and I'm not talking about a ring....falalalala lalalala
Holiday parties will happen soon.....falala lalala la la la
with lots of treats to make you swoon.....falalalala la la la la
Everyone knows that I love pastry......falalalala lalalala
so I made some truffles that are tasty......falalalala lalalala
So as you think of carols to sing.........falala lalala la la la
enjoy a chocolate with some bling.......falalalala la la la la
Ok, enough of my silly little song. Seriously, I have rediscovered a love for all of the bling in the world of chocolates. This week we have been super busy creating over 600 molded chocolates for an order to be shipped out for a holiday party. There were several different shapes and flavors to choose from all of which are fabulous! We dusted each of the completed chocolates with different color luster dusts for a super colorful sparkly holiday effect.......Bling!
When making molded chocolates you have to first coat each of the cavities in the mold with chocolate. This happens when you fill each of the cavities with chocolate, tap the mold on the table to release any air bubbles (when I say tap.......translate to gently bang), and then pour out the extra chocolate and run a scraper across the top of the molds. This will leave just enough in the cavities to create a shell for a delicious filling. After this chocolate sets you pipe some sort of filling such as caramel or a flavored ganache into each of the cavities being careful to leave enough room to top each off with additional chocolate (this is called the foot). You then pour chocolate over the tops of the cavities and again run a spatula or scraper across the top to remove the extra chocolate. The molds are then put aside to set. Once the chocolate is set you place the molds into the cooler for just a few minutes so that when you take then out and turn them upside down the chocolates pop cleanly out of the molds without much effort. Most molds make chocolates that are beautiful at this state, but of course we wanted to kick it up a notch so out came the luster dust and disco dust. All was finished and shipped out Tuesday evening.......Score!!
Mid-week we had another big order due on Thursday for a local holiday party. 260 truffles and 260 chocolate covered strawberries. I worked on the truffles and finished all of them packed and ready to go on Wednesday evening. Go me! The truffles were an assortment of flavors (bananas foster, orange, lemon, praline, raspberry, passion fruit, 58% chocolate, 74% chocolate, brown butter, and creme brulee) and start out as a flavored ganache that sets in the cooler and is then scooped into a ball. These are cooled until they are firm. Once they are ready I took them and dipped/ rolled them in chocolate and coated them in a variety of toppings. We use cocoa powder, raspberry powder, chocolate flakes, white chocolate flakes, a mixture of white and dark chocolate flakes, dark chocolate vermicelli, milk chocolate vermicelli, white chocolate vermicelli, a mixture of all three vermicelli, and croquant. BUT for this order we had a little twist........100 of the total 260 truffles needed to be shiny, sparkly and full of bling! Sooooo, these truffles were rolled in the chocolate and allowed to harden without a topping. Once they were set I first took silver luster dust and brushed each truffle, and then sprinkled each with silver disco dust (basically edible glitter). They were awesome!!!!!!
The chocolate dipped strawberries are so good! We use fresh from the farm Louisiana strawberries, wash and dry them, dip them in either dark chocolate or white chocolate, and then strip them with the contrasting chocolate. You have to be sure and dip the white chocolate ones twice so you get a nice coating. Not much else to say about these except that there is nothing better than a plump juicy strawberry coated in chocolate.
Now, go ahead and wipe the drool off of your chin. Lol
If you are in the midst of planning a holiday party I wish you a party full of festive fun and good times with great friends and family........and no planning nightmares.
and of course for all of your holiday parties remember to.......Keep it Sweet!
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