I've always openly admired (but secretly hated) those moms who make handmade candies for their children's parties, artfully decorated homemade marshmallows or intricately crafted chocolate pops. Don't get me wrong, I love making homemade treats, and will shamefully use them to bribe the preschool director, but my treats always look homemade.
So when it comes to candy, I skip the tempering of the chocolate and the boiling of the sugar and the fancy molds and such, and I do what every smart mom does: I cheat.
Lately, I'm big on chocolate. Especially this coating chocolate made by Ghirardelli, which my brother-in-law picked up in a 5-pound block at Costco. Coating chocolate has other ingredients in it that make it shiny and allow it to dry super-duper fast. Here's what I've made with it in the last few weeks:
Fancy pretzels: Dip braided pretzel in melted coating chocolate so that about 3/4 of the pretzel is covered (enough room for your fingers to hold the pretzel while you dip it in the chocolate). Sprinkle pretzel with sprinkles (multi-colored non-pareils are good). Place on lined sheet tray to air dry. If you're feeling really fancy, stick a mini marshmallow on the chocolate tip of the pretzel before you sprinkle the sprinkles.
S'mores: Combine mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, and graham cracker pieces. Add melted coating chocolate and stir to, well, coat. You want enough chocolate to just coat the ingredients. Scoop into little mounds on a lined baking sheet or fill mini- or regular-cupcake liners. Set aside to set at room temperature.
Chocolate-covered nuts and dried fruit: You need patience for this: dip individual salted nuts and pieces of dried fruit (the sweet/salty combo is divine) into the chocolate so that each nut is covered halfway. Set on a lined baking sheet to set. Some good combos: salted almonds and dried apricots; salted cashews and dried cherries; salted pistachios and "dried plums."
Mores S'mores: I made these with my niece for pajama day at her school and they were a big hit: dip large marshmallows in melted chocolate so that the chocolate covers them about halfway. Top chocolate end with a small piece of graham cracker, or dip in graham cracker crumbs. Leave at room temperature to set.
Of course, all of these will work just as well with melted chocolate (semi-sweet or milk) or chocolate chips; they will just take longer to set. If using real chocolate (rather than coating chocolate) I like to put it in the refrigerator for half and hour or so to set, then remove and keep at room temperature. (Real chocolate will set, eventually, at room temperature, but it will take over an hour.)
What are your favorite uses for melted chocolate? (Keep it clean, folks!)
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