It is time for me to wish you all a very Happy Christmas!! My lovely readers, may your New Year 2015 be filled with exciting new things, good health, happiness, fun times and a lot of wonderful food adventures!
I will be here again in the new year with more stories of my Japan adventures, more delicious recipes and food photos to share with you all.
In the meantime, I am sharing here three easy little recipes for chocolate covered pretzels: white chocolate and lemon, milk chocolate and almond, and chocolate truffle. They work really well as edible gifts for family and friends. I put a few of them in individual little packets and some festive wrapping at the weekend. They were given as presents to some lovely friends at a pre-Christmas celebration (after I had resisted the urge to eat a lot of them by myself!). From what I heard, a lot of the pretzels disappeared super fast!
Joyeux Noël et à l'année prochaine!
I will be here again in the new year with more stories of my Japan adventures, more delicious recipes and food photos to share with you all.
In the meantime, I am sharing here three easy little recipes for chocolate covered pretzels: white chocolate and lemon, milk chocolate and almond, and chocolate truffle. They work really well as edible gifts for family and friends. I put a few of them in individual little packets and some festive wrapping at the weekend. They were given as presents to some lovely friends at a pre-Christmas celebration (after I had resisted the urge to eat a lot of them by myself!). From what I heard, a lot of the pretzels disappeared super fast!
Joyeux Noël et à l'année prochaine!
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White Chocolate and Lemon Zest Pretzels Recipe (Vegetarian)
Ingredients (make approximately a dozen depending on the size of pretzels)
100g chopped white chocolate
A dozen giant pretzels (of the hard snack kind, you can use mini versions as well for more treats to share)
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1. Fill one third of a small saucepan with water. Put over a low heat and bring the water to a simmer. Transfer the chopped white chocolate into a heatproof bowl (it should be slightly bigger than the top of the saucepan). Place the bowl over the saucepan of simmering water. Stir until the chocolate is completely melted. This method for melting chocolate is called 'bain marie'.
2. Take the saucepan and bowl of melted chocolate off the heat. Leave for 1 or 2 minutes. Dip the pretzels one by one in the melted white chocolate, sprinkle with the lemon zest and let them dry in a cool place on a wire rack or a sheet of baking paper.
Serve or wrap in individual little packets once the chocolate has cooled down completely and set on the pretzels.
Ingredients (make approximately a dozen depending on the size of pretzels)
100g chopped white chocolate
A dozen giant pretzels (of the hard snack kind, you can use mini versions as well for more treats to share)
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1. Fill one third of a small saucepan with water. Put over a low heat and bring the water to a simmer. Transfer the chopped white chocolate into a heatproof bowl (it should be slightly bigger than the top of the saucepan). Place the bowl over the saucepan of simmering water. Stir until the chocolate is completely melted. This method for melting chocolate is called 'bain marie'.
2. Take the saucepan and bowl of melted chocolate off the heat. Leave for 1 or 2 minutes. Dip the pretzels one by one in the melted white chocolate, sprinkle with the lemon zest and let them dry in a cool place on a wire rack or a sheet of baking paper.
Serve or wrap in individual little packets once the chocolate has cooled down completely and set on the pretzels.
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Milk Chocolate and Almond Pretzels Recipe (Vegetarian)
Ingredients (make approximately a dozen depending on the size of pretzels)
100g chopped milk chocolate
A dozen giant pretzels (of the hard snack kind, you can use mini versions as well for more treats to share)
2 tablespoons chopped almonds
1. Fill one third of a small saucepan with water. Put over a low heat and bring the water to a simmer. Transfer the chopped milk chocolate into a heatproof bowl (it should be slightly bigger than the top of the saucepan). Place the bowl over the saucepan of simmering water. Stir until the chocolate is completely melted. This method for melting chocolate is called 'bain marie'.
2. Take the saucepan and bowl of melted chocolate off the heat. Leave for 1 or 2 minutes. Dip the pretzels one by one in the melted milk chocolate, sprinkle with the chopped almonds and let them dry in a cool place on a wire rack or a sheet of baking paper.
Serve or wrap in individual little packets once the chocolate has cooled down completely and set on the pretzels.
Ingredients (make approximately a dozen depending on the size of pretzels)
100g chopped milk chocolate
A dozen giant pretzels (of the hard snack kind, you can use mini versions as well for more treats to share)
2 tablespoons chopped almonds
1. Fill one third of a small saucepan with water. Put over a low heat and bring the water to a simmer. Transfer the chopped milk chocolate into a heatproof bowl (it should be slightly bigger than the top of the saucepan). Place the bowl over the saucepan of simmering water. Stir until the chocolate is completely melted. This method for melting chocolate is called 'bain marie'.
2. Take the saucepan and bowl of melted chocolate off the heat. Leave for 1 or 2 minutes. Dip the pretzels one by one in the melted milk chocolate, sprinkle with the chopped almonds and let them dry in a cool place on a wire rack or a sheet of baking paper.
Serve or wrap in individual little packets once the chocolate has cooled down completely and set on the pretzels.
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Chocolate Truffle Pretzels Recipe (Vegetarian)
Ingredients (make approximately 20 depending on the size of pretzels)
150ml cream
1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 teaspoons caster sugar
150g chopped dark chocolate
15 to 20 giant pretzels (of the hard snack kind, you can use mini versions as well for more treats to share)
cocoa powder (for dusting)
1. Put the cream, sugar and butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat. When it is near boiling, mix well and set aside. Transfer the chopped dark chocolate into the cream mixture. Wait for 5 minutes and then stir well until the mixture is smooth. Let it cool down 3 to 5 minutes.
2. Dip the pretzels one by one in the chocolate ganache. Put them on a wire rack or sheet of baking paper. Let them set 5 to 10 minutes then dust them well with cocoa powder.
Let the chocolate truffle pretzels cool in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving. When I gave those as gifts, I wrapped each pretzel in an individual little piece of baking parchment and gave instructions those should be either eaten instantly or kept in the fridge for a couple of days.
Bon appétit and I wish you all to have a wonderful time during the end of year celebrations!
Ingredients (make approximately 20 depending on the size of pretzels)
150ml cream
1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 teaspoons caster sugar
150g chopped dark chocolate
15 to 20 giant pretzels (of the hard snack kind, you can use mini versions as well for more treats to share)
cocoa powder (for dusting)
1. Put the cream, sugar and butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat. When it is near boiling, mix well and set aside. Transfer the chopped dark chocolate into the cream mixture. Wait for 5 minutes and then stir well until the mixture is smooth. Let it cool down 3 to 5 minutes.
2. Dip the pretzels one by one in the chocolate ganache. Put them on a wire rack or sheet of baking paper. Let them set 5 to 10 minutes then dust them well with cocoa powder.
Let the chocolate truffle pretzels cool in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving. When I gave those as gifts, I wrapped each pretzel in an individual little piece of baking parchment and gave instructions those should be either eaten instantly or kept in the fridge for a couple of days.
Bon appétit and I wish you all to have a wonderful time during the end of year celebrations!
