Mint Meltaways and Mint Crunchies

I'm going to Tahoe this weekend with a bunch of friends and I'm always encouraged to bring desserts places. These are two of the chocolates that I'm bringing. I also have plans for an apple crisp and a chocolate cake.

Mint Meltaways (recipe from Chocolates and Confections: Formula, Theory, and Technique for the Artisan Confectioner)
37 oz chocolate, melted
11 oz coconut fat, melted
10 drops peppermint oil

Combine chocolate, coconut fat, peppermint oil. When I do it, I like everything to be at 90F, but I still get swirls of untempered chocolate sometimes. I use this temp gun and I melt everything in the microwave at 10-30 second intervals. Recipe calls for a 12"x12" frame, but I used two 9"x9" cake pans lined with parchment. Pour into the pan after everything's mixed and then wait for it to set. Usually overnight. After that, cut it into squares and dredge in powdered sugar. I tend to have problems cutting it without it cracking, especially when it's cold. I've found that scoring it multiple times with a smaller, sharp, thin knife yields better results.

See what I mean about the swirls?

Dredging in powdered sugar

Finished product as recipe describes

But, for those of you who know me, you know I can't do it all by the book all the time. I also dipped some in a mixture of tempered milk / dark chocolate. I use Guittard 64% dark and 38% milk couverture. Hmm, guess they don't sell the 64% online. I get it from a distributer (pacgourmet.com) since I still have a business license (if you know me you also know I tried to make a go at a silly little chocolate business called tomatette).

Mint Crunchies

This is a simple little thing that I started doing with leftover melted chocolate. After I was done melting chocolate to dip the meltaways above, I put a little peppermint oil in the dipping chocolate and threw in some rice krispies - the kind from Trader Joe's or Whole Foods that aren't mostly high fructose corn syrup. Then I spooned out little blobs.

I think these are one of my boyfriend's favorites.

Apple crisp and chocolate cake recipes to come in the next posts...

Happy making!

Comments

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