Chocolate Truffles and Rum Balls

Here are a few pics from my chocolate endeavors. At the top are an assortment of rum balls (the ones with the jimmies), molded chocolate truffles and hand dipped truffles. The second picture is a commission I did. All the truffles are made using molds and the fillings are either white, dark, or mint chocolate ganache. The third picture is a bowl of dark chocolate ganache as I was scooping it out and rolling it into balls. And the fourth picture shows the different ganache fillings waiting to be dipped in tempered chocolate.

It was the last Treat of the Week at DD and I thought August's work office might like a little rum in their chocolates to kick off the holiday season.   I mixed in a few tablespoons of rum into a batch of ganache. Then I stirred in some chocolate cake crumbs (they were in the freezer leftover from the cake pops), rolled them into balls and rolled them in jimmies of all colors.

Classic Cookies for Santa- Gingerbread Men

This year's gingerbread men are short and squat compared to the ones from last year. I also added some white and butterscotch chip buttons. The boys had a lot of fun cutting them out and decorating them with icing.

Gingerbread Men

Makes 30 cookies

Inspired by Eileen's Spicy Gingerbread Men 

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup molasses

1 egg yolk

2 cups sifted all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 tsp. powdered ginger

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1. In a large bowl or stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in molasses and egg yolk.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and spices.

3. Add flour mixture to butter mixture and mix until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for one hour.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Flour a work surface and rolling pin. Roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters. Place on cookie sheet 2 inches apart.

5. Bake for 10-15 minutes until firm. Cool on wire rack. Decorate with icing when cool. For icing recipe see sugar cookie post.

Classic Cookies for Santa- Snowballs

Do not wear black while you are eating these cookies...or making them. I make
snowball cookies (a.k.a. Russian Tea Cakes) every year because they are so easy and delicious. They require very few ingredients and are buttery, sweet and nutty. My mom used to make these.

Snowballs

Makes 36

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract (or 1/2 tsp. vanilla and 1/2 tsp. almond extract)

6 Tbsp. confectioners' sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup finely chopped walnuts

1/3 cup confectioners' sugar for rolling

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. Whisk together confectioners' sugar, salt and flour in a medium bowl. Cream butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl.  Stir flour mixture into butter mixture. Mix in walnuts. Roll dough into 1 inch balls. Place on cookie sheet 2 inches apart.

3. Bake for 12 minutes until bottoms are light brown. Cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes. Transfer to wire rack. When cool, roll in confectioners' sugar twice till snowy white.

Classic Cookies for Santa- Mint Chocolate Chip

The search goes on for the perfect chocolate chip cookie. One day I'll try out the original Best Chocolate Chip Cookie as posted in the New York Times,  just as Jacques Torres wrote it. But this season I added mint chocolate chips and 70% dark chocolate Lindt bars instead of Valrhona feves or chocolate disks. I also did not make my cookies 5 inches big as they would not fit into gift tins very nicely. They were however tasty and addictive. 

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

24 cookies

Inspired by Chocolate Chip Cookies adapted from Jacques Torres

2 cups minus 2 Tbsp. (8 1/2 oz.) cake flour

1 2/3 (8 1/2 oz.) bread flour

1 1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. coarse salt

2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter

1 1/4 cup (10 oz.) light brown sugar

1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. (8 oz.) granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

8 oz. dark chocolate, chopped

6 oz. mint chocolate chips

sea salt

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. If you don't have cake flour, for every cup of flour called for, substitute 2 Tbsp. cornstarch for 2 Tbsp. flour.

2. In stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, scraping down after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients just until combined. Gently mix in chocolate chips and dark chocolate. Wrap dough in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 24-36 hours, up until 72 hours.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop dough into a heaping tablespoon. Sprinkle with sea salt. Bake 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Cool on baking sheet a few minutes then transfer cookies to a wire rack.

Classic Cookies for Santa- Sugar Cookies

Five classic cookies grace our plate of cookies for Santa this year. The sugar cookies we make practically every year as they remind me of the cookies my mom used to bake with us when we were kids. She gave me her collection of cookie cutters which I love especially for their nostalgia. The snowballs I also make every year because they are so easy and yummy. The gingerbread men, I tried last year and found fun to make. The snickerdoodle (recipe found in an earlier post) and mint chocolate chip were new to my list of recipes but turned out pretty tasty.

Sugar Cookies

Makes 30

Inspired by The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar (lessen if you are decorating with icing)

2 eggs, room temperature

3/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. almond extract

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

In a large bowl or stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and eggs, scraping down bowl after each addition. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt. Divide dough in half and wrap each in  plastic wrap and chill one hour or overnight.

