Candy Corn on the COB! by alaskantomboy
Contest WinnerFeatured
As I was digging into a fresh bag of candy corn, an idea suddenly jumped into my mind. Why do we have candy corn kernels and not a full cob of candy corn? Clearly this is an imbalance in the world that needed to be fixed. 

I did a quick google search to see if someone else has stumbled upon this cob-shaped void in the universe; I was surprised at how little I found.

There was a creator that attempted to accomplish the impossible by fusing the kernels with melted chocolate. His story can be found here: http://somethingaweek.wordpress.com/2011/10/15/82-candy-corn-on-the-cob/. He was successful and made a beautiful cob of  pure sugar. 

I also found another attempt on youtube where a guy used icing, but ended up with a frozen block of sugar. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZKeseqwaL8


I was looking for something easier, cheaper, and more fool proof. 

I experimented with fondant first, that was completely unsuccessful. Then I though of gluing it together with caramel (since I had a fresh bag of that around too). Too messy and too hard. 

Then, another light bulb went off.....cookie dough! Sugar cookie dough works perfectly (don't attempt with chocolate chip dough, the chips just get in the way and jeopardize structural integrity). It only took about 4 minutes to assemble and looked authentic. 


Update: For those afraid of the raw eggs in cookie dough, I recommend making egg-free cookie dough instead.Here is a handy recipie I found online: http://www.food.com/recipe/egg-free-no-bake-cookie-dough-for-eating-391880

Second Update: I have received a lot of recommendations to substitute marzipan instead of the cookie dough...the choice is yours :)



Some helpful details:

I only used about 1/10 of the tube of cookie dough for the cob core(hooray for leftover cookies!). I rolled it thinner in my hands to get the half-sized cob.  

I pushed the candy corns into the cookie dough only as deep as the white part., if you push them in too deep then they start to collide in the cookie dough and cause it to loose its shape. I layered the kernels by alternating the spacing each row (length-wise). As you can see in the picture, I set the rows with the kernels flat against each other, not the longer way.

Also, I only used about half a bag of candy corn ( a lot of them were broken). So you could easily make two small cobs from one bag or one impressive full-sized cob! 

Its pretty stable on its own, but a quick set in the fridge really helps hold it together. It also helps to have the cookie dough chilled before pushing in the candy corns.  



Now I have fixed the sugar-cob-shaped hole in my life and have a brick of sugar to eat. Although the earthy-vanilla of the sugar cookie balances out the unadulterated sweetness of the candy corn, I do not recommend eating it all at once (unless you don't want to move for a while).

I could see this being a fun center piece or a part of a candy table where guests may pick off candy corns as they like.

It was a fun experiment, and its so cheap and easy I would love to see what people can do with it. Get out there and help fill the candy-corn cob shaped holes in the universe! 



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salskfisher says: Mar 18, 2013. 2:10 AM
Люблю рыбалку, особенно рыбалку в Ростовской области
DividersMaker says: Jan 18, 2013. 10:08 PM
Wow! What a treat! Outstanding 'able. You can stop, drop and cover, but there is NO PUTTING OUT AWESOME!
poofrabbit says: Nov 13, 2012. 7:31 PM
Congratulations on being a finalist in the Halloween contest!!! Can’t wait to see if you win! Good luck!
alaskantomboy (author) says: Nov 15, 2012. 4:07 PM
Thank you so much! I'm pretty excited since this is the furthest I have ever gotten in a contest!
kewrw28 says: Nov 7, 2012. 6:54 PM
Now that looks cool. Good job!!
lamarn says: Nov 4, 2012. 2:49 PM
This is awesome and so creative. You made my day. I can't wait to surprise friends with this.
sconner1 says: Oct 24, 2012. 11:39 AM
I wouldn't worry too much about eggs.
If they are fresh and not cracked they should be bacteria free inside.
If not that would be an infection that would kill the chick.
The only difference is that eggs we eat aren't fertilized and have no chick inside.
XboxModz says: Oct 31, 2012. 8:15 AM
Most of the time, LOL.
rickster454 says: Oct 31, 2012. 7:02 AM
looks yummy, Thanks for sharing-!
Julianne fights Dragons! says: Oct 31, 2012. 2:59 AM
Oh man, that thing is adorable.

Although I personally dislike candy corn this thing is like the best thing ever
gosphero says: Oct 23, 2012. 3:11 PM
What a great treat idea for Halloween! It looks so authentic and I'm sure it tastes delicious.
Madrigorne says: Oct 21, 2012. 10:14 PM
I am going to make this with peanut butter cookie dough, and then try very hard to share it with my co-workers.
Maybe if I set the thing on the desk farthest away...
mamalove says: Oct 18, 2012. 8:35 PM
You are on Pee Wee Herman's website!
alaskantomboy (author) says: Oct 21, 2012. 1:26 PM
That's amazing! I didn't even know Pee Wee Herman had a website. Thanks for the heads up, that makes my day :)
alaskantomboy (author) says: Oct 20, 2012. 5:44 PM
(removed by author or community request)
mamalove says: Oct 20, 2012. 8:59 PM
Was on pee wees facebook page. Direct link to you. Cheers. Nl
mamalove says: Oct 20, 2012. 9:19 PM
My daughter works at. instuctables.
slandry5 says: Oct 20, 2012. 5:38 PM
This is so amazing I decided to try it:

http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/281459_170205399784943_1835081697_n.jpg

Again. It's AMAZING. Made the cob without egg and used an edible sugar cookie dough recipe replacing vanila with almond extract giving the dough a Marzipan taste.

