Toblerone Dip

This is not my recipe, it's my cousin's, but I mentioned it in Billy's birthday post so I figured I should pop it up. It's so simple and delicious! (I am a sucker for Toblerone so it's very necessary to buy extras!) Thanks cousin Maddy (and Mummy) for the recipe.

Dip:

• 2 tubs of vanilla Fruche
• small tub of pure cream
• 1 bar of Toblerone chocolate, grated

Fresh Fruit:

• banana
• apple
• strawberries
• melon
• pineapple
• grapes
• whatever you like...

 Method:

• Combine dip ingredients and allow to sit in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
• Cut up the fresh fruit into pieces.
• Dip fruit and eat, yummy....

Chocolate-chip cookie dough truffle pops!

Cake pops are so hot right now it seemed only natural I give them a go. It's only been a few months worth of dreaming about them and wondering what excuse I might have to make some. Then a delightful double banger of an excuse popped  into my Facebook inbox: Baking Our Blues Away.

Not only would I get to finally make some pops, but I get to make them for someone else and hopefully make their day! How could I refuse? Challenge accepted.

I chose to make the pops for the beautiful, caring and passionate teachers at my boys Day Care. Even though I don't think any of them are technically "blue" it seems like a very thankless job - taking care of other people's children all day. Which seems like a ridiculous concept, but it's very easy to have tunnel vision when it comes to your kids. I know I'm guilty of forgetting what their teachers do each day and thanking them regularly. I will remember to do so more often from now on.

  
 To the pops!

The chocolate-chip cookie dough truffle recipe (sans egg for eating raw) was courtesy of Bakerella. I spotted it on Pinterest, where I find most of my mouthwatering cooking temptations. This one actually came to fruition a lot quicker than most! Simple recipe. Totally fun to make. Absolutely delicious! Teachers at day care, you are very lucky I didn't eat them all! Plus I had to smuggle them out of the house quick smart or I would have had cookie-dough-flavoured-chocolate-covered-kidlets (and husband).

Since I am not a cook. I won't go into the details and how-to's. (Bakerella does a fine job of that anyway.) I will simply note a couple things that made my pop experience work (or could work better).

• Make extras. As I mentioned above I was very tempted to eat as I worked, which would have resulted in minimal produce.
• Make them out of sight of children and husbands, or any other strays in your house at the time for fear of the same result as above.
• I made them a couple days in advance and they kept fine in the fridge. Hidden.
• Plain sticks look much better than coloured. But I didn't have any, hence the coloured sticks.
• Little celo baggies and ribbon turn them into very cute individual gifts. Perfect for this situation.

Hope you try your hand at making some pops, they are the bomb!

Christmas Treats

  

Since I didn't have the pleasure of being Christmas host this year... not yet anyway... I decided to make a Christmas treat to take along to Grandma's instead. Yummy little Chocolate Reindeer Tartlets. The recipe is not mine however, I had help (from the free Coles food magazine I picked up ages ago) and have been waiting to make these little delights ever since.

Christmas rolled around finally, so I did some preparation (while boys were sleeping) so H could help and wouldn't have to wait for the tedious stuff to be done first and lose interest, as usual.

  Reindeer eyes, noses and antlers. Check.

Chocolate Butternut Snap Tartlets. Check.

Apron on, we dove into putting the Rudolphs together... I made quite a few extra eyes and noses knowing there would be casualties in the making.

Unfortunately my plan was foiled! He lost interest after eating a bite out of three tartlets and gobbling down a few marshmallow noses. Obviously dinosaur stickers are way more fun Mum! Duh!

If you think these little Reindeer Tartlets are cute here's how you too can make them... maybe next year!

  

Ingredients:

• 1 x pkt Arnott's Butternut Snap Cookies
• 1/3 cup cream
• 200g milk or dark chocolate, chopped
• 65g unsalted butter, chopped

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Place biscuits over each hole of a twelve hole, 1 1/2 tbsp capacity round based tartlet tin. Bake for 2 - 3 min or until soft. Remove from oven and press softened biscuits into tin to mould into a cup shape. Allow to cool. Repeat with remaining biscuits.
2. Place butter, cream and chocolate in a saucepan over very low heat. Stir constantly until melted and smooth - approx 7 min. Pour into a clean, dry bowl and refrigerate until cool but not set - approx 20 min.
3. Fill biscuit cases with 1 heaped tsp of chocolate mix then place in fridge for 20 - 25 min until set and ready to serve.

Decorating:

1. Cut a regular marshmallow in half and place cut side down for face.
2. Stick a jaffa to marshmallow using icing or melted chocolate.
3. Cut a mini marshmallow in half and place cut sides up onto tart for eyes. Add a dot of dark icing or chocolate for pupils (though I used little blue choc drops).
4. Cut mini star shaped pretzels into shape and press into chocolate filling to make antlers.

ENJOY! But watch out for little sneaks who like to taste...