Homemade Holiday Truffles

Whether they're a co-worker, your child's favorite teacher, a neighbor across the street or your go-to dry cleaner, everyone deserves a little a holiday cheer and what says cheer better than homemade truffles??

Sunday afternoon I spent the day with my mother making chocolates for Christmas gifts. 

We talked about friends and family and gossiped over the latest Real Housewives, all the while filling candy molds with melting chocolates and whipping up different varieties of fillings.

It's afternoons like this that I'm extremely thankful to be so close to home, especially around the holidays. 

Not only are these truffles extremely easy to make, they're absolutely delicious and make for a perfect gift.

All you need are some flavor boosters including liquors, wine, peanut butter and different flavored chips...

melting chocolates, whole bunch of chocolate chips, heavy cream, a paint brush, some candy melt bottles and candy molds (all bought at your local Michaels).

I wish I would have taken some pictures of the process, but I left my camera on the counter as I rushed out of our house on my way to my moms so all the photos are from my iphone. It's pretty easy though and hopefully this tutorial will do the trick!

First thing you have to do is make your fillings... I started with a basic ganache and then added the flavor boosters. Make sure you add your flavors at the end of the process or your ganache will separate and it will not be pretty or tasty for that matter.

Ganache

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup heavy cream

3 TBS butter

Flavor boosters

1/4 cup liquor 

1/2 cup sweet red wine

2 heaping spoonfuls of peanut butter

In a small saucepan, heat 1/4 cup of water till boiling- you'll be using this for a double boiler.
Place chocolate chips in a large, heatproof bowl.
In a medium saucepan, heat heavy cream over medium heat until just simmering. *You don't want your cream to boil so make sure you keep stirring and really watch it.
Pour heavy cream over chocolate chips and mix gently so cream starts to melt the chocolate.
Move bowl on top of boiling water and stir until chips are completely melted and mixture is smooth.
Stir in butter and mix until mixture is smooth and butter is completely melted.
Slowly add in flavor booster- stirring until combined. (If you just wanted chocolate truffles, you don't have to add a flavor booster)
Place bowl in fridge and allow to set for at least 15 minutes before using.

Meanwhile, start to prepare candy molds.
In a small bowl, melt half bag of dark chocolate candy melts in microwave as directed on back of bag.
Using the paintbrush, coat the inside of the mold with layer of melted candy melts. *Make sure there are no holes and that when you look at the filled molds from the bottom you can't see through the chocolate.
Place coated molds in the freezer to set. Repeat with remaining molds.
Candy melts cool very fast so you have to act quickly- if your melts start to re-harden just pop them back in the microwave for about 30 seconds.

Transfer cooled ganache to candy melt bottle.
Add remaining candy melts to other bottle and heat in microwave just as you did the first batch.
Knead bottle once completely heated to ensure smoothness.
Remove mold from freezer and squeeze ganache into each mold, leaving enough space at the top to cover with a layer of melted candy melts. Knock on counter a few times to eliminate air bubbles.
Using other bottle, squeeze layer of candy melts over ganache, covering completely- knock on counter a few times to smooth layer.
Once all molds are filled and covered, pop back in the freezer to set for about 10 minutes.
Carefully flip candies out onto a kitchen towel.

Repeat process as many times as necessary.


My mom and I made 4 different kinds of chocolates- Irish Cream, peanut butter-chocolate, red wine and mint (we used Andes flavored chocolate chips in place of the semi-sweet). It took us all afternoon, but it was well worth it!

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Truffles

Chocolate Mint Truffles

Red Wine Chocolate Truffles

What are you making for gifts this year??

Happy Baking!

Left-over Halloween Candy Cupcakes

I have to admit, I got very excited around Halloween because our new place is in the 'burbs.

We literally live right around the corner of an elementary school- every morning I leave for work I see kids walking to school or waiting for the bus, when I get home in the evening they're just wrapping up their afternoons outside and playground equipment can be seen in almost every backyard..so of course I assumed we'd get to see all sorts of adorable witches and ghouls wandering our street.

But sadly, this was not the case...

You can understand my disappointment when our neighbor informed us that we probably wouldn't be getting many trick-or-treaters...they just don't walk down our street, she said.

But of course, I still had to buy that big bag of candy just in case.

We had a whopping 6 kids come to the door.. 3 of which were our neighbors.

So if you're like us and you still have plenty of Halloween candy leftover, then these are the cupcakes for you. I realize that most people are gearing up for Turkey Day, but who said you can't have cupcakes for Thanksgiving??

