Absolute decadence of a chocolate melting in my mouth as I unwind from a hectic day, or the unhindered joy I get from that moreish sweet I’ve had on the sly…to sum up just a hint of my emotions when it comes to sweets! This year, rather than giving out the usual bubble baths and soaps or box of chocolates to the teachers as an end of year gift, I decided to scrounge up a few delightful sweetie recipes instead. I must say at first I was slightly sceptical, but from the response, this could be my new end of year tradition!
What I did was the following:
White Chocolate Truffles:
Ingredients:
1 cup Crème Fraîche (or heavy cream)
400 grams White Chocolate (use as high quality of chocolate as possible)
230g. Additional White Chocolate
1 1/2 cups Ground Coconut (optional)
3 tbsp. Butter (optional)
1 Tot Rum / brandy / liquer (optional)
How to Make It: Batter (Ganache):
1. Break chocolate into small pieces and put in a large bowl.
2. Bring cream slowly to a light boil.
3. Pour boiling cream over chocolate and keep stirring until all the chocolate has melted and the batter is homogenous.
4. If you want to add butter, do so now, before the batter cools, and thickens. This batter is called Ganache and is the base for all French chocolate truffle recipes!
When the ganache is warm it is very creamy. You can thicken it 1. by whisking it (the oxygen causes it to thicken) or 2. by putting it in the refrigerator. You want the ganache to be just thick enough to easily form the truffle balls…
Forming Truffles:
1. Using two spoons (or a baking sac) form even and round balls. Place them on parchment or wax paper.
2. Melt the rest of the chocolate in a double-boiler.
3. Dip each ball in the melted chocolate.
4. If you like ground coconut, you can now roll the balls in it, otherwise just skip the coconut part.Voilà!
Serving Ideas and Variations:
If you want a more bitter taste, you can dip the truffle balls in dark chocolate (step 3) instead of white and then roll in cocoa powder (just like for a traditional dark truffle recipe). You can also experiment the above white chocolate truffle recipe with other dipping/rolling combinations. White chocolate ganache (inside of truffle) dipped in milk chocolate (step 3) then rolled in coconut flakes (step 4) is one of my favorites. White chocolate truffles go especially well with a good cup of hazelnut coffee.
Pecan Meringue Kisses
Ingredients:
6 egg whites
2ml salt
500ml castor sugar
150g pecan nuts finely chopped
100g dark chocolate
- Put the egg whites and salt into an electric mixer and beat 5 minutes until fluffy. Slowly add the castor sugar and continue beating until stiff glossy peaks form.
- Preheat the oven to 120 degrees and fit a piping bag with a wide round nozzle. Fold the nuts into the meringue gently.
- Grease 2 baking sheets with non-stick spray and dust with more castor sugar. Shake off the excess before piping small kisses on the sheets. They don’t spread much, so you can pipe them quite close together.
- Bake slowly for 3 hours, or until they are air dry, and are easily removed from the baking tray with a gentle twist.
- Melt the chocolate in the microwave or over the stovetop. For microwave melting, microwave on high for 30 seconds, give the chocolate a good stir, and repeat. Stir well after every 30 seconds until melted, but still cool to the touch.
- Sandwich kisses together with a small blob of chocolate and leave to set.
Millionaires Shortbread (one of my favourites)
BASE:
250ml (1 cup) flour
125ml (½ cup) cornflour
75ml (5 Tablespoons) Castor Sugar
1ml salt
125g butter, softened
CARAMEL:
150g butter
125ml (½ cup) Castor Sugar
45ml (3 Tablespoons) Golden Syrup
1 x 225g can condensed milk
CHOCOLATE TOPPING:
250g dark chocolate
30g butter
Method
- Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl and rub in the butter, working the mixture until it forms a stiff dough.
- Press the dough into a lightly greased 23cm x 30cm baking tray or Swiss roll tin. Prick the dough with a fork and refrigerate for about 20 minutes.
- Bake at 160ºC for about 45 minutes or until lightly golden. Cool before spreading on the caramel layer.
- To make the caramel, combine butter, castor sugar and syrup in a small saucepan. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved, then add the condensed milk and bring to the boil, stirring continuously. Boil gently for about 5 – 6 minutes,stirring continuously, as condensed milk can ‘catch’ quite quickly. Spread caramel onto the biscuit base and allow to set and cool before topping with chocolate.
- Melt chocolate and butter together over hot water or in the microwave oven, stirring until smooth. Spread an even layer of chocolate over the caramel and allow to set before cutting into squares.
Creamy fudge
Ingredients
900g (4½ cups) Brown Sugar
300ml (1¼ cups) milk
30ml (2 Tablespoons) Golden Syrup
100g brick margarine
397g can full cream sweetened condensed milk
5ml (1 teaspoon) vanilla essence
Method
- In a heavy based saucepan dissolve the sugar in the milk over a low heat.
- Add the syrup and the margarine. Bring to the boil and boil for 2 – 3 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the condensed milk. Bring to the boil again and boil steadily until it reaches the soft ball stage (when a little syrup is dropped into iced water it forms a ball which flattens of its own accord when picked up with the fingers. About 25 – 30 minutes).
- Remove from the stove and add the vanilla essence. Beat continuously until the fudge begins to thicken and is almost at setting point. Pour into a greased 27cm x 17cm pan. Cut into squares when almost hard.
Fudge Recipe
