Chocolate

Chocolate is all kinds of awesome. Also, I recently acquired Hello Kitty-shaped molds, so I needed something to do with them. What could be better than home-made chocolates? Now, obviously, "home-made" is a bit of a misnomer. Because, in all honesty, we don't "make" the chocolate ourselves, we just re-purpose it. But that's a fun and sticky activity, and the results are supercute and tasty. 

The Materials

You will need: 

150g of nice chocolate or couverture

1 tsp of a softener, such as butter, or cocoa butter if you can get it. 

two silicone molds for chocolates

Interesting ingredients of your choice, such as chopped nuts, dried berries, spices, crispy things, etc.
Also extract of vanilla, or rum, that kind of thing. 

I use plain chocolate. I contemplated buying couverture chocolate, but decided against it. Mainly, because it tastes like crap, unless you buy the really expensive stuff. So I used plain chocolate bars. Obviously, that's bars without anything in them, because I'm gonna put all the good stuff in, myself.

In order to make the final product slightly softer than the original bar, I add one teaspoon of coconut oil per about 150g of chocolate. Coconut oil is actually solid at room temperature.

Melting the Chocolate

Chocolate is hard work.

The crucial part of creating chocolates is obviously melting the chocolate bar without burning it. This cannot be stressed enough: the chocolate should be liquid, but never boiling. Most people choose to use a bain-marie for this procedure. I am fortunate in that I have a gas stove, where temperature can be regulated with great flexibility. 

First, I chop the bar into tiny pieces. That way, everything melts faster. Two thirds go into the pot, the rest remains on the side. 

 

When everything in the pot is liquid, remove the pot from the stove and add the remaining chocolate. Stir until melted. 

Mmmmmmmm....

 Adding Extras

As a rule, I put chopped nuts and similar ingredients directly into the liquid chocolate. "Centerpieces" like dried fruit, on the other hand, are carefully positioned. For this example, I added finely chopped, roasted, hazelnuts to the chocolate. Then I put on teaspoon of chocolate into each little heart. On top of that, I sat a dried cherry, before filling each cavity with the rest of the chocolate. 

Et voilà! Your fridge will do the rest. That's where you leave your chocolates now for about twenty minutes, until they are solid. Remember: silicone is very flexible, and the chocolate is very liquid. Just saying. 

Dark chocolate with roasted hazelnuts and dried cherries.

On average, it takes me thirty minutes to fill two molds. There is no limit to your imagination. Find inspiration right here.

White chocolate with chopped pistachios and rum-soaked raisins.

Tiny Hello Kitty chocolates are so awesome, they glitter when you look their way. True story.

Chocolate Muffins

Hi there. Remember me? Sooo... Yep, that was a bit of a break. A longish one. To make it up to you, I bring you one of the crowning glories of my kitchen. Behold:

Chocolate Muffins!

You are not impressed? Give it some space to build up. You'll see.

First, the basic recipe. This is the one that works best for me.

150g of dark chocolate
125g butter

215g flour
2 tsp baking powder
30g cocoa powder
55g sugar

185cl milk
2 eggs

Melt the chocolate and the butter. You can use a bain marie, but I usually just put it on the stove. You'll just have to keep an eye on it; you don't want it to boil. Let the mix cool.
In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients. In a different receptacle, whisk the eggs with the milk. Add the liquids and the non-hot chocolate-butter-mixture to the bowl with the dry ingredients. Mix with a fork, so that the mass remains a little bit lumpy.

This is the basic recipe. Now we add awesomeness.

Chocolate Muffins with Moar Chocolate
Fill the muffin forms to about 30%. Add a bit of chocolate, preferably a "praliny" kind. I love to use Lindor - the bar. Adding an entire Lindor ball might be a bit much. The one I use is dark chocolate with orange, but you can use anything that strikes your fancy. The important thing is that, after it melts, it is still a recognisably distinct flavour in your muffin.Cover with the rest of the batter.

Yes, this is an insidious product-placement.

Chocolate Muffins with Cream Cheese
For this filling, simply whisk cream cheese with sugar until you find it sufficiently sweet. I use half a pack (100g) of cream cheese for twelve muffins. Again, fill form to 30%, then add a fat layer of cream cheese, cover with the rest of the chocolate mix.


Chocolate Cupcakes with Bacon
Ba-dum-pssh! You heard me. With BACON. Why? Because everything is better with bacon!
Fry eight strips of bacon until they are crisp, but not burnt. Set unto a bed of kitchen crepe, and crumble. Keep some of the crumbled bacon for decoration, mix the rest in with the batter.

For the butter-cream topping, mix 250g of butter with two tbsp of maple syrup and ample amounts of confectioner's sugar. Add the sugar by the tablespoon, and keep testing it to make sure you have the right taste and firmness.

For all the muffins, bake them at 190°C, for 15 to 20 minutes. I err on the side of short, since longer baking times make for drier goods.

After they've cooled down, decorate the bacon cupcakes with the butter-cream and the crumbled bits of bacon. I usually use the ends of the bacon, that didn't get the full brunt of the heat from the frying.

See the missing one? Yes, that good.

Eat your delicious cupcakes. They are among the most fabulous food you've ever tasted. Should you be unconvinced on the subject of bacon (what??), then you should probably listen to Jim Gaffigan. He knows.