Playing with chocolate

We don't normally do very much, if anything, for Valentines' Day as a rule other than make cards for friends if we will be somewhere there will be an exchange. With Covid and the fact that my children go no where and see no one, I decided that making a bigger deal of minor holidays is needed. To that end, I had planned ahead and purchased the supplies to make hot chocolate bombs. My children adore hot chocolate in all it's forms, so this seemed like a treat. 

Today I set myself up in the kitchen and made them. While they turned out well enough to eat and enjoy, there is a significant learning curve involved. I also way over bought the good chocolate bars I was using, so we have plenty to make many, many more. Here's how the initial batch turned out.

This is the nicest one.

As you can see, those in the back were not, um, perfect.

The only thing I would change is the thickness of the chocolate shell. Next time, I will paint the chocolate on, chill it in the refrigerator for a few minutes, and then paint on another layer. You really want that top edge thick or it just all falls apart. I also experimented with different ways to put the two halves together. I tried piping melted chocolate on first. This would have worked well if I could have kept the chocolate liquid enough to pipe. It worked for one before it become too hard. Then I tried briefly melting the edge of the top half on a heated pan. This worked the best, but if the shell is too thin, even the brief heat will cause issues. Then I tried to use a small icing spatula to cover one edge in melted chocolate. This was only marginally successful, but it kept the last few together enough to use them. 

Everyone did enjoy them very much, so it made a nice holiday treat. Since I overestimated how much chocolate I would need, partially because I just didn't use enough to make the spheres, TM came up with the idea of putting into another of my silicone molds. Here is what we had for dessert tonight.


Because who doesn't like dark chocolate insects?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Making bias tape... otherwise known as the Sew, Mama, Sew! Giveaway

Image
( Sorry, the contest is now closed .... though you're welcome to leave a comment if you like.) [This picture has absolutely nothing to do with this post, but is here solely to give Blogger a different photo to post in the thumbnail.] It's Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway time again.  I love bias tape.  It is so useful and so easy to use... finishing edges ... finishing seams ...  And while the pre-packaged stuff has it's place and I use it often, I really like to have patterned bias tape as well.  Enter one of my favorite little tools: the bias tape maker.  This one make 3/4 inch bias tape and I will be giving one away at the end of this post.  But first, I thought some of you might like to see what it does if you've never used one before. I don't have a rotary cutter, nice cutting mats, or even a proper cutting table (I cut-out things on my floor), so if I can do this, so can you.  Here is my admittedly quirky method. Step 1:  Lay out the fabric and fold a corner ove
Read more

An uncomfortable post

I hope it comes as no surprise to my readers that when I vote early next week I will be casting my ballot for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. Being in a blue state this feels as though it is a very little thing in the effort to bring our country back past the brink of no return . I'll be honest and say that I am feeling such stress and fear about this election that I can't listen to any news or look at social media for very long. The radio is pretty firmly set on our classical music station even though they are in the middle of a pledge drive. The pledge drive is preferable.  But for those of you who are supporting the other side, if there are any of you left who continue to visit my blog, here is what I need to say. When I drive around and see signs in people's yards supporting that man, I treat it as an early warning system. The people who live in this house are not safe for my family to be around. This is far more than a difference of opinion. That worked for all the preside
Read more

Sew, Mama, Sew! Giveaway

Image
Sew, Mama, Sew! is hosting another giveaway day , the day where many bloggers giveaway things they have made or supplies to make things or both.  It is great fun to visit a lot of blogs and try to win cool stuff.  So fun that I thought I would participate this year. I had great hopes of making a set of coordinating mother/daughter aprons.  But reality reared its ugly head and I came to terms with the fact that my time is not limitless.Instead of aprons,  I must continue to spend quality time with yards and yards of red plaid flannel.  What am I making?  Well, as I tell my children, it is the season not to ask questions... I will be able to let you know sometime after the 25th. Instead of making something, I went to my favorite thrift store and found some supplies in the form of sheets and pillowcases (some of my favorite raw material).  I'm giving away three pillowcases and one twin flat sheet. I decided to go with bright, springy colors, because if you are anything like
Read more