✪ Chocolate Box ✪

I kept seeing silicone moulds for chocolates in Lakeland and really wanted them so I bought the mixed mould and started on my first box of chocolates- after the number moulds which I tried out for my Dad's birthday I really wanted some good recipes that were not just "melt chocolate and let it re-set".  .

So I looked around on the net for ideas and came up with these...

Peanut Butter Cups

 Painting my mould with melted good quality milk chocolate.  I am not a fan of dark chocolate so I went for the best quality milk.

For my first go I just guessed the amounts because I didn't want to make a lot of chocolates at one time.  This is peanut butter, icing sugar and a tiny bit of salt mixed up.

Next I squashed tiny amounts into the moulds

Then I covered them in more melted chocolate

 And popped them out once the chocolate was set

They look a bit duff but tasted great :) 

So I moved on to my next selection

Clotted cream fudge

 Sugar, syrup and clotted cream melting slowly

 Thickening nicely

And poured into molds (the ends ones I did in chocolate cups but the rest I left uncovered)

 Lovely creamy fudge

 This chocolate had a bloom this time not sure what was different :(

Loveheart fudge for your Valentine?

Next I made Maple Toffee

 This recipe asked for syrup but I used all mine in the recipe for clotted cream fudge :) So instead of going to the shop I used maple syrup hence it is now Maple Toffee :)

 Yummy caramel bubbling away

 Poured into the moulds and scraped - my Pampered Chef scraper is so handy for this!

 These came out so shiny and perfect from the moulds.

This is actually the first photo but someone thought they liked the look of these :) 

And finally I made Chocolate Maple Crunch (again no ordinary syrup so I used maple instead :) ) 

Drizzled in white chocolate

These could also be inside a chocolate cup.  What doesn't taste better wrapped in chocolate?

So here is the completed box of chocolates.  I am not sure they are worth the money - I did not work out how much this would cost but not that cheap.  Also very time consuming,  But well worth a go and I would do it again.  I found other recipes for soft-centred chocolates but the orange one I tried failed and tasted totally disgusting so they had to be binned.  (I used orange extract from Lakeland but it had a very alcoholic taste when mixed with white chocolate so I will practice those until I find a soft centre I am happy with )

My mark of approval is always "would I be happy to receive this?"  "YES!!"  I would love someone to make me a whole box of chocolates - or make me anything really!

Here are the recipes for the chocolates I made - although I did not make them to the recipe I guessed at the amounts for filling my moulds

Peanut Butter Cups
1 cup Peanut butter
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/4 tsp salt
12 oz choc

Melt choc, paint moulds, allow to harden while you mix peanut butter, icing sugar and salt.  Fill chocolate cups with peanut mixture, cover in more melted choc.  Allow to set before popping out of moulds - don't do this too soon the chocolate cracks very easily.

Clotted Cream Fudge
275g caster sugar
100g syrup
227g tub Clotted cream
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Place all ingredients in pan and heat gently, stirring until sugar dissolves.  Bring to boil, cover for 3 minutes, uncover, continue to boil until soft ball on thermometer.  Remove from heat.  Beat until thickens and more matt - could take up to 10 minutes.  Pour into moulds.

Maple Syrup Toffee

1 cup granulated sugar
1 3/4 cup double cream
1 cup syrup (I used maple)
1 cup condensed milk
1/3 cup butter
3 oz chocolate
1 tsp vanilla

Place syrup, sugar, butter, condensed milk and cream in pan and heat slowly over low heat.  Stir constantly until sugar dissolves.  Heat to 225℃ on thermometer.  Add chopped pieces of chocolate.  Heat until soft ball Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and salt.  Pour into moulds.

Maple Chocolate Crunch

225g digestives
115gbutter
30ml syrup (I used maple)
30g chocolate (plus more if you want these encased in chocolate)

Crush biscuits finely.  Place butter and syrup in pan and heat slowly.  Once melted add chocolate.  Once chocolate melted add biscuits.  Mix well.  Press into moulds (or moulds painted with chocolate)
Decorate with white chocolate.