Flour work surface and rolling pin. Set aside some toothpicks and a shallow bowl with flour in it. Cover cookie sheets with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Roll dough on work surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Dip cookie cutters into bowl of flour and shake off. Cut out the shapes from the dough. If dough gets stuck in the cookie cutters, shake gently to release or use the toothpick to lift a corner out. Toothpicks also come in handy for digging out the dough that gets stuck in the cutter details. Place cookies on sheet 1 inch apart. Add sprinkles, jimmies or sanding sugar or leave plain if icing.

Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until light brown. Watch the cookies because the tips burn easily (i.e star on top of a tree cookie) .



Sugar Cookie Icing

Inspired by All Recipes

1 cup confectioners' sugar

2 tsp. milk

2 tsp. light corn syrup

1/4 tsp. almond extract

food coloring paste

Mix confectioners' sugar and milk in a bowl until smooth. Add corn syrup and almond extract. Mix until smooth and glossy. Add more corn syrup if icing is too thick. Divide into small bowls or ramekins. Tint with food coloring paste. Be careful as a little food coloring goes a long way. Pipe, dip or paint icing onto cookies.

Chocolate Sprinkle Cake Pops

These chocolate cake pops were easy and fun to make. I had acquired quite the collection of sprinkles and was waiting for just this moment to use them. For a brief minute I considered using box cake mix and premade frosting but decided to go with homemade for both since baking is what I do. But if you are pressed for time or money or have limited baking skills, I suggest using the premade version. Cake pops can be made ahead of time and individually wrapped in little clear bags. For these I used chocolate cake and chocolate frosting for the inside. The outside I used white and mint chocolate candy melts.

Chocolate Sprinkle Cake Pops
Makes 48

Inspired by Bakerella

Chocolate Cake

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups granulated sugar

3 eggs, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups milk, room temperature


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 9 x 13 inch pan.

2. Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl.

3. Place butter and sugar into a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment and cream until light and fluffy.  Mix in eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl down with a rubber spatula after each addition. Add vanilla and blend.

4. Alternate adding flour mixture and milk a little at a time.

5. Spread the batter into the pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely. If only making half or a quarter of the recipe, wrap remaining cooled cake in foil and place in a freezer bag. The cake you will use can stay covered with foil at room temperature for a day or two if you want to bake one day and dip in candy the next day.


Chocolate Frosting

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup cocoa powder  (unsweetened)

1-2 tsp. milk (to add creaminess)

Cream the butter in a stand mixer with paddle attachment. Add in vanilla and blend. Add the powdered sugar in three batches and scrape down sides after each addition. Add the cocoa powder and mix. Add the milk and mix.

Making the Cake Pops:

48 Lollipop sticks

48 Cellophane bag with twist ties or ribbon

Sprinkles or Jimmies

Styrofoam block or colander turned upside down that sticks can fit in

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Crumble the cooled cake over a bowl with your hands until no larger pieces are left. Mix in frosting. Roll into 1 1/2" balls and place on parchment paper. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours until firm.

Melt candy melts in the microwave in a heatproof  deep bowl at 50% power for 15 seconds at a time. Heat and stir until candy is melted. Make sure that the coating is deep to cover the pops. Set aside.

Remove 6 cake balls from the fridge at a time. Dip the end of the lollipop stick into the melted candy. Push into the center of the cake ball. Place on baking sheet. Once 6 sticks are dipped, place into the freezer for a few minutes to set. Remove cake pops from freezer and dip into melted candy coating. Dip and roll at a diagonal angle. Use a finger to wipe the excess drips near the stick. If you are using sprinkles, sprinkle them on quickly before the candy sets. Place into a styrofoam block to dry. Once it is dry you may use the leftover candy melts as glue to stick on decorations or to pipe additional details. Store in an airtight container or in individual cellophane bags.

Mini Peanut Butter Cups

I was never a fan of peanut butter cups until I had these. They are made with natural peanut butter, toasted almonds and dark chocolate. A coworker of August requested these for the holidays. I found out they are really easy to make and don't require any baking.

Mini Peanut Butter Cups

Makes 12

Inspired by food.com

3/4 cup icing sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup natural peanut butter (well mixed)

6 oz. semisweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate, chopped

1/4 cup toasted almonds, chopped

Line mini muffin tins with paper liners. In a medium bowl, cream together butter and peanut butter. Add graham cracker crumbs and icing sugar in small quantities and mix. Spoon mixture into paper liners. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in a small heatproof dish over a saucepan with 1 inch of simmering water. Stir until melted and smooth. Spoon over peanut butter mixture. Sprinkle with toasted almonds. Refrigerate for a few hours to set.