Yea. You guys won halloween.
slandry5 says: Oct 20, 2012. 5:58 PM
Here is the picture posted here of the one I did for the table:
alaskantomboy (author) says: Oct 20, 2012. 5:42 PM
Great work! Thanks for posting a picture, I sure hope you showed it off and impressed all your friends and family :)
slandry5 says: Oct 20, 2012. 6:46 PM
I sure did. The link came from my Facebook wall. My roomie Tom Farnan posted this link on my page. I'm always up for a cooking challenge.

Here is a tasty tip for whoever decides to taste the corn off the cob: Start at the end of the cop taking a little bit of the sugar dough with them!

It's a spastic sugar treat mouthful of spectacular! :-)
hepppp says: Oct 18, 2012. 10:18 AM
Creator of the chocolate cob here. Thanks for the link. I noticed a spike in traffic and went to look for the source.

You lined yours up the correct way, which was something I was unable to do. Very cool. Looks tasty.
alaskantomboy (author) says: Oct 20, 2012. 5:49 PM
I'm glad you approve of my version. I like to give credit where it is due since I learned a lot from your attempt. Since I stumbled to your site I followed your entire webpage, and I was very impressed by your work. Keep it up! :)
GaryB101 says: Oct 18, 2012. 7:11 PM
This looks like a fun idea & something I'd love to try with the kiddos. What method did you use to attach the corns to the cob?
alaskantomboy (author) says: Oct 20, 2012. 5:46 PM
I just stuck them into the dough a single row at a time going down the long way of the cob. For the next row I would Alternate them so they fit a bit closer. Good luck!
kevinvw says: Oct 18, 2012. 10:18 PM
Final step... dip in chocolate...
alaskantomboy (author) says: Oct 20, 2012. 5:43 PM
is that after you deep-fry it then?
linny says: Oct 18, 2012. 8:59 AM
Thank you for coming up with a cob-concept, HOW FUN! But it might just be better with marcipan as a cob!! Think about it /are you acquainted with marcipan /marzipan, sold at scandinavian (German) ethnic stores? It's not so sweet as sugary candy and it'as good for you! Anyway, I'm going to try this myself... with a cob fashioned out of marcipan (it's just crushed almonds made into an almond paste. If you get a taste for it, you'll never tire of it.
icreme says: Oct 19, 2012. 7:12 PM
Odense is a company that distributes both Marzipan and Almond Paste in tubes in most major US grocery stores. http://www.odense.com/ Very easy to get.

linny says: Oct 20, 2012. 10:14 AM
Right! There are other brands of course, but commercial recipes for almond paste seem to be pretty similar-- that is they need to be lightly sweetened. So we always knead a little powdered sugar into marzipan before we make cookies / fruit shaped candies.
img_2839.jpg
alaskantomboy (author) says: Oct 18, 2012. 9:38 AM
I encourage people to try marzipan, people seem to agree it would be a good substitute. Unfortunately I am allergic to almonds so I can't eat it :(
catwoman101 says: Oct 20, 2012. 5:55 AM
Awesome idea!! LOVE IT!! (but wouldn't want to be around the kids after they eat THIS! LOL)
linny says: Oct 20, 2012. 10:07 AM
You could cut it into slices after they've admired it as a centerpiece. Then dole out two slices per kid on a plate and wrap up the rest in alu-foil and whisk her outta sight, I'm sure it'll keep in the fridge for a couple weeks. .
Lindseyval says: Oct 19, 2012. 3:44 PM
SOOOO STINKING CUTE!!!!!! LOVE IT!!
ghollander says: Oct 18, 2012. 7:34 AM
Very clever design; I may try this tonight.

I have no issue eating raw dough; however, the manufactured stuff you buy in tubes is an exceptionally efficient delivery device for food-borne pathogens unless you bake it.

In an era when people are getting salmonella and e. coli from nationally distributed brand-name lettuce, which manufacturers only process when attempting to clean or bag it, eating a manufactured product raw is playing e. coli roulette.

If you're going to eat raw dough you really should consider making it fresh yourself. It takes hardly 10 minutes to produce it fresh with an electric mixer.
sdhardie says: Oct 18, 2012. 10:35 AM
Actually, the problems with vegetables and e. coli usually stem from the fact that contaminated animal waste is used as fertilizer and irrigation on said crops. There's nothing inherently risky about raw vegetables. Buy organic!
ghollander says: Oct 19, 2012. 8:04 AM
I don't know that I said the problem was due to something inherently toxic in the nature of vegetables; I certainly intended to suggest that it was the manufactured quality of commercially available bagged salads that made them vectors for the spread of salmonella and e. coli. 

In any case, since you brought it up, choosing organic doesn't mean you're buying product that hasn't been treated with animal waste. If anything, you should clean organic produce more thoroughly since much of it comes from small-scale local producers who aren't required to dip and wash their produce the way Dole et al. are.

It's very romantic to buy produce speckled with bits of the soil in which it was grown. Just know that that "soil" in all likelihood contains at least a little cow dung or chicken flop (whether it is labelled organic or not).

Somebody remind me how a post about sticking candy into cookie dough inspired a conversation about organic produce...? ;^) 
bobbym529 says: Oct 19, 2012. 5:49 AM
Very cool! Humorous write up too.
granthams says: Oct 18, 2012. 11:07 PM
What a neat idea, and just in time for halloween! Thanks for sharing.
cybercapri says: Oct 18, 2012. 9:12 PM
What a wonderful idea, thanks for sharing....
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