Chocolate fun

At guides today we made stuff with chocolate with a lady who owns a chocolate shop.

First we started making truffles. We were in two groups, one group made light chocolate and the other made dark chocolate. You pour boiling hot cream over the chocolate and then mix it together with a whisk. With the dark chocolate you have to work slowly at first so that it does not separate.

We poured the chocolate out onto the table so that we could cool it down. We have never played with chocolate on the table before. The lady kept saying "Don't be scared of it. You can bite it but it won't bite you."

As it cooled down we could see it start to get thick.

The kitchen was too warm so we had to put the truffles in the fridge. She told us that the kitchen at her shop is so cold it feels like a fridge when you walk in. While they were in the fridge she showed us pictures and told us about how chocolate is made. 100% dark chocolate is bitter because there is no sugar in it.

After that we had afternoon tea. She had a chocolate fountain but it was not working. We still had fun though and it was delicious.

When the truffles were cool enough, we rolled them.

When they were rolled we dipped the bottom of them in chocolate and let them set.

After that we made chocolate bowls by putting chocolate on the bottom of blown up balloons. When they were set we popped the balloons.

We also made leaves. We put chocolate on one side of the leaves with paint brushes making sure the chocolate was not all the way to the edge. When they were set we took off the leaves.

When the bottoms of the truffles were set we put them in chocolate and covered them in chocolate and left them to dry.

We each got 6 truffles, 3 light and 3 dark.

We had so much fun and the chocolate was really nice even though it was nice. Mum has found a dark chocolate that she really likes. The only problem is that it is very expensive Belgium chocolate. Dad says now we know what to buy her for her birthday.

Mini meat balls

I had so much fun making meat balls and getting my hands into the mixture. I made mashed potato and meat balls for diner. It was really delicious. We had some mixture left over so I made some very small meat balls to stick on tooth picks with some cheese, gherkin, and pickled onion to take as a snack to Brownies. They were really really yummy.

 

Chocolate Caramel Slice

I made these yummy slices for Brownies today. This was the last thing I had to do to get my biscuit badge for this year. I missed a couple of things while we were away - so this was a fun way of catching up.
First crush two packets of Chocolate Guide Biscuits into fine crumbs.
Add 75g melted butter and press into a 20cm square dish (with grease proof paper lining the tin).

Put a tin of condensed milk on top and bake at 160C for 30-40 min or until golden and set in the middle.

Slice and enjoy.

Milk Tart

For Brownies I made two milk tarts (with Mum's help).

Mum showed me how to grease the pie dishes the old fashioned way (without spray and cook). It was very hard.

Then I put the crust in. That was hard too - getting all the places with the right amount of dough.

Once the crusts were baked I made the inside and poured that in. It was really fun decorating them with the trefoil. We put a piece of paper the shape of the trefoil on, sprinkled it with cinnamon and then took the paper off. They were sooooo yummy. For the recipe go here.

Korslose Melktert

Today I made Korslose Meltert (Crustless Milktart) on my own for the first time. My Mum got the recipe from her Dad (he made it often) and he got it from his mother. So it's from my great Ouma (Afrikaans for Grandmother). A milktart is a very typical South African desert or cake.

It was my first time to every separate eggs and Mum said I did a really good job.
The hardest part was beating the egg white by hand. I also did not enjoy having to put the pie dishes into the hot oven. The dishes are shallow and the mixture is very runny so I messed a bit. It was fun to sprinkle the cinnamon on afterwards though. I love this milktart. Have a look here for the recipe.

Caramel banana pudding

First you make a biscuit and butter base. 250g biscuit crumbs and 100g melted butter. Mix and press into a dish. Allow this to set in the fridge.
Then add a tin of caramel and sliced bananas.

Top with whipped cream.

Add some sprinkles for the finishing touch.
I loved doing it on my own. It is realyyyyyy jummmmmmmyyyyyyy.

Chocolate Crisps

I enjoyed making these cookies today but my arm got tired from stirring. I am used to using my Mum's electric mixer but this recipe you do by hand.
The fun part is making the balls and rolling them in sugar.

They are really nice. You can get the recipe here.