We came out of church and thought, we must go and buy the bits to make Auntie Sophie's birthday present. We got parked up, and Callum bought the car parking ticket, and in we went. We knew exactly what we were after, so we headed straight for it.
The essential items were stocked up on, and we had the raw materials to go home and get started. If there is one thing Callum and Daddy really enjoy, it is working together. We love cooking, and we hope that Sophie will enjoy what we have in store for her.
We bought all the bits we needed and loaded up the car. Callum was getting excited about the afternoon's cooking. We got home quickly to see Mummy and Jessica. We showed them what we had bought, and talked about how we were going to make them. Then, we got ready to start cooking.
All the necessary ingredients were in place, hands were washed, and Callum got into his Super Chef apron, ready to get started with making gooey chocolate goodies. To make one batch of chocolate truffles, we used:-
100 grams of good quality dark chocolate, broken into small pieces. The easiest way to do this is to leave it in the wrapper and smash it hard against the kitchen work surface. Mind your fingers on the edge though, because it's no fun banging your knuckles.
Next, put the bowl of chocolate over a pan of hot water straight from the kettle. No need to light the gas, if you broke the chocolate up small enough, it will melt just fine. Add 2 tablespoons of freshly made black coffee to the bowl. Then leave the chocolate to melt. This only took about 5 minutes.
Once the chocolate was all nicely melted, we took the bowl out of the pan and put it on the side. Then we poured in 2 teaspoons of brandy, 2 tablespoons of cream, and one raw egg yolk. The egg yolk makes a big difference to how smooth and silky the finished truffle is. Because eggs sometimes have bad germs in them, we got our eggs from Jessica's Tumble Tots teacher. She keeps chickens in her garden, and they are well looked after, so they make very tasty eggs.
Then it's time to mix it until it's nicely smooth, stirring in a little bit of butter at the same time. Once it was all mixed nicely, we poured it into a tub and put it in the fridge so set. It was very runny, and needed to be left for a few hours before we could make them into balls and decorate them. Daddy was left to make another couple of batches, one with whiskey, and one just chocolate, while Callum went for a walk with Mummy and Jessica.
It didn't take long to get the other two mixtures made and in the fridge to set. While we waited for them to be cool enough for the next stage, Jessica and Mummy got busy.
Once we have finished making the chocolates, we will need to put them in something, so Mummy and Jessica found a bowl with a lid that was just the right size. Then they decorated it. Jessica thought the stickers were lovely, and found the idea lots of fun.
After a lot of searching for the perfect materials, and much artistic flare, the bowl was completed. A first class job, I'm sure you'll agree. Now we just needed to check on how the truffles were doing.
The mixtures were set, so we started with the brandy and coffee batch, and moulded them into shape using two teaspoons. Daddy and Callum have hot hands, so we couldn't roll them. Once they were in the right shape, we put a chocolate button on the bottom, and covered them in crushed nuts. Being the chefs, we had to taste our work. Not bad at all.
We worked through the whole mix and before long we had transformed them into a pretty batch of chocolates for Auntie Sophie's bowl. Then we just had the other two batches to finish off.
Once we had finished making them, we put them back in the
fridge to keep them fresh. Then we set to work tidying up
and getting the kitchen straight again.
Now all we need to do is
arrange to go and see Auntie Sophie so we can give them to
her. Happy Birthday, from all of us.
Cheers From All Us
Tarttlets