Homemade – The Ocelots' Den

Ocelot Bombs!

By Julia on 15 February, 2020

A Cozy Hug in a Mug

I have a new love affair- with Hot Cocoa Bombs. I love deep, rich, and decadent chocolate. Chocolate Chip Cookies are a standby in my house (or variations on them), and Brownies are a close second. They are my comfort treats.

This winter season has been unseasonably warm. I went skiing in the rain over the weekend (that’s right skiing, not singing). To warm back up, I knew the best trick was to drink a steamy cup of hot cocoa.

Why is it called a Bomb?!

This is more akin to bath bombs, not a cherry bomb. When steaming hot milk is poured over the Ocelot Bomb (aka Hot Cocoa Bomb) the chocolate melts and the homemade marshmallows pop out from the inside or depending on how the milk has pored, sometimes it’s like they are blooming.

Ocelot Bomb in Action

It’s All About the Chocolate

Currently, I’m using a blend of dark and semi-sweet Ghiradelli chocolate. I wanted quality chocolate that would have some rich flavor to it, but that was also easily accessible for me to source at local grocery stores. (*Update: chocolate has been challenging to sources this year. My chocolate blend is still Dark chocolate (70%). I source high-quality chocolate, but it has been a struggle to consistently use the same brand of chocolate. This is also why you may notice an increase in my pricing.

Eventually, I want to offer additional flavors. White Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, and other exciting concoctions. They are still in the testing phase. Some of them have been far too sweet and I would rather deliver a consistently delicious product, than offer more options.

Homemade Marshmallows

I take the time to make my own marshmallows. First, of all, I’m not particularly fond of marshmallows, or at least I wasn’t until I decided to make my own. Homemade marshmallows are gooier and the flavor is fuller.

Secondly, I love learning about how things are made. Sometimes I learn and continue to buy from the store, but that was not the case with marshmallows. I love every aspect of making homemade marshmallows and the extra effort is worthwhile in making my confections.

Finally, I can FLAVOR my marshmallows. My current flavor is Vanilla Bean. My next batch will be peppermint. I have a few more that I would like to make before the Hot Cocoa Season is over. (Orange, Coconut, I even had a request for banana).

Are Custom Ocelot Bombs a thing?

Absolutely! I like to decorate my Bombs with some embellishments. (Sprinkles, Colorful Drizzles, Sanding Sugars, Royal Icing Transfers, etc). I also decorate them so I can tell the difference in the flavors.

Pricing

Each Bomb is $5.

If you would like a custom flavor marshmallow on an order of at least a dozen, let me know! And I’m happy to create something just for you.

All of my Ocelot Bombs are heat sealed in their package. They have a sticker with the instructions and a tag to identify their flavor!

Current Flavors are: Kaleidescope Vanilla Bean and Candy Cane Swirl (December 2020)

Updates

Now Taking Orders!

By Julia on 29 January, 2020

I am bubbling over with joy to announce I am officially taking local orders! If you are interested, I have created a “Custom Orders” page on the menu bar! It is complicated to include every option available, so if you are in doubt, include any thoughts or ideas in the notes section of the form.

A couple of weeks ago, I got super official and set up my business as an LLC and created all the appropriate filings to pay taxes. (I still need to get with my county. I am hoping to accomplish that in the next week or so. I want to be a good citizen and check all the blocks. I couldn’t submit that form online, and their office is 20 miles from my day job). I know that may not seem exhilarating, and paying taxes isn’t exactly on my top-10 list of exciting things, but it makes everything more “real!”

If, for some reason, the form doesn’t work (still learning about building websites), or it’s just more comfortable for you, feel free to email me your order requests! (I plan to respond to all requests within three business days).

I’m looking forward to a beautifully sweet 2020!

Autumn | Baked Goods | Cookies | Holiday | Thanksgiving

It’s High Time for Pie Time

By Julia on 20 November, 2019

Gobble Gobble! I am amazed that Turkey-Time is upon us. This year, I tried to practice daily thankfulness moments. I have an adorable Turkey-on-the-Table (which benefits Feed More) where I add a feather and something I’m thankful for daily. It may seem a little silly, but in my extremely formal office, I really enjoy adding a little decoration for the season.

