Per last week’s promise, today’s blog will focus on super easy ways to make chocolates using the irreverent cook method of NO RECIPE! If you must have recipes, you can always google for exact specifications; but here at The Sesspool we rely on instinct, eyeballin’, tastin’, and whatever else the 5 or 6 senses tell us. Also, don’t let the length of this post fool ya’ – It’ll take you longer to read the post than it will to make the most basic chocolate option I demo towards the end.
As it gets closer to year’s end I’ll pen a future blog entry about my annual pantry cleansing tradition. What I’ve come to realize is that I fail to apply that same diligence to the sweeter side of my pantry’s offerings, since I tend to only purchase baking ingredients when the first letter of my last name means I am the designated dessert bringer to a potluck. Generally, most of the sweeter things in our home are bought pre-made.
First I’m going to begin with a list of everything you may need. Except for chocolate or candy chips all of these are optional. The first step in Rule Breaker Pantry Raid cookin’ is to look through your pantry, fridge, freezer, spice rack, and cupboards for the following items:
- Chocolate – white, dark, milk, blocks, chips, or (butterscotch) candy chips
- Fat source – shortening, oil, butter (a small amount helps the tempering)
- Spices – cardamom, cinnamon, basil, chile, salt, ginger (savory or sweet)
- Flavor extracts or rinds – almond, vanilla, mint, lemon, orange rind, etc.
- Fillings – fresh or dried fruits; jams, jellies, fruit or nut butters; nuts; candies
- Decorative items – life is so much more fun with sprinkles or marshmallows!
- Chocolate molds or Candy forms – ice trays, spoons, muffin tins, straws, bags
I was shocked at how much stuff I could come up with through my pantry raid, and recommend generally focusing on a couple of choices so as not to get too overwhelmed at any one time. However, I went for the over-the-top experience, but hey it was my day off so I had the time.
Chocolate chips
Chocolate – The only source my pantry came up with was chocolate chips. Some of them vegan(ish). The dark chocolate chips only have cocoa butter, chocolate and sugar. No dairy products. However, some vegans don’t eat granulated white sugar because it is bleached over animal bones.
Fat Source – Most recipes call for vegetable shortening. I don’t have any, so I’m going to see what happens using vegetable oil (avocado). It worked out great!
Spices & Oil
Spices – Confession time. My biggest t.v. watching vice seems to be those cooking competition shows, such as Chopped. They’ve taught me that things you though were rules aren’t. You can use candy in a savory dish and savory things in a sweet dish. The key is balancing it, so that the unexpected use doesn’t overwhelm the main purpose of that dish. If you want to make rosemary chocolates, try it and see if you like it – just use it sparingly. Your friends will think you’re sophisticated, and it helps if when serving if you speak through your nose just to show how classy you be. My pantry brought in cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, pasilla pepper, sea salt, cracked pepper, allspice, and candied ginger.
Extracts – In addition to basic flavors such as vanilla or almond, you can use any other flavor oils your pantry may contain. Another trick is to grate some of the rind off a fresh citrus fruit and throw that into the mix.
Fillings – There are so many choices here. If you have hard candies crush ’em and add those. Whatever fresh fruit is in your basket works (berries, apples, pears, etc.). So do dried fruits (banana chips, apricots, spicy dried mango). Nuts are always great with chocolate both the peanut butter type and the crushed pecans or slivered almonds. All nuts work. I tend to sprinkle nuts on top of the chocolate, rather than bury them inside so folks with allergies or nut preferences can see them. I grabbed tahini (sesame butter), peanut butter, fig butter (like a less sweet jam), dried apricots, dried mandarins, and fresh banana from my pantry raid.
Fruit Fillings
Decorative Items – These are useful when making a variety, so you can know what is what. Most marshmallows have gelatin and are not vegetarian. I’m not a big fan of the product. If I were to use them, however, I’d probably go by a Mexican grocery store to pick up the mini flavored and colored ones because it adds a layer of flavor. I did however have some sprinkles on hand so I’ll use some of those.
Sprinkles, Extracts, Nuts
Chocolate Molds & Candy Forms – Most of us, who aren’t candy makers, are unlikely to have these in our pantry. At some point I’ve picked up a couple from Daiso, a Japanese based store that’s a $5 dollar or less version of a 99 cent store. However, get creative; look about. Ice cube trays are great (both the traditional and the fun shaped ones), so are dipping sauce bowls, muffin trays, spoons, single sized washed out yogurt containers, or even just dropping spoonfuls onto a wax paper lined tray. Even the Wax paper is optional. Work with what items you have on your shelves.
TaDa the moment you’ve been reading for –
The Anti Recipe Chocolate making:
Nothin’ but the chocolate: The easiest one to make, while still impressing your friends. At its most basic this won’t take you more than 5 minutes.
- Pour the chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl for about half a minute. I tend to push the 1 button, and stop it half wayish through. In this case I went for 43 seconds, because that’s how long my ADHD thought took while the timer was tickin’ down. Note- if you aren’t a microwave user you can use a crockpot, uncovered double boiler or mixing bowl on top of a pot of water (google the net for how)
- After a half or whole minute, pull it out and stir the chocolate chips. If there are a few chips still unmelted put it back in. But don’t mistake chip shape for unmelted, seriously stir it a bit and see if its done.
- Once all the chocolate is melted pull it out and pour it into your molds or spoon onto your tray to harden. If you spoon it onto the tray you’ll end up with disc shape. Notice I did the left side directly onto a tray and the right onto wax paper. The wax paper is easier to unstick, but both worked fine.
- Put the molds or tray into the freezer or fridge for a couple of hours (or leave on the counter for half a day)
Flavor
Chocolate chips can be a bit sweet, so if you use the recipe as is perhaps aim for a dark chocolate, unless you like super sweet chocolates. Next week come back for part two and I’ll mention ideas to balance out the sweetness.
Congratulations! You are now a chocolate maker. This is a really fun activity to do with kids. You can substitute any other flavored candy chips you have, such as vanilla or butterscotch. Simply by changing the shape of the chocolate chip, you’ve made it an accessible candy for all to eat.
Potential issues:
There are two possible errors that may happen. You burn the chips or the chips seize. When microwaving chips they still hold their shape even when melted. Make sure to stir after 30 seconds or so. Most online sources tell you to reduce the heat to medium, but I’m… lets go with efficient and go with the minute button push, and haven’t ever had problems. The second issue is seizing. Chocolates don’t like any sort of water or any sort of temperature changes. Make sure the bowl you use is completely dry, and don’t add in any liquids or steam sources that are a different temperature. Recipes tell you to heat up the extracts or whatever and add it in to the melted chocolate. I added the teaspoon or so of oil in with the chocolate from the get go and it worked fine, saves extra steps, and didn’t cause unspeakable horrors.
Part two – using this method as a base and enhancing it with various pantry raid ingredients coming next week.
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how can I be patient till next week?