Candy is dandy....

But liquor is quicker...

Or so goes the saying. I however, say why settle for just one option?

This will be my log of crafting some handmade liqueur chocolates, with my own hand made liqueuers and spirits, as a pressie for SWMBO.

On the agenda So far I've got a hazelnut (actual nut not the drink) and coffee liqueur in milk choc case, dried strawberry in white choc + punkins muck (a popular home distillers baileys look-a-like) fondant in a milk case, and of course rum balls. Got a few days up my sleave so I'd love some ideas. Hmmm might try krupnikas and white choc next....

Anyway, yesterday was prototyping and getting my hand in again at this finicky craft, today I'm making cases for the chocolates. Tomorrow will be fillings, then I'll have to make the whole package look good.

I'm using a double boiler (well water bath really, no boiling required, that would over heat the chocolate by a factor of 2). the inner bowl needs to be removed often, as I don't want to get the choc over about 40 degrees.



Once I've got this smooth, I'm spooning measures into moulds, then painting it around the mould with the tip of the spoon handle.




Looking good:


And into the fridge to cool go 16 shells.  The soup is cooling, so I might make some rum balls while I wait...

What an awesome post and tutorial! I've never made candy before, but seeing this makes you want to give it a go. I can almost smell the rum

a great tutorial, kiwi! thanks for posting ~ that candy looks really good!

right back to work:

I'll make a note with some examples of the importance of temperature when making cases. Too cold is easier to apply, but doesn't fill as well. Too hot is too runny, and you end up with thin cases that might break later.

Too cold = flawed case:

These are probably going to be cut - not up to scratch, so I'll use them as practice / testing for fillings.


Too hot = thin spots (see the light shining through?)

These will have to be used for more solid fillings like fondant


Just right:

These are good for anything. Patting myself on the back.

Right, I went to write a post on ganache, but the computer ate it and now I see that wiki said it better anyway:

Ganache (pronounced /ɡəˈnɑːʃ/, from the French word for "jowl")^[1] is a glaze, icing, or filling for pastries made from chocolate and cream.^[2] Its origins date to around 1850, when it may have been invented in Switzerland or in France.^[3]

Ganache is normally made by heating heavy/double cream, then pouring it over chopped dark semi-sweet chocolate. The mixture is stirred or blended until smooth, with liqueurs or extracts added if desired.

Depending on the kind of chocolate used, what the ganache is intended for, and the temperature it will be served at, the ratio of chocolate to cream is varied to obtain the desired consistency. Typically, two parts chocolate to one part cream are used for filling cakes or truffle base, while three to one are commonly used in a glaze. Cooled ganache can be whipped to increase volume and spread to cover a cake.

Here are the pics of me making my white chocolate and brandy ganache:
heating the cream in my water bath, then adding the chocolate:


adding some butter:


[good slosh of brandy added here as well, not pictured]

stir stir stir, then into the fridge, after it's cooled a bit but is still quite thin, I take it out and give a lot of punishment with a fork (my whisk is broken) to get it kinda light and fluffy, perfect for a chocolate filling. results:



a test chocolate being made, dried strawberry in the white choc ganache:


sorry, blurry, crap camera today. Then the bottom is slathered in melted milk choc, and inverted onto baking paper.


The bad pics are a real pain... oh well I've eaten the results now, so you won't get a better one

I've got all my cases made now:


and I've just made my rum and milk choc ganache and it is setting, so getting close to done now!

Leftover ganache can really easily be made into truffles, just add a bit more chocolate for firmness, roll into balls, and roll in cocoa. YUM! I'll hopefully have some left to demonstrate.