Homemade Chocolates: The Creamy Centers!

There are a couple of things that just need to be said:

1. My mother-in-law, Mom K, is awesome.
2. I'm glad she likes me.

Mom K has a tradition of making home-made chocolates for Christmas every year.  People, we're talking those chocolates with creamy centers and swirly designs that you match up to a guide to know what you're eating.  It's fancy!

This has been a family tradition for years--Mom K was taught by her mother-in-law (Grandma Malad), who was taught by her mother (Gigi), who was taught by her father brother.  And thankfully, Mom K offered to teach me and Lee last year how to make those creamy centers. Woot!

Bbbbuuuuuut...I can't give you the recipe. Sorry!  You have to understand--it's a family recipe and, even though the recipe doesn't come from the Italian side of the family, they are really good of taking care of people that get a hold of family secrets. (Just kidding!)  

Here's the general gist of how those creamy centers are made:

1. You measure out everything into your pot. 

 

2. You let it get to the temperature that it needs to get to.

3.  You pour it out onto a cold marble slab.

4.  You work it with a couple of spatulas till it loses it's glossiness.

5. And you flavor and color it depending on the flavor you're going for.

As easy as this laundry list seems, candy is tricky sometimes.  We learned a few things that I hope will help you if you're making your own creamy fondant centers:

• Get a candy thermometer.  Using a meat thermometer DOES NOT work, as evidenced by my rock-hard caramels that left a trail of broken teeth last year. 

• Buy your flavorings as oils, NOT extracts.  We used a bottle and a half (about 1.5 ounces) of an orange extract and it still didn't taste orange-y, just alcohol-y! When we finally bought the oils, we used 1/2 teaspoon to get what we needed!

• Start doing upper body workouts about a month before you do chocolates.  You gotta make sure you don't tire during the working of the fondant. Look at those manly arms making the fondant go from glossy to ready! Oh baby!

This year, Lee and I are going out on a limb with a couple of new flavors...

What do you think?  Are you brave enough--would you try them?