sugar, butter and salt in microwave until butter melts. Do not boil over stove. Cool until lukewarm. (I usually add the eggs to help cool it off.) Once it is cool enough, add 4 cups of flour and the yeast. Gradually add 6 more cups of flour. Knead (or mix in bread mixer) for at least 5 minutes. Add more flour as needed, leaving the dough just slightly sticky. Let the dough double in size (about 2-3 hours). 

Divide into 3-4 balls. Roll each ball into a large circle. Spread butter over the dough. Mix sugars and cinnamon together and sprinkle over the butter. Add nuts and or raisins if desired. Shape into a Christmas tree. Let it rise for about 20-30 minutes. 

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

To make the glaze, mix cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar and vanilla together until smooth. Add canned milk (or orange juice, depending on what flavor you wanted) until is is the desired consistency. Using a spoon, spread the glaze over the tree while it is still warm. Add Maraschino cherry halves to decorate. ENJOY! 

Roll dough into a large circle, about 14" wide.

Fold one side over.

Fold the other side over. Pinch the middle together. 

Cut 1" strips, leaving the middle uncut. 

Roll the bottom into a large trunk.

First, roll one side to the middle, then wrap the other side around it.

Twist the branches.

This is what it'll look like when it first comes out of the oven:

And this is what it looks like w/the glaze and cherries:

Homemade Fudge

Makes 2 small jars

2/3 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened process cocoa powder

1/4 tsp. salt

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

In a medium, heavy saucepan over medium heat, combine cream, corn syrup, dark brown sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and half of the chocolate. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring until the chocolate pieces are completely melted.

Reduce heat and cook at a low boil, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, and add in butter, vanilla, and remaining chocolate. Continue stirring until smooth. Allow the sauce to cool before serving.

To store, cool sauce completely and chill in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week. ENJOY!

Cake Balls

Makes about 50-100 bite size balls, depending on size

You will need:

One box of cake mix (any flavor), cookie sheets, wax paper, plenty of refrigerator space, and one can of frosting of choice.

The cake box flavor doesn't necessarily need to be the same as the frosting flavor.

For example, I used a strawberry cake box mix, and cream cheese frosting.

First step:

Make the cake. That simple. Follow the directions on the back of the cake mix.

Let cake cool for about 2-3 hours.

Break the cake into pieces and put into a large bowl. (This is where things get messy.) 

Add the can of frosting and mix well. You can add the whole frosting container, or use 3/4 of the frosting. If you do use the whole frosting container, you will have very moist cake balls FYI

Once the frosting is mixed in the crumbled cake, you will then roll into balls. 

Refrigerate until cool (about 30-60 minutes).

Use dipping chocolate for outside hard shell. The cake balls are delicious w/o the outside hard shell, but add just that much more flavor if you do decide to use it, which I do recommend ;) 

ENJOY!

This is the dipping chocolate I chose to use.

I also used chocolate w/another cake mix.

Both are delicious and great to work with. 

All you do is put some wafers in a bowl, in a microwave & put on defrost for 30-60 seconds. Easy.

This cookie sheet had about 35 cake balls on them and I had three cookie sheets (small, medium and large).

This batch made close to 100 cake balls.

Below is the strawberry cake ball w/vanilla frosting on the outside.

I used cream cheese frosting on the inside w/the cake mix. 

I got a little crazy and added some Christmas sprinkles

They looked so cute bagged in a clear bag with a silver twisty tie.

(The gift bag has the homemade fudge {recipe above} inside. We gifted those to our bosses w/the cake balls)