Left-over Halloween Candy Cupcakes
Makes 24 cupcakes
Oven: 350 Bake time: 20 minutes

3/4 cup oil
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups AP flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBS baking powder
1 cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350 and line cupcake pan with liners.
Add sugar to large bowl, and while mixer is on slowly add oil until well combined- this will allow the oil to distribute evenly in the sugar and keep your cupackes from getting too greasy.
Add eggs, one at time, beating after each addition.
In a small bowl, whisk flour, salt and baking powder.
Alternate adding flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with flour, and mix until well combined.
Stir in vanilla.
Transfer half the batter into a separate bowl and stir in cocoa powder until smooth and combined.
Alternate adding spoonfuls of chocolate batter and vanilla batter in cupcake liners until 2/3 way full (I used 2 spoonfuls of each).
Pop in oven and bake until lightly golden and tops spring back to touch.
Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Best Chocolate Frosting
1 stick of butter, melted
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup whole milk

Melt butter in microwave. Stir in cocoa powder until combined. Slowly add powdered sugar, vanilla and milk beating on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add more milk if necessary.

Assembly
Crush/roughly chop a few of your favorite left-over candy bars- I went with Butterfinger, Reeses, Baby Ruth and Kit Kat.
Using a small spatula, frost your cupcakes with chocolate frosting (don't worry about it looking pretty).
Press freshly frosted cupcake into crushed candy bar, lightly rolling so all sides of frosting are now covered.

Kit Kat

Butterfinger

Reeses Peanut Butter Cup

Baby Ruth

Happy Baking!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving with their friends and family!!

Cadbury Cream Egg Surprise Cookies

When I was a kid I used to give up candy for Lent.

But instead of focusing on the sacrifice part of the tradition, I looked at it as a means to hoard as much candy as possible the 40 days leading up to the Bunny's big day.

By the time Easter Sunday came around, I would have a bag full of candy waiting for me in my room...everything that I managed to save through various holiday parties at school and church- sneaky sneaky.

After my "sacrifice" was through, I would wake up and sneak a piece of candy before running downstairs to see what the Easter Bunny had brought us.

My favorite candy during the Lenten season, then and ever shall be, Cadbury Cream Eggs. I have to admit it takes me a little longer to finish an entire egg these days (thank goodness they make the mini ones now!), but I still look forward to getting a carton come spring.

Now that I have a blog I felt it was my duty to pay homage to my little creamy eggs of goodness and incorporate them into a cookie this Easter.

Cadbury Cream Egg Surprise Cookies
a swEEts original
Makes 12 cookies

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
dash of salt
1 cup flour
12 pack of mini cadbury cream eggs
assorted sprinkles

Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, cream butter, vanilla and sugar.
Add salt and flour, mixing until well combined and soft dough is formed (if you dough seems too sticky add a little more flour).
Unwrap your mini Cadbury Cream Eggs.

Roll a tablespoon of dough into a ball and flatten it with your fingers. Place an egg in the center of your dough.... 

...and gently press the remaining dough around the egg, until it's completely covered. 

Lightly roll in the palm of your hand to cover smoothly.
Once your egg is covered, roll in assorted sprinkles.

And place on prepared parchment paper.

Repeat until all your eggs have been covered, then place in fridge to chill for about 30 minutes.
With about 10 minutes left, preheat your oven to 350.
Place cookies in oven for about 10-12 minutes- these cookies won't really brown so just gently press into one to feel for doneness.
Allow to cool completely before sinking into.

Your little bunnies won't be able to keep their paws off these! 

Happy Baking!

Valentine's Day Treats

Happy Valentines Day! 

Truth be told, V-day is not something that Mountain Man and I really celebrate...we don't have big dinner plans, I definitely won't be getting flowers or a box of chocolates and I will absolutely not be getting any jewelry- MM made it very clear I'd reached my diamond quota this year ;)

Despite the fact that I'm not particularly keen on a holiday that could potentially make some people feel pretty darn sad, I'll take any excuse to make cute and delicious treats.

This Valentine's Day I decided to go back to the good old days when it didn't matter if you had a significant other to get you something sweet and I set out to put a smile on everyone's face in the office with a little something special.

One of the girls in the office can't have gluten and I wanted to make something that everyone could enjoy, so as I browsed the aisles of Michael's I picked up some candy molds, a few bags of candy melts and lollipop sticks.

These lollipops couldn't be any easier (the directions are right on the package).. just melt, pour, stick, place in the fridge and voila! homemade candies.

But I didn't stop there.. I had a ton of cake left over from some projects over of the weekend (I can't wait to show you the final products!) so cake balls seemed the perfect choice.

