This is 'candy making' - no oven involved. Actually quite the opposite, you want a cold kitchen, cold filling and to refrigerate these when done. These get the 'base' filling mixed together with your favorite liqueur. You pick your filling too - do you want dark, milk or white chocolate? I went with Ghirardelli white chocolate chips, melted and added to the filling mix. I then used white chocolate and milk chocolate 'melting chocolate/bark" for the coating. As for the liqueurs - that is completely up to you! I went with Bailey's, Frangelico & Kahlua - we like the Bailey's the best but, they each have their own flavor profiles, I do have some orange infused brandy for making dark chocolate truffles as well...if you don't want to spend a lot of money on large bottles of liqueurs to use, do what I do and buy the 'sample sizes' from the liquor store...if you want to make them non-alcohol, just substitute in some flavorings that you like - like peppermint, orange, almond or cinnamon... same for the "toppings" that you roll the truffles in, I used: sprinkles, chocolate drizzle, crushed nuts and the 'traditional' cocoa powder. Traditional being that truffles are to resemble 'dirt clods' and not be 'perfectly round'...they are usually make with dark chocolate and brandy and rolled in cocoa powder to resemble 'dirt'... I must admit, I will gladly "eat dirt" with these around!! These little gems are now a yearly tradition and highly requested by friends and family. Hope you enjoy this #Choctoberfest recipe. ~Enjoy! Diane Chocolate Truffles Ingredients: 3 cups sifted powdered sugar, sift first then measure 8 oz. softened cream cheese, room temp 1 (11 oz.) bag Ghirardelli White Chocolate Chips 3 Tbl. liqueur/s, *see note below Topping Choices: finely chopped nuts candy sprinkles cocoa powder toasted coconut finely crushed toffee espresso powder crushed hard candies Coating Choices: melting chocolate, (dark, milk or white) Directions: Melt your white chocolate chips for filling, in a microwave safe bowl according to package instructions (usually 30 second intervals until all melted). Once melted, set aside to cool slightly. Place cream cheese into mixing bowl, slowly add the sifted powdered sugar to the cream cheese, while on low to medium speed, until well mixed. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl, as needed. Add in melted but, slightly cooled chocolate chips. Mixing well. Place all of your filling into a shallow baking dish and stir in 3 Tbs of a liqueur. OR divide the filling into half or thirds: *Note: Divide mixture into baking dishes: Using One Liqueur: don't divide filling and add 3 tbs liqueur to filling mix Using Two Liqueurs: divide filling into half and add 1.5 Tbs liqueur to each filling mix Using Three Liqueurs: divide filling into thirds and add 1 Tbs liqueur to each filling mix Mix in well. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour. It will chill faster if spread evenly and thin in baking dish or bowl when placed in fridge. When very cold, using a melon-baller or small spoon, shape mixture into 1″ balls. Dip into melting chocolate and place into topping of choice, use fingers to sprinkle nuts or powder over top of truffle too (if coating in nuts or powder after dipping into chocolate, let the truffle set in the nuts until hardened/set before moving to a parchment lined container. Keep refrigerated until serving in an airtight container. Makes approx 4-5 dozen. Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home
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Today is one of my favorite days of the year, because it is the official start of #Choctoberfest. This is the third annual food blogger celebration of all things chocolate, made possible thanks to our gold sponsor Imperial Sugar and the other sponsors listed below. Over 70 bloggers are participating in #Choctoberfest 2017 and will be posting 200+ chocolate recipes over the next week. Keep your eyes peeled, visit any of the blogs listed below, or use the #Choctoberfest hashtag on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook to follow along. You can also check out our #Choctoberfest Pinterest board, where we post chocolate recipes all year long. You can also enter to win our #Choctoberfest prize pack. Thank to our amazing sponsors who are contributing the following items for the prize:
I had to give these a try - this is the first bagel recipe I've seen that doesn't call for any 'fancy' ingredients but, still yields some of the best homemade bagels we've eaten! I did make 8 plain and 1 poppy-seed. To me the most important aspect is using a great high protein bread flour (like King Arthur Brand) I am at altitude and in a very dry climate - and all of their flours work perfectly for me. I opted to use brown sugar in the dough and water-bath to see what quality the bagels would produce (the offer other options but, this is what I had on hand.) These are nice, dense and chewy in the inside and have that smooth 'bite' to the outside crust. We prefer to slice and toast these for jam in the mornings...I hope you give these a try...Enjoy! Diane
Homemade Bagels Dough Ingredients: 1 Tbs Instant Yeast, if you have the small packets, its about 1 1/2 packets 4 Cups Unbleached Bread Flour, I prefer King Arthur Bread Flour 2 teaspoons Salt 1 Tbs brown Sugar 1 1/2 cups Water, the temperature your yeast calls for (mine is 120-130) Water-bath Ingredients: 2 quarts water, in a shallow large pan 2 Tbs brown sugar 1 Tbs granulated sugar Directions:
**NOTE: If you want a sesame seed or poppy-seed bagel - do a light egg wash - brush wash onto bagels and sprinkle on the seeds before popping into the oven. Egg Wash: (one well beaten egg white & 1 Tbs cold water) Recipe Adapted from: King Arthur Flour Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home |