Foodie Friday--Truffle Candy fillings

Yesterday I was busy making candy fillings . . . again. I made peppermint schnapps, Grand Marnier (this time with white chocolate), key lime (again because my nephew loves this flavor and I had leftover limes, besides he's such a sweetie that he just might get an entire box of them!), whiskey toffee, rum raisin, and Frangelico. A few days ago, I made Chambord, strawberry margarita, key lime, limoncello, Grand Marnier (orange in dark chocolate), Amaretto and ButterShots (butterscotch schnapps in dark chocolate)

Now I can tell you how to make the fillings, but I don't measure anything, which means I have developed an 'eye' for it. Sorry, the only way you'll learn is by practicing! If I could figure out how to sell these out of my kitchen I would, but I think the Health Dept. might have a problem with a big fluffy dog wandering around the kitchen while I make them. People who don't have to pay for them are a little more forgiving if there's a boo-boo hair.

Onward--Any of these that are citrus fruit-based, zest the rinds prior to juicing them.

All you need to make these candy fillings is sugar, heavy cream and tempered chocolate (I buy big slabs of Ghirardelli white chocolate and double dark chocolate from Sam's Club). They are processed with cocoa and vegetable shortening so they will not seize up when a liquid is added.

Here are two examples:

Grand Marnier truffle filling

Zest and juice 4-5 oranges. Combine juice, zest, 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup Grand Marnier in heavy saucepan. Simmer until mixture becomes syrupy, reducing by 2/3. Add 1/2 cup of cream, heat until simmer. Turn heat down to low and add chunks of chocolate (white or dark), stirring until melted and incorporated. Keep adding chocolate until it thickens slightly and coats the rubber spatula. Taste for flavor. If it needs a little more flavor, add a shot of Grand Marnier and stir in. Pour hot truffle mixture into heat resistant FoodSaver bag and heat seal.  Allow the mixture to cool (12-24 hours) and it should thicken. When ready to use pop into microwave for a few seconds to soften and fill chocolate shells.

Note: if using white chocolate you will need less cream as white chocolate doesn't set up quite as stiffly as regular chocolate due to the fact that it is made out of cocoa BUTTER and not cacao.

ButterShots truffle filling

Pour about 2 cups butterscotch flavored schnapps into pan, add 1/4 cup sugar. Simmer until reduced by 2/3. Add 1/2-3/4 cup of cream, stir and heat until simmering. Turn down heat and add chunks of chocolate, stirring and adding chocolate until coats the spatula. Taste test. If you need more butterscotch flavor add a shot of schnapps. Stir. Heat seal as stated above.

See easy-peasy, but don't you wish I had taken pictures of the process? *sigh* Maybe next time I'll cook with someone taking pictures of the process.

Oh, and how long did it take me to make six fillings today?

Two Harry Potter movies (The Order of the Phoenix and The Half-Blood Prince), roughly 5-6 hours. Time-consuming, like I said . . . and that doesn't even count the hours spent MAKING the filled candies.

I only think about 1/2 of the people who are given the candy really appreciates the effort that goes into making the chocolates, toffee, peanut brittle, fudge, etc.

Enjoy!

Still Making Candy . . .

Every year the hubster tells me not to get carried away with making candy.

--and every year I go nuts.  I enjoy making candy.  It's right up there with inventing fantasy stories.  I made six flavors of candy (40 candies of each flavor) yesterday: Black Forest, Strawberry Margarita, Limoncello, Amaretto, Chambord, and Kahlua (the unexpected one).  So, in theory, I should have only had four flavors to do today, but I ended up with SIX, possibly SEVEN! 

How did this happen?

Well,  I did make ten new flavors this year, BUT that doesn't mean I didn't have some flavors that I made last year and froze.  And yes, making and freezing candy fillings works.  I've done it for years.  Sometimes you end up with more filling than you expected.  Sometimes it's because the mold you are using is smaller than the other molds. 

I calculated the Limoncello and Chambord perfectly.  Oh, I could make a few more candies, but why?  I'm already making enough candy for 35 gifts with 5 extra candies/flavor in case of accidents (I did have some problems with the Black Forest mold).  I'll probably freeze the little bit of left over so I can taste it next year to remember the flavor. 

Anyhoo, I ended up with six flavors today:  Lime Gimlet, Whiskey Toffee, Frangelico, Peppermint Schnapps, Grand Marnier and caramel.  The Caramel was unexpected.  I wanted to try my hand at making a HARD caramel.  The recipe wasn't all that and I ended up with a soft caramel--too soft to make turtles.  So, I'll use it in a filled candy.

If I could hazard a guess, it will taste FANTASTIC! 

And then there is my peanut butter cups.  Yes, they do taste almost like Reeses, though creamier.

Enough talking about making candy.  I need to make some coffee, take some Aleve, pick a movie for the DVD player, and get my chocolate melted.

Later, Peeps!

Cyndi wanted my peanut butter filling recipe.  I think it's smoother than Reeses, but still very good.  It makes a huge amount, so you might want to halve the recipe or you can freeze the remainder.

18 oz. jar Jif peanut butter
1 stick melted butter
1 lb. powdered sugar

Mix peanut butter and butter together. Add powdered sugar and mix together by hand.
If it's too dry, add more melted butter.  If it's too moist add more powdered sugar.

That's it, folks.  I have a peanut butter cup mold. I place a paper cup in the mold and coat the bottom with melted chocolate.  I make a ball of peanut butter filling and press down, leaving space around the edges.  Add melted chocolate around the edge of the peanut butter filling and over the top.  Tap the mold against the counter to release air bubbles.  Place in freezer to harden.