Naked Turkey before his thankful feathers were added

In my opinion, the most iconic Thanksgiving dessert is clearly Pumpkin Pie. It’s autumnal and comforting. I was asked to make an order of decorated cookies for our office Thanksgiving luncheon and decided to turn the iconic dessert into a sugar cookie!

I love perusing Pinterest for ideas and inspiration, but I ended up taking my own spin on the Mini Cookie Pies. I love the simplicity of the sugar cookie with one later of frosting and the crimpled crust versus piping on a faux crust. I happened to have a hand pie cutter with a plunger that was the perfect tool for the job!

I’m a little bit of a perfectionist, so I searched and searched for something to help me evenly divide my pie into 6 slices with minimal effort. As luck has it, my strainers are PERFECT!!!!

Once the crust was marked, I could easily slice through it with my rotary cutter, aka a pizza cutter). My slices aren’t all 100% perfect, but as long as I keep each pie together, the pies fit and look 100% adorable.

It’s crucial to chill the dough if it has been stamped. It helps the cookies retain their impressions. I tried to take a shortcut as the evening progressed, and it didn’t turn out favorably. (As a bonus, it meant I had some cookies for tasting!)

I added a quick layer of frosting and let the crimpled crust show through. Before the frosting set, I added a quick sprinkle of Nutmeg. You could just as easily use a pumpkin pie spice mix (Ginger, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Cloves, and Allspice) or any of the other spices individually. I personally favor Nutmeg, and I like the thicker grain of it (I grate whole Nutmeg at home).

I spent some time thinking of cute simple sayings to add to my pies (and a bonus cookie) as I stumbled through my designs in my Silhouette Library; I found the most adorable Owl dressed as a Pilgrim.

*Side Story, my Great Gram LOVED birds. All Birds. She always kept a collection of bird feeders filled outside our kitchen windows so she could watch the birds ~~and yell at the squirrels~~. On one occasion, she was given an owl, and of course, loved and appreciated it, but it started a trend of people gifting her things with owls. (Pro Tip: Unless you want to be gifted with ALL the animal things… pick an obscure animal, like an Ocelot). I grew up with owls (and elephants) all over the house, so it warms my heart to see owls.

I wanted simple phrases that could also be added to the pie slices letter-by-letter. (6 slices, 6 letter words) “Gather” and “Gobble”. I’m also a lady who likes her options, so I’m still noodling on additional ideas.

I was glad this order was so successful on my first attempt on making these adorable little treats. It was my first attempt at layering royal icing transfers, and I confirmed my thought that I needed to chill my dough. My shortcut of pressing and baking resulted in plain triangle cookies. (Or as I like to call them, delicious mistakes).

I couldn’t wait to try out my hexagon cutter ahead of a December order! I think it turned out precious!

All the ~~cookies~~ pies are boxed and ready for delivery. I can’t wait to share!

Baked Goods | Cupcakes | Holiday

My First Sale!

By Julia on 4 November, 2019

I’ve been toying around with offering my baking skills for hire for several years but hadn’t quite figured out the logistics. (Spoiler, I still haven’t figured everything out, but I have started nonetheless).

My neighbor, Jennifer, posted a request for recommendations for Halloween Cupcakes. I am usually pretty busy around Halloween between birthdays and creating spooks, tricks, and treats, so I wanted to ensure I wasn’t overextending myself before I offered my services. As luck had it, the order wasn’t due until the Saturday AFTER Halloween! It was the perfect opportunity.

We had some dialogue about flavors and designs. For the kids’ cupcakes, we decided on Chocolate/ Chocolate. So I made my favorite chocolate cupcakes and topped them with Black Chocolate Buttercream Frosting. I used the fir/grass frosting tip (233) to style some Monster Fir and then sculpted Monster Claws from brightly colored Modeling Chocolate. It ended up being the perfect mixture of cute and creepy!

I loved the ease of making these cupcakes. Each step was quick, and the order was only for a half dozen. It was manageable. Often, I find that I get overly excited and design very complicated and time-consuming treats. Simple and sweet was a nice change of pace.