Pistachio and Candy Cane Macarons

I received orders for pistachio macarons and candy cane macarons both flavors I've never made before. Macarons are very finicky when it comes to turning out right. The aging of the egg whites (which some people say is a myth), perfect batter consistency (not too firm but not too runny), the shells delicate but not broken, and smooth with feet at the bottom. The first batch of pistachio ones I made turned out more like meringue cookies. This was because I didn't smash the air out of the batter during the macronage mixing faze. Had I mixed it further, the batter would have flowed instead of peaked.

The shells for the candy cane ones were really sticky and were a pain to get off of the parchment paper. I believe this was due to a lower sugar content in the batter. I finally got them off with a knife greased with butter and a lot of patience. My macarons have turned out when aging the egg whites 3-5 days in the refrigerator, 1-2 days on the counter top or microwaved for 10 seconds.

 I've posted the recipe for the pistachio macarons here. If you want to make the candy cane ones, substitute extra almond meal for ground pistachios in the batter. For the buttercream, mix in a few drops of peppermint extract. Omit ground pistachios. Mix in or roll sides of macarons in crushed candy cane pieces. I double bagged candy canes in ziplock bags and hit them with a meat mallet. Food processing tends to make them more sticky and not as pretty.

Pistachio Macarons

Makes 30

Inspired by The Extraordinary Art of Cake

160 g  icing sugar

100 g  almond meal

60 g  ground pistachios

4 egg whites, separated into two batches, aged

160 g caster sugar

green food coloring paste


Pistachio French Buttercream

100 g unsalted butter, room temperature

3 Tbsp. water

3 Tbsp. caster sugar (or vanilla sugar)

1 egg

50 g ground pistachios


1. Trace 1 1/2" circles two inches apart on two sheets of parchment paper. Turn the paper over and use it to line baking sheets.

2. Sift icing sugar, almond meal and ground pistachios into a large bowl.  Mix in the first batch of egg whites and food coloring until a paste forms. The mixture can be a little darker as it will lighten once the rest of the ingredients are mixed in.

3. Put the second batch of egg whites into a heatproof bowl. I like to use my stand mixer bowl. Place 50 ml of water and caster sugar into a small saucepan. Heat on medium heat until it reaches 230 degrees F. Beat the egg whites on high speed using a stand or electric mixer. Once the syrup has reached 244 degrees F, pour it in a thin stream into the heatproof bowl  of egg whites and whisk on high until the mixture is slightly warm, peaked and shiny.

4. Fold the meringue and the almond mixture together. Scrape batter from the sides of the bowl and smash it with the rubber scraper. Do this about 40-50 times until a thick ribbon falls off the spatula and disappears back into the batter within 30 seconds. If it doesn't, fold it a few more times.

5. Heat oven to 320 degrees F. Fit a piping bag with a plain tip and fill with batter. Pipe onto prepared baking sheets. Bang the sheets on the counter to release air bubbles. Rest 30 minutes to 1 hour on counter top until a skin forms. Bake 12-14 minutes. Cool on parchment then peel gently off the paper. Pair up shells. Store in airtight container at room temperature if not using right away.

6. To make the buttercream, beat the butter until soft using an electric mixer in small bowl. Place the egg in a stand mixer bowl fitted with a whisk attachment. Heat water and sugar in saucepan over medium heat. Start beating the egg with the stand mixer. Continue heating the syrup till it reaches the soft ball stage (235- 245 degrees F). Pour in a thin stream egg. Beat until mixture is white and heavy. Add the butter in three parts, beating after each addition. Beat at high speed until mixture is creamy. If it looks curdled, continue to beat it. Add ground pistachios and mix.

7. Pipe pistachio French buttercream onto flat sides of macarons and sandwich together. Refrigerate in airtight container if not eating right away.

Dickerdoodles (I mean Snickerdoodles)

August has joked for the past few years that I should enter the Penny Arcade dickerdoodles competition where cookies are magically transformed into phallic art. With the boys love of the Legend of Zelda, it inspired me to create, "The penis mightier than the sword". It's a play on "The pen is mightier than the sword," for those of you who didn't get the humor.

