chocolate dipped

i'm a chocolate girl

when i was young

young, like grammar school, young

my sister and i had a chocolate business

we spent our evenings

melting chocolate

making caramels and creamy marshmallows

filling

chocolate

eggs in spring

christmas trees in winter

chocolate lollies for every holiday in between

as an adult

my choice in chocolate

has become a bit more sophisticated

now

i prefer dipped confections

to molded ones

for the holidays

i made a few of my favorites

"100grand bars"

chocolate dipped grahams

gingerbread "mallomars"

for the 100Grand bars

 i like this caramel recipe from joyofbaking

just add a nice pinch of sea salt

cut into squares

mix crispy rice in the tempered chocolate and dip the caramel into it

for the gingerbread mallomars

the gingerbread marshmallow recipe can be found

here

place on top of a graham cracker and enrobe in tempered chocolate

for the chocolate covered grahams

i simply cut the graham crackers into 4 pieces and dip them in tempered chocolate

the design on the top is made with a chocolate dipping tool

i buy my chocolate 20 lbs at a time and to be frank, only use callebaut 63% and 70%

i find it is terrific both in sweets and baking

here is a great video showing you an easy way to temper chocolate using your microwave

like anything, the better the ingredients, the better the result

happy dipping!

chocolate love {home-made twix bars}

a few years ago

a friend of a friend said to me

regarding chocolate

if you could come up with something

that has

chocolate

caramel 

and a

cookie

i would totally go for that

and i said

you mean

like a twix?

and she replied

exactly like a twix

and i gave her

25 cents

and walked away

fast forward a few years...

i was digging through the freezer

and came across 

shortbread cookie dough

and figured

why not

i could take a twix

and make it just a wee bit better

using

fine chocolate

homemade caramel

and

a smattering of shaved sea salt

folks

this is 

good

this is

valentine good

this is

write 100 times on the chalkboard

"i love you more than chocolate"

in

penance

good

"twix" bars

(printable recipe)

1/2 recipe shortbread dough--rolled out, cut into batons and baked

1 recipe caramel--cooled and cut into batons equal to the cookies

tempered bittersweet (62% or higher) chocolate

flaked sea salt

let the cookie base cool, then place the caramel on top.  allow it to sit for at least 5 minutes so the caramel will begin to stick to the cookie base.  dip in tempered chocolate and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet.  sprinkle with sea salt, then place in the refrigerator to finish setting.  remove from fridge after about 10 minutes or so. serve at room temperature.

enjoy!

i am linking to 

tuesday night supper club

and

hearth and soul blog hop

also

a little birdie told me

and

crispy-crunchy chocolate bars

mea culpa

i can't resist it

chocolate is so lovely

i can't resist making stuff with it

truth be told

i am sort of hoping that surrounding myself with chocolate

will perhaps make me sick of it

and then miraculously

poof

i become one of those people

who hates chocolate

and then

i become one of those people

who can't seem to keep my weight up

and then

i become one of those people

that gets stopped on the street and asked if i am a model

until then

i suppose i will just have to suffer

and so will you

again

mea culpa

hubster claims he hates caramel

unless of course

it is surrounded with bittersweet chocolate

and 

especially if it is surrounded by

crunchy, crispy chocolate

these are easy to make

if you don't have a chocolate mold

you can make these in paper cups

tart tins, candy cups,

or

you can form caramel into bars and dip in the chocolate

in the image of a popular bar found in the candy aisle

you can find a couple of good caramel recipes

and how to temper chocolate

in this post

for the crispy bits

i use tiny crisp rice

which you can purchase at a candy supply store

 (cereal can be used in a pinch)

try this

if nothing else

you can make a grand

and eat it too

sweet treats for the picture show

growing up

the drive-in was a summer treat

we'd load up the country squire

with blankets, pillows,

and kids

and drive for what seemed like ages

to see the latest Disney flick

snuggled in the "way back" 

having already had our evening bath and dressed in our jammies

we gorged ourselves on popcorn and candy

tonight

i hope to repeat history

sans country squire and Disney flick

we are headed to the drive-in

a group of adults

in suv's and convertibles

dressed in summer frocks with cashmere wraps and throw pillows

with every intention

of gorging ourselves

on olive oil and parmesan cheese flavored popcorn

and hand dipped chocolates

i can hardly contain my excitement

I like to use bittersweet chocolate for my treats.  

These are very simple.  

You must temper your chocolate so they retain sheen and snap when set.  Jacques Torres is the master and he has a simple microwave method that works great.  Check it out here

I simply made dots of chocolate with a spoon onto parchment paper and added sprinkles.  One bite and you will be hooked!

Milk duds rock--I love them. But I also love my teeth. So, rather than test my luck tonight, I decided to make a bit softer caramel and dip it in bittersweet chocolate. 

 The feature tonight is SALT, so I added a bit of fleur de sel for whimsy. 

I wonder if anyone will get the connection.

  If you don't want to make caramel...no sweat...you can buy some at any good candy making or cake decorating shop...shape it and then dip it in tempered bittersweet chocolate.  the design on top was simply made by lightly tapping the top with the tines of a fork.  If you want to make the caramel, try this recipe from joyofbaking.com--i would add a nice pinch of kosher salt to it.  this recipe from the culinary institute is also good, but you need to double it to get nice thick caramel squares. When making caramel a good thermometer and heavy pan is important. Make sure you test the accuracy of the thermometer by dipping it in boiling water...it should read 212F (unless you are at high altitude, and I will let you do the math!).

Do they even sell these anymore? I used to love the commercials for goobers and raisinets...the chocolate covered treats. I think they have lost out to chocolate covered cookie dough and gummy bears as of late.

 I had a bit of tempered chocolate left, so I dropped a handful of salted virginia peanuts into it and stirred it up. (*my friend julie tells me that they sell blistered peanuts at trader joes now..i think they are similar to the virginia peanuts...but any peanuts will do--just make sure they are salted). I separated the nuts from the clusters and let them firm up on a piece of waxed paper.  I already know I didn't make enough of these...they will be a favorite for sure!
i am linking to around my family table's tip-day thursday

Day Four and Counting!

Give-a-way number 4

and it is food

sweet food

made by my own hand

Today's give-a-way
 2 gifties of caramels (approximately 1 dozen in each pkg)

and 

1 dozen dreamy creamy chocolate truffles

all wrapped up and ready to give as a prezzie

or eat yourself
your call

*while the products do not contain nuts they are made in a kitchen and with utensils that are exposed to nuts, milk, soy, gluten.  Please use your judgement.

**these products are made with dairy products including milk and butter

And Now

how to win....

apologies to my international readers, I can only ship within the USA

How to Enter

1. you must be a follower

and if you are: you are automatically entered

2. you can get a second entry by making a comment

3. and a third entry by linking to this give-away on your blog 

(please let me know in your comment that you did)

4.  If you are on my "push-list" and get a notice when I publish a new post: you will be automatically entered.

Entries will be accepted until Midnight December 16th, 2009 PST. Winner will be randomly chosen on December 17th.

Good Luck

to find the other days...
click here, here, and here

THIS GIVE-A-WAY IS NOW CLOSED