Mint Ganache-filled Chocolates

Yesterday, my 6-yo niece opened up my 2 bars of dark baking chocolate, and messed up the packaging enough that I couldn't re-wrap them. I was afraid of them getting dirty or eaten by mice, so I decided to make mint chocolate truffles. Then on a whim, I asked my cousin B if she happened to have chocolate molds.

The answer: YES!

Therefore, I went and made an improved version of the encased chocolates I failed at before.

This second attempt at tempering chocolate worked well. I guess it did help that I didn't get interrupted midway because dinner needed to be made and I needed to move away from the stove. I first filled the molds (half-spheres and heart shapes) with the chocolate