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You know what I love about cooking with chocolate? Too many things to list in this here little post! But one of the best things about cooking with chocolate is how easy it is, once you learn a few tricks. The New York Times has been running a series of chocolate recipes so easy your kids could even do them, and I'm thinking I may have to try a few.
Chocolate is like the play dough of sweet treats! Wait, that came out wrong. But my point is, it's really fun to play with, and you can get luscious and impressive results even if you're not a trained pastry chef.
Do-It-Yourself Truffles. Here's Melissa Clark demonstrating how to make your own chocolate truffles. And it looks absurdly easy! She has you start out with a chocolate ganache, which is basically just melted chocolate mixed with cream. It makes a dense, gooey base you can use to frost a cake (I've done this many times and HOLY COCOBALLS it's the best thing ever) or to make these truffles. And if the cocoa powder is too bitter for you, she suggests other coatings like crushed nuts (hello, hazelnuts!) or coconut.
See this video on The Stir by CafeMom.
Shaved Chocolate Garnish. Why buy chocolate shavings when you can make your own? Melissa Clark again, demonstrating how you can make chocolate shavings with just a bar and a veggie peeler. Your peeler never had this much fun. Use chocolate shavings to top a cake, a cream pie, or even ice cream.
See this video on The Stir by CafeMom.
Chocolate Lace Cake Collar. You know those amazing cakes with that delicate lace of chocolate winding around? It looks like magic! But my friend Luisa made it the other day for her son's birthday cake. You melt a candy bar, put it in a plastic bag with a tiny hole cut out, drizzle it out in a pattern (measure first), let that pattern harden, and then you wrap it around the cake. Gorgeous! I want Luisa to adopt me so I can have one of those gold cakes of hers.
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Chocolate Balloon Bowls. The world needs more chocolate bowls, don't you think? All righty, then. Check this out -- you can make them by dipping blown-up balloons into melted chocolate. I would maybe wash and dry those balloons first.
See this video on The Stir by CafeMom.
Have you ever tried making chocolate truffles?
Images via New York Times, Luisa Perkins
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