If I remember correctly it was Dad's grandparents who used to dip chocolates during the Christmas season and hand them out to family and friends. Dad remembers seeing the living room table covered with them—and also remembers a disastrous year when the chocolates got left out in the sun near the window and were all ruined. (At least not good for giving away.)
Since hearing about that lost family tradition, I wanted to give it a shot this year. I thought we all might enjoy it including little Malaika and Zuki. Since we are beginners at this, we figured starting with one flavor (coconut) would be safest.
We cut them out and rolled them into balls.
Dad showed us how to temper the chocolate and dip the candies.
Unfortunately I was wrong about the little girls doing this part. Obviously Malaika is still too young...but turns out Zuki is too. She put her whole hand in the chocolate to squish it around commenting on how weird it felt...Sooooo she was done after that. This activity is fun for a family...but probably for one just a little bit older.
I doubled the batch because I was worried about how many pieces the recipe would make. Turns out we didn't need to. Doubled, it made over 100 chocolates! My bad, I forgot to look for the yield before starting out.
They were deliciously close to an Almond Joy. Mom and I couldn't stop eating them! Recipe and technique
found here.
Would said family tradition maybe included handing them out to friends in future years? *hint hint*
ReplyDeleteSherry H
John would love those. I'm going to add them to my list of things to try soon.
ReplyDeleteMom and I made the same things this year - her family also did it long ago in Nebraska. They are my favorite thing now, especially dipped in dark chocolate.
ReplyDelete