Donut-hole Tree Tutorial

Waaayyyy back before the Internet (we may have had some sort of dial-up) and YouTube,I tried my hand at a croquembouche:

Source: http://dailydelicious.blogspot.com/2010/05/may-2010-daring-bakers-challenge-40.html

Yes, siree, I did. Made the dough, the cream filling, followed the recipe from one of my beautiful Christmas cookbooks to.the.letter… I made it to take as a showpiece to our family Christmas Eve dinner, but the cookbook didn’t say to keep it on the cool side, so eventually each puff started to slide d-o-w-n the cone. Even our sons, who were teenagers at the time, were so sad for me (it was touching, really). I ended up removing all the puffs and taking them on a platter. :(   Thank heavens they were delicious!

The Donut-Hole Tree I made for our Three Kings celebration this year (HERE) was a much easier alternative to a croquembouche. Certainly not as fancy, but certainly a much easier, fun “adornment” for the table.

(BTW, the idea came from One Charmed Party, where she made it for a Halloween party with regular donuts.)

Tutorial:

I started with a Styrofoam cone about 15” high, but of course you can use any size that’s suitable for your party. I will tell you that this 15” one required 4 or 5 dozen “holes,” so it holds A LOT (in fact, Mr. CHN had to run to the store for more!)

The cone can of course be purchased anywhere, but wouldn’t you know? I walked into our local Goodwill store and there was one, still in its original packaging, for a whopping $.25! Because I was concerned about cleanliness—with or without the packaging cover/from Goodwill or a regular store—and I wanted to be able to re-use it, I wrapped the cone in heavy-duty foil. Though probably not necessary, I held the foil in place with pearl straight pins so they’d be easy to find/remove after the party.

The trickiest part to building a donut-hole tree is holding it in place so it doesn’t tip over as the “holes” are removed.

Now, the last time I tried to use this candle holder (see picture below) with a candle, the long “spike” (what is that called?!) was so long that it broke the candle, so I’d asked Mr. CHN to cut it for me. Luckily, he hadn’t gotten to that, so I retrieved it from his workbench—it was PERFECT for the tree, because its length stabilized the Styrofoam perfectly!

To add dimension to the black candle holder I set it in a frosted-glass, beaded candle holder, but I still needing to secure the “hole” thing :).  Solution? I attached it with this awesome product—Scotch Restickable Discs. The black candle holder was “stuck” to the frosted-glass one, which was then “stuck” to the crystal cake plate. These discs are AWESOME! I use them everywhere in the house! Have you tried them yet?

To build the donut-hole tree:

1.  Insert the foil-covered Styrofoam cone into the spike in the candle holder.

2. Starting at the bottom, insert a toothpick close to the base of the cone, then insert a donut hole into the toothpick, making sure the toothpick doesn’t come through the hole.

3. Repeat the toothpick/hole process, adjusting the location of each toothpick to keep them close to each other.

4. Continue to build the tree in “rings” around the cone.

Finish the top of the tree with a donut hole at the top or a fancier topper if you have one (I was running late, because I didn’t want to build the tree too early to keep the holes fresh, and I hadn’t thought of a topper until that moment). Fill with edible greens (I used dill and it worked well, because it gives the illusion of evergreens). The tree was surrounded by Rolo Caramels, because they look like little crowns :), and they complemented the gold dots on the candle holder I’d used.

The possible uses for this tree are endless—Valentine’s Day, Easter, really, any holiday, any brunch, any reception! I hope you build your “tree” often! I know I will. 

And as for the croquembouche? I might try it again. Experience (and help from the Internet/YouTube) will make it a lot easier. :)  Have you made a croquembouche? Did it work the first time, or do you have a story to share?

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From my nest to yours~

Zuni

Christmas Vignettes

What would a home be at Christmas with no vignettes/only a Christmas tree?  The tree might be the central piece, but it's the vignettes that spread the warmth and holiday cheer throughout the house.

This Kneeling Santa is one of my favorite pieces, and maybe my most treasured Christmas decoration--Santa/commercialism bowing to Baby Jesus.  I love the reverence--he's kneeling, and his hat is off--and the acknowledgement that Christmas is not about Santa, but about God's gift to mankind.

This is a numbered piece.  Friends of ours had one, and I searched until I found one at a wholesaler's close out--What luck!  It's bisque, not resin, and though I've searched high and low for more like it, I've never been
able to find it.  I would love to give such a beautiful piece to our sons and DILs, so their babies
have it in their homes.

This mother-of-pearl nativity scene is right up there as a favorite treasure...
My grandmother brought it back from the Holy Land in the late 1970s.

And my {real} feather trees...
They are made from goose feathers!
"The tradition of feather trees began in Germany in the mid-19th century, when the cutting-down of trees was banned to save German woodlands.  German immigrants brought feather trees with them when they sailed to the New World. Their popularity increased when President Theodore Roosevelt also responded to the diminishing supply of fresh evergreens in America by ordering that no live trees be used in the White House holiday decorations." (From http://www.feathertreekits.com/history.htm)

Our son's nutcracker collection--in "storage" at our home for now, has been a constant in
our Christmases for many years.
The large apothecary jar holds three 1946 ornaments from my MIL--
can you imagine such fragile items lasting this long? 
They deserve a place of honor...apart from all the others.

No mantel can hold all these stockings!
Many are handmade; our sons' are the original ones they've had since their first Christmases.

A Christmas-y kitchen corner.  Both snowmen are gifts from my boys...
and the dish on the back splash--disguising an outlet (do you dislike outlets as much as I do?)--is
also a gift from one of them.

A rosemary bush--have been looking for one since fall, and finally found it.  Perfect for another
kitchen vignette.
The silver Revere bowl is filled with mixed nuts in the shell--my parents always had them at home
around the holidays, and we've carried that tradition on.
The homey candle holders are a gift from my SIL...have had them for years, and still love them.
The Lenox Christmas plate on the wall is also a gift from one of our sons.

Miscellaneous other vignettes...they're everywhere!!

  

I wish you all a very happy and blessed Christmas.  Thanks for stopping by.  Please leave me a comment to let me know you were here—I read every single one of them!  They encourage me and inspire me.  And if you like what you see a lot J, maybe you’d like to +1 this post too!  Thank you!

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 Amaze Me Monday at http://dittledattle.blogspot.com/

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 Motivated Monday at http://becolorful.typepad.com/  

 Newbie Party on Monday at http://debbie-debbiedoos.blogspot.com/

 Tabletop Tuesday at http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/ 

 Wow Us Wednesdays at http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/ 

 Tablescape Thursday at http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

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From my Chickadee Nest to yours~

    Zuni