Now I am away to watch my beloved Spartacus (first series second time round so I can watch the lovely Andy Whitfield - my hero... and eat homemade chocolates :)

White Chocolate and Cranberry Fudge ♥

I have been busy making more sweet foods instead of teas as usual.  I have pinned lots of real food ideas and I have made a couple but never anything so exciting I feel like photographing and writing about it!  Not like cakes and sweets and all things sugary!  So my new year's resolution hasn't really worked.  I've made some different tatties recipes and a sweet and sour chicken recipe and also Yorkshire puddings from scratch but I have not managed a whole new tea recipe every week of January.  Oops.  Now I have pinned more ideas I will get onto it in February :)

If my resolution had been to make lots of junk for the month of January I would have kept to it :)

 Here is one of my favourite combinations:  evaporated milk, sugar and butter melted then brought to the boil and left to simmer for 5 mins.

Dried cranberries and white chocolate - yum yum yum!  Cranberries are not just for Christmas :) 

Letting the white chocolate melt into the evaporated milk ensemble.  It gets lovely, thick and gooey 

 Poured into a prepared tin and left to set overnight

 Then cut into shapes

 Little love hearts for a Valentine's Day treat?

I am rubbish at photography.  I don't know anything about settings or lighting and my camera is not great but I am trying to learn :) This little photoshoot took tons of attempts to get any decent photos without flashback!  I really need to look up some pins on camera tips :) More excuses to spend time on pinterest! 

I ♥ Pinterest 

White chocolate and cranberry fudge recipe

12 oz granulated sugar

1 oz unsalted butter

6 oz evaporated milk 

3½ oz dried cranberries

10 oz white chocolate

Put sugar, milk and butter in pan.  Dissolve the sugar over low heat.  Bring to the boil stirring continuously.  Reduce heat to simmer for 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat and add cranberries and white chocolate.  Allow the chocolate to melt.  Stir and pour into a tray lined with baking paper,  Chill.  Cut into pieces with cutters if desired.  I desired :)

Tea for two

When my friends come round I always like to make something homemade we can eat.  I never ever buy cakes or tray bakes from the supermarket because it is really easy to come up with something quickly out of my cupboards at home.

On Saturday my two friends came round for a catch up and this time I made them these little jam cakes.  They are called thumbprint cookies in the recipe book but I don't think they are cookie-ish so I need a new name for them!  Dimple cakes?

The tiny little jam dish is actually my Mum's.  She got this as a present and it matches my little set of teapot plates and spoons - which are too cute to use only for holding soiled teabags- so I stole it!  She knows I stole it so it's not that bad but I would use this so much more than she would so I am keeping it!  :)

Anyway the little jam cakes were so simple.  I got the recipe from a book called Sweet Treats.  It has lots of ideas for these "thumbprint cookies" like different flavours of jam, chocolate chips, dried fruit and sprinkles but I stuck with jam and my favourite nutella - I adore a nutella recipe!  Although this time I much preferred the jam.  The nutella was too hard once the cakes had cooled.

Waiting to be baked

I tried a few with a little loveheart cut out to see if it would work for a valentine's theme or desserts table with a heart theme

Pretty cute!  A little neater and I think it would look beautiful ♥

Now it is Tuesday these were finished over the weekend and I feel the need to make more :)

"Dimple Cakes"

1 teaspoon orange zest
285g plain flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
230g unsalted butter softened
125g sugar
vanilla extract
strawberry jam - or jam of your choice/sprinkles etc.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C

Beat the butter until soft. Add sugar. Add orange zest and vanilla extract. Weigh out all dry ingredients and mix. Add half to the butter/sugar mixture. Mix until just blended. Add the remaining flour mixture and mix until blended. Scoop up rounded spoonfuls onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Using your thumb/finger/end of a small rolling pin dipped in flour make a dent in the rounds. Fill each with a small amount of filling such as jam. Bake for about 15 minutes until just browning. I also sprinkled these with sugar as soon as they were out of the oven - because I can't get too much sugar into myself!  Remove and allow to cool on a rack for 10 minutes until completely cooled - you do not want hot jam burning your mouth and ruining the rest of your enjoyment of these babies.