It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. It certainly is. I am sitting in my living room with the fire on and my Christmas tree, all lit up. like, well a Christmas tree! Lots of parties happen this time of the year and it is always nice to visit with a small gift. Even nicer if the gift is hand-made. I have a list of back up hand-made gifts that are super simple and quick to make, and chocolates are on that list.
These chocolates can be made with lime curd, or lemon, but the lime is a really nice alternative. Plus, Limes are on my desert island list of foods. The curd is super easy and will keep for a good few weeks in the fridge. Once made, you can make the chocolates in about one hour and fifteen minutes.
To make the curd you will need;
The zest and juice of 5 limes, 85g unsalted butter (cubed), 200g caster sugar, 3 large eggs beaten
Place the lime zest and juice in a bain marie, along with the butter and sugar. Add the eggs to the mix by passing through a sieve. Stir the mix with a wooden spoon until everything is heated and well blended. Continue cooking over a medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. This will take 15-20 minutes. When thickened, pour the curd into hot sterilized jars and seal.
The curd is super sweet, but has a kick that comes through and lingers. I serve it on vanilla ice-cream, or with natural yoghurt and oatflakes. And of course to fill chocolates!
To make the chocolates you will need a chocolate mould, which can be picked up in a kitchen store for a couple of euro. You will also need a bain marie, a paint brush that has not been used for anything. And finally, you will need some good chocolate. The mould I use has 12 sweets in it, and I find that about 100g dark, good quality chocolate will see you right for this amount of sweets.
Clean out your mould, even if it is spotless, with cotton wool until literally squeaky clean. Melt your chocolate in the bain marie until very smooth, but do not over head. Spoon a little chocolate into each mould and when they are all filled, place on a level surface. This is where the paintbrush comes in. Carefully, paint the chocolate up the sides of the mould, until you are sure that the sides are completely covered. Then place in the fridge for approx 30 minutes.
As is the nature of gravity, a lot of the chocolate can gather in the bottom of the mould meaning that there is not a lot of space for what ever filling. As you make these again and again you will get to know the correct amount of chocolate to minimise this. But for a first time, don’t worry about little things like that. Your friends will be so delighted that you made them, it is the last thing they will be thinking! Note that you will also need to have the chocolate in the bain marie on a low heat in the background, so that the chocolate does not solidify.
Once the chocolates come out of the fridge, you can fill them with the lime curd. I put the curd into a freezer bag, and pushed it all into the corner. If you nip off the corner with a scissors you have a lovely little piping bag. Pipe an amount into the shell and give it a little shake to flatten down. A little trick I learned to get the filling flat is to have a cup of water to hand, and using your ring finger (of clean hands!) dip into the water and then gently flatten the curd. Once your finger is wet, the curd won’t stick to it.
When all are flat, take about a half a teaspoon of chocolate, and pour over the top of the lime curd until the top of the sweet is covered and the chocolate is about level with the edge of the mould. Once you have covered all the sweets, you will need to very gently drop the tray 5-6 times on your work top to get rid of any air bubbles. Place tray back in the fridge for a further 20 minutes.
You will know when the chocolates are ready when you turn the tray over, you will notice that the sweet is starting to come away from the mould. To take the rest of them out, tap the bottom of the tray on a flat surface. Do not press the sweets out of the mould as this will cause them to lose their shiny surface.
Once all the sweets are out off the mould, you can put them in a pretty box and tie with a ribbon as a gift for friends. Alternatively, you can store them in a box in your fridge and serve them after dinner with a strong coffee.
Either way, Enjoy!
Orls