With all the extra lollipop sticks I thought I'd give cake pops a go...

Lets just say that didn't go as planned... I have already admitted my cake balls need work- they never look as good as they should and I can never get them smooth! And now, with cake pops...well, put it this way, I'm no Bakerella and I should have read Carolyn's tips a little more closely to get them to work.

I couldn't get the sticks to stay in the cake balls for the life of me and the silly little things just kept falling apart so a few wasted cake balls later, I gave up and just went back to making cake balls. After my epic fail I went back and researched all thing cake pops (which I should have done from the beginning) and now I know where I went wrong.. so next time those cake pops are mine!

No matter what your plans today, flowers or not, I hope everyone has a lovely day full of sweets and treats :)

Happy Baking!

Double Chocolate Praline Fudge Cake

Every now and again I miss Georgia.

I don't miss the 110 degree weather with 200% humidity, swarms of gnats, living in the middle of nowhere, dealing with snarky college students, or being in grad school... but I do miss living near Savannah and fresh pralines on River Street.

Savannah is a city with character- not to mention home of the great Paula Deen and her fabulous restaurant Lady & Sons (I've been lucky enough to eat there not once, but three times and man oh man, her fried chicken is good!)

When my grad school roommate decided to get married in Savannah and asked me to make her cake, I knew one of the tiers had to be the Double Chocolate Praline Fudge Cake that I found a few years ago in Southern Living.  I have been waiting for a special occasion to try this cake for a long time and what better occasion to do you get than a Savannah wedding?

You can't go to Savannah and not stop at River Street Sweets for a free praline so the choice was a no brainer..  lucky for me she liked the idea as well.

With the wedding in just 3 weeks (yes, I'm traveling with another wedding cake!), I had to try out the cake before serving it at the bow-tie affair. If you are a fan of chocolate and pralines you're going to love this cake. It is out of control rich, which in turn makes it out of control delicious.

Double Chocolate Praline Fudge Cake
Southern Living Magazine
Bake time: 22-24 minutes Oven: 350

1 cup butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup water
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups sugar
2 cups AP flour
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease and flour 2 or 3 8-inch round pans and line bottom with parchment paper.
Cook butter, cocoa and water in saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly for about 2 minutes or until butter is melted and mixture is smooth. Let cool. I repeat, LET COOL COMPLETELY- put it in the fridge, put it in the freezer, whatever you do, let it cool completely.
Let cocoa cool for about 10-15 minutes in fridge.
Meanwhile, beat buttermilk, eggs, baking soda and vanilla.
Pour cooled cocoa mixture to buttermilk mixture beating until blended.
In a small bowl, combine/whisk flour, sugar and salt.
Gradually add flour mixture to cocoa/buttermilk mixture, beating well after every addition (Your batter will be thin).
Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for 22-24 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Transfer to wire rack and cool in pans for 10 minutes before removing from pan and allowing to cool completely.
Allow cakes to cool for at least 1 hour before trying to frost.
One cake is cooled, begin to prepare chocolate ganache and praline frosting.

*The original recipe spreads Chocolate Ganache between each layer of cake as well as the sides and then tops the cake with the Praline Frosting. Because I will be decorating the wedding cake with fondant I knew I needed a smooth surface so I made this cake like I would be making hers, with the Praline Frosting between layers and frosting the outside with the Chocolate Ganache.

Chocolate Ganache
1 12oz bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup butter

In a glass bowl, add chocolate chips and whipping cream.
Two ways to make this:
1. Heat in a double boiler, whisking until smooth. Once chocolate is melted remove from heat and gradually add butter, whisking until smooth.
-OR-
2. Microwave 2 to 3 minutes until chocolate is melted, stirring at 1 minutes intervals. Whisk until smooth. Gradually add butter, whisking until smooth.
Allow to cool briefly and whisk until spreading consistency.


Don't make the Praline Frosting until you're ready to frost your cake because it hardens VERY quickly.


Praline Frosting
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Chop pecans and place on baking sheet or shallow pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until pecans are toasted and fragrant.
In a medium saucepan, bring brown sugar, whipping cream and butter to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil for about 1 minute.
Remove from heat, and whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.
Gently stir in toasted pecans allowing mixture to thicken and cool slightly.
Use immediately

*If you have left over frosting you can use it to make your own pralines. Simply lay parchment or wax paper on a baking sheet and place spoonfuls of praline frosting on sheet about an inch apart. Allow to cool and harden for about 20-30 minutes.

Happy Baking!