I soon found out that my snickerdoodle dough spread out so much when I baked it that I had to cut it to shape. Here is a picture of a normal snickerdoodle, a cookie sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. After rolling the dough into balls and placing on a baking sheet, it spreads into a flat disc. Next year if I enter the contest again, I may just use plain old sugar cookie dough made for cookie cutters.
And yes, I did use toasted shredded coconut for some details.

The results are in and though I didn't win the Dickerdoodles competition this year, my "Penis Mightier Than the Sword" was posted on the penny arcade site. Click here for the link.

Dickerdoodles (I mean Snickerdoodles)

Makes 20 round cookies

Inspired by Gale Gand

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 Tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/8 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 Tbsp. light corn syrup

1 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Topping: 1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon


 1. In a medium bowl mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside. In a large bowl or mixer bowl with paddle attachment, cream butter. Mix in sugar, egg, corn syrup and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients just until blended. Chill dough 1 hour.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

3. Mix sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Remove dough from fridge. Roll into 2 inch balls. Roll in cinnamon sugar to coat. Place on baking sheet 2 1/2 inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes until slightly cracked and puffy. Cool on sheet pan for a few minutes before removing to wire rack to cool.

Hawaiian Mini Muffins

In late November the boys said goodbye to their classmates by bringing in these Hawaiian Mini Muffins. The flavors of the islands, pineapple and coconut were shared amongst the kindergarteners and preschoolers. We couldn't wait for our Hawaiian vacation, visiting with family, celebrating Christmas, and going to the beach in winter.

Hawaiian Mini Muffins
Makes 24 mini muffins

Inspired by Smitten Kitchen


1/2 cup coconut oil plus additional for greasing
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup coconut flavored Greek-style yogurt, at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup fresh pineapple, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut, divided


Preheat oven to 375°F. Line mini muffin pans with paper liners or grease with coconut oil.
In a small saucepan, warm your coconut oil until just melted.
Whisk flours, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Stir in 1/2 cup shredded coconut. In a medium bowl, whisk together egg, sugar, coconut oil, coconut yogurt and vanilla. Mix in pineapple pieces. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just combined. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups then sprinkle the top with remaining 1/4 cup coconut.
Bake for 8-12 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Remove muffins from pans and cool on wire rack.

Gingerbread Houses

 The early stages of construction

Construction almost complete

Decorators are waiting

Placing the decorations on

 Every detail in place

 Finished!

Can we eat it yet?

Yum!

The kids and cousins requested gingerbread houses for a baking activity. We found a recipe from Food Network. It was really fun to make and the kids were eating it all week. For decorations we used pretzels, M&Ms, gummy bears, chocolate filled cookies, raisins, mini candy canes, Cheerios, and pretzel bites. For icing I didn't want to use raw egg whites and meringue powder was out of stock so I just bought the premade one. We ran out of piping bags so we just used ziplock bags and cut the corner off. Beware that the sandwich bags can burst if you squeeze too hard. The freezer bags work better. If the icing is too thick, it will stick to your fingers better than the gingerbread, add some water to thin it so it flows better. 

Christmas Scones

I made these in Hawaii for family and friends. Since we were so busy, I mixed up a batch, put them on a baking sheet covered with plastic wrap and froze them in the freezer for a few hours. Then I removed them from the baking sheet and put them into a freezer bag. When we finally had a calm morning at home, I defrosted them for 15 minutes on a baking sheet, egg washed them and then baked them for 20 minutes. I call them Christmas scones because they have so many ingredients in them, much like our Christmas tree which is small but has enough lights and ornaments for a 7 foot tree.


Christmas Scones

4 cups all purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate morsels

1/2 cup mini white chocolate chips

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 Tbsp. orange zest

1 cup unsalted butter room temperature cut into small pieces

1 cup buttermilk

3 large eggs, divided

1 1/2 Tbsp. orange juice

glaze (optional) 2 Tbsp. confectioner's sugar, 1 Tbsp. orange zest, 1/4 cup orange juice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda. Cut in butter using a pastry cutter or two forks until it is a coarse meal. In a small bowl, mix together buttermilk, 2 eggs, and orange juice. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture. Stir just until combined. Mix in chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, walnuts, cranberries and orange zest.

3. Whisk remaining egg with 1 Tbsp. water in a small dish. Set aside. Drop 1/4 cup balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets spacing them 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly. Brush with egg wash. Bake for 18-22 minutes until golden brown. Cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring scones to a wire rack. In a small dish, mix together confectioner's sugar, orange zest and orange juice to make a glaze. When scones are cool, drizzle with glaze.