The next design took a few conversations to decide the final design and flavor. There was also a misunderstanding about skeletons in hats. I struggled to think of spooky skeletons in hats aside from a skeleton in a top hat… Auto-correct struck again and replaced “bats” with “hats.” Jennifer knew her husband likes flavors that pack a punch, so we decided on a Spiced Carrot Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting, and I created little Bat icing transfers.

It was my first experience making icing transfers, and when I started to make them the night before, I realized too late I had run out of meringue powder. I made the mistake of trying to replicate with buttercream and ultimately just wasted time because they were too soft, even when I tried freezing them overnight. Though it was frustrating, it was a wonderful lesson to learn.

To make my adorable bats, I found a cute bat image in clip art and copied as many on a page as I could fit (once I scaled the size to the width of the cupcakes). I taped them to the counter and put a layer of wax paper over so I can pipe over the image as a template. Simple and relatively quick. The downside is it takes HOURS for royal icing to dry. The upside is once the transfers are dry, you can store them for a long time. (Make your own googly eyes, hearts or sprinkles… the sky is the limit)!

Once the bats were mostly dry, I popped them onto my freshly frosted cupcakes. I added a gray belly and used a toothpick to dot on some tiny lime green eyes.

I made cute little liners for the Monster Claws that look like spider webs, and for the Bats, I made skeleton liners (but neglected to get a good photo. Shame on me!)

I searched and searched for affordable cupcake boxes or a secure transportation method. I am always ~~a little~~ incredibly terrified of the travesties that can occur when transporting my goodies. I also thought boxes would be an excellent presentation. Unfortunately, the more affordable boxes (~$1 per box) were a little too deep, and I couldn’t remove the cupcakes from the box without touching the frosting*. The risk was too high, so I loaned out a couple of my Halloween trays.

*Update: one of my coworkers had the brilliant idea to add crinkled kraft paper (like you use in Easter baskets) under the cupcakes, so the top edge was high enough to grab. GENIUS!

As a test, I baked complete batches of my cupcakes so I could get an accurate batch count. The ~~downside~~ upside is I had three-dozen extra Chocolate Cupcakes and three extra Carrot Cupcakes. But, it made a lovely gift to share with my neighbors, and I brought the remaining Chocolate Cupcakes to share with my coworkers.

I couldn’t let the “extra” gray Royal Icing go to waste, so I piped some nails onto the Monster Claws! I wish I thought of it before I delivered the other cupcakes, but lessons for another order.

All in all, I feel a wonderful sense of accomplishment. I baked tasty treats that were a little spooky and whimsical and delivered them on time.

Baked Goods | Cake | Holiday | Wedding | Weddings

An Unconventional Wedding Cake

By Julia on 21 August, 2018

My oldest brother got married this month! My wedding present to him and his bride was to help plan the wedding and to make the wedding cake. I know how stressful weddings can be, and I thought it was an excellent opportunity for me to get to know my SIL. I live 700 miles from where we grew up, and I have limited vacation days, so I try to maximize whatever time I have at home.

I knew the wedding would be a significant commitment, but it’s my big brother, and he asked me to be his “best man.” There is no way I could imagine refusing such a kind gesture and the loving inclusion on their special day.

The cake flavors were a simple choice. The couple quickly agreed on Red Velvet Cake with Buttercream Frosting. All that remained was to come up with the design. They both had their hearts set on having a Deadpool cake. I was a bit confused at first, but then they explained their love story and the significance of Deadpool.

My initial thought when I heard “Deadpool cake” was a Deadpool cartoon face round cake, with loads of red and black frosting. I try to be pretty open with design ideas, but I wanted to steer them towards something a little more traditional, with the fun and significant element of Deadpool. They had already chosen flowers and wedding colors. Gerbera daisies, and Orange, Purple, and Green.

I made the bouquets and boutonnieres. The mini bouquets were for my nieces. With flowers that represent their names and a few were mimicked in the bridal bouquet.

I couldn’t wrap my brain around how to fit this comic-book character into this romantic theme. Also, I know my brother, I hadn’t seen him with my SIL yet, but I could see him lovingly smashing the cake in her face. Red and black frosting stain my hands when I bake with them. I can’t imagine the damage they would inflict on a wedding dress.

