Recipes

That's me... sneaking a piece of chocolate ;)

Heart-Shaped Chocolate with Hazelnut Mocha Ganache

With an eye roll and a sigh, Katie dropped the bag of chocolates into her basket, while purposefully avoiding the red velvet heart-shaped boxes. They sat on the clearance shelf looking jumbled and picked over. One was poised on the edge as if it were trying to jump. The poor dateless chocolate wanted to end its misery, she thought. Whereas she had a nice, relaxing, romance-free night planned. No swan dives off the clearance shelf for her. She was going to drink a bottle of cheap wine, gorge herself on chocolate, and watch Jurassic Park. 

(I promise these are so rich they won’t be making swan dives off a clearance shelf, either)

You’ll need:

            Candy molds (I got mine from Joanne Fabrics)

Ingredients:

            6 oz Bittersweet Chocolate

            ½ cup Heavy Whipping Cream

            ½ Tbsp Salted Butter

            ½ tsp Vanilla Extract

            1 12oz bag Dark Chocolate Candy Melts

            1 to 3 Tbsp Espresso or strongly brewed coffee (adjust for personal tastes)

            Chopped Toasted Hazelnuts

First we’re gonna make a Ganache

1.)    Chop the bittersweet chocolate and place in a bowl (sneaking a piece is a must)

2.)    In a sauce pan, bring heavy cream and butter to a simmer over medium heat.

3.)    Pour the cream over the chocolate and let it sit for a minute or two to soften the chocolate, add the vanilla then stir until smooth.  (if there are still chunks you can microwave it for a few seconds) 

4.)    Now is your chance to add some pizzazz to your candies with fun flavors.  I used espresso in mine. (Now, I’m a coffee fanatic and I own an espresso machine.  I realize that most people do not so strongly brewed coffee will work as well.)  Stir this in and refrigerate for between 30 minutes to an hour until the ganache has stiffened.

Now for the candy makin’

1.)    Place the candy melts in a microwave safe bowl or measuring cup and microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring each time, until smooth.  It’s important not to over-heat this because it could lose its shine.

2.)    Using a spoon, drizzle it into the mold filling it about 2/3 full and tap the mold gently on the countertop to get any air bubbles out.  Let this set until it’s just starting to harden but is still a little gooey, about 5 minutes.  Using a spoon (or your fingers if you don’t mind getting messy) spread a dime-sized amount of the ganache on the top of the chocolates.

3.)    Press the hazelnuts onto the ganache.

4.)    Place the mold in the fridge for a one hour to set, then pop them out of the molds and enjoy your yummy chocolate creations!

For more flavor combos see the next page under 'Fun Stuff'