So, as I like to do, I did more research. I watched the movies because I hadn’t seen them yet. I hoped that something in them would inspire me so their wedding cake would succinctly represent them as a couple AND look beautiful amidst the flowers and other decorations for the wedding.

I am so glad I watched the movies because the thing about Deadpool is, he can’t die. (I’m sure that’s obvious to any hardcore comic fans. He wasn’t a character I was exposed to until this month). So, I had the idea to have the cake drop on top of him and squish him! Then I was off to the races!

The bloody version was just for a dramatic effect. I didn’t intend on making a bloody wedding cake. *(But I would if they wanted it)*

I drew some mock-ups and sent them to my SIL for approval and got to baking. I wanted to do a test run of the cake and see how long it would take me to bake, frost, and decorate because I would be flying to Michigan from Virginia. I made a test cake for my BIL’s birthday because he also loves comic book characters.

I molded Deadpool, an “L” and some Gerbera Daisies out of modeling chocolate. For the real cake we were thinking about a cake topper that was M <3 S. (I typically put the woman’s initial first, but I didn’t want it to read S&M and give any mixed messages) I dusted some of the elements with luster dust for dimension and sheen. I piped all of the details, and I was incredibly proud of my effort.

My least favorite part of baking is cake delivery. It is terrifying. It makes me anxious. There are so many things that can go wrong after putting so much effort into the delicious artwork. More often than not, I have someone drive with me, and I hold the cakes. Or I drive and have someone hold the cakes.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t an option on this day. So I packed my car up to drive 8 miles. I made it the whole way there. I am sure I annoyed all of those around me because I was driving so slowly, taking corners like a little old lady and accelerating at a painstakingly slow pace. Then, because I lost my mind, I decided to pull into the driveway. HUGE mistake. I heard the cake topple right on over, and I cried.

For the wedding, I knew I wouldn’t be traveling with the cake. I would bake and decorate it at my sister’s house where the reception was held, but still, I felt defeated and embarrassed.

Fortunately, because Deadpool is the anti-hero, he survived the debacle. Also, my in-laws are the greatest and still devoured the cake.

I did some research and decided with my tight timeline flying in the night before the wedding; it was best if I brought the cake, frosting, and modeling chocolate to assemble on site. I looked at the TSA regulations and packed it up in my cooler as my carry on. It was the perfect solution, especially since after delays we didn’t get into town until well after midnight.

The cake traveled really well in it’s cooler along with the buttercream and candy clay. There were a lot of tasks to accomplish to prepare for the festivities as soon as the day began. I took a trip to the store for some last-minute charcuterie items. (I was obsessed with finding fresh figs). I tried my hardest to coordinate the fruits and veggies with the wedding colors. We sliced, chopped, and prepared everything while other helpers set up the flowers and other decorations and drink stations outside.

My sister spent a lot of time before my arrival, setting up lights and arranging her gardens to have space for a dance floor and the DJ. Everything was happening in whirlwind succession.

I crumb-coated the cake and gave it it’s polished finish before adding the other details. At this point, my brother liked the cake simple. So I stopped. Why spend more time on it if the groom is happy. We still had a lot of other tasks to accomplish, and the ceremony was 30 minutes from the reception.

I wish I would have gotten better photos of the cake. The ceremony was at sunset, and the reception was in the evening, so it was too dark, plus, at that point I had shifted my mindset into my Best Man role, and I was focused on my speech and spending time with my nieces and nephew (and the bride and groom).

My best man’s speech was a hit! Look at the applause!

Comfort Food

Pizza Burgers & Fries

By Julia on 5 December, 2017

Growing up in the mid-west, we had an intriguing assortment of food. In the summers, we would often stop at Herald’s Dairy Delight on the way to our cottage. I ordered the same thing EVERY time. It was a pizza burger. I got to thinking about this pizza burger recently and decided to try to make it. It is a thin beef patty topped with mozzarella, battered and fried. Then it is transformed into a sandwich and topped with marinara sauce. It truly was perfection (at least in my mind’s eye). I’m not sure if Harold’s Dairy Delight or any other place back home still make these, but I certainly haven’t seen them on a menu in Virginia.

Step one: cook a hamburger patty. Word of precaution; make it as thin as you can. My patties were too thick, and that makes eating them more complicated, and they are less authentic.

Step two: melt some mozzarella cheese on top of the patty and chill the cheesy patties in the freezer for a bit.

Step three: dredge. To create the beautiful deep-fried crust, dip them in flour, egg, and breadcrumbs. If you don’t have a full coating, repeat the process. You NEED to seal all of the cheese inside. Pop them back in the freezer until the oil is to temperature.

Step four: when the oil reaches 350F, put a couple of patties at a time into the fryer (or pan with oil). Cook until golden brown on each side.

Final thoughts. Making homemade Pizza Burgers was a bit of a complicated process, but I am glad that I made an effort to recreate my childhood classic.

Baked Goods | Comfort Food | Pie

Roll it Out: It’s a Day Full of Pie!

By Julia on 21 November, 2017

In honor of my two youngest nephews visiting, we decided to have a make your own pie night! We made the dough, rolled it out, added our sauce and everyone could choose their own toppings!!! It is always more fun when little hands are helping in the kitchen.

Both boys opted for simple toppings of Pepperoni and Black Olives. My adventurer, opted for a more flavorful crust brushed with Olive Oil and some Italian Seasoning! Mr. Ocelot followed their lead, but added some onions. I was the odd man out with a Loaded Baked Potato, Stuffed-Crust Pie!

To finish the meal, we made yet another pie! One of my absolute favorite fruit pies! Strawberry Rhubarb with a Lattice Top! It is the perfect balance between sweet and tart!

Baked Goods | Cookies

Cheeseburgers in Paradise

By Julia on 20 May, 2017

Since we were going to the Jimmy Buffet Concert, I figured I needed to figure out a way to have “Cheeseburgers in Paradise.” We planned on making BBQ (aka pulled-pork for those that aren’t east coast southerners) and warming it on the Grill. So instead of an entrée, I fashioned our “burgers” into a dessert!

I love to make sugar cookies. Sometimes I bake my Great-Great Aunt Ina’s from scratch; other times when I am in a pinch for time or ingredients, I use to roll out the dough from the grocery store. Today that is what I decided to do.

To make the cookies:

1 roll of Cookie Dough or a batch of your favorite Sugar Cookie Dough

Cocoa (or brown food coloring)

Flour for rolling

Small round cookie cutter

First, divide the batter into thirds, add about 1/4 of a cup of Cocoa to one-third. The cocoa-flavored dough will serve as the “hamburger patty.” The vanilla dough will be your “buns.” Roll out the dough as usual and cut out cookies. When cutting the cookies, if you twist the cookie-cutter as you cut, this will seal the edges, which helps your cookie bake more dome-shaped. Try not to with the Hamburger patty to keep it flat! (This will be dependent on the type of dough. The more the dough naturally rises the more prominent this will be, whether baking biscuits, donuts, or cookies). * I advise to use a cookie-cutter about the size of a sandwich cookie; otherwise, when these cookies are layered, they will be HUGE.

Add a dab of icing to secure patty to the bottom bun

If you would like the cookies to look even more like an authentic burger bun, you can sprinkle a few sesame seeds on top of HALF of the vanilla cookies before they go into the oven.

Once the cookies cool, it is time to assemble the tiny masterpieces!!

Time to Decorate

I love a good buttercream. With a combination of butter, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla, what’s not to like?!!

I colored the frosting Red (ketchup), Yellow (mustard), and Green (lettuce). You may notice that these Cheeseburgers are lacking a key ingredient, cheese! I crossed my fingers and hoped the cheese would go unnoticed on my tiny burgers. You could very easily cut slices of “cheese” out of fondant or candy clay.

First, with the flat side of a “bun” up, add a dab of frosting (any color will do) and top with your “patty.” This is to “glue” the layers together. Next pipe on as you would your burger toppings. A drizzle of “ketchup” and a drizzle of “mustard” using a round piping tip, making sure to overlap so you can see both when you add the top. Change your tip to a different texture (I used a star) for the lettuce and dab some on and seal with your top “bun!”

Voila! The burgers are finished! Enjoy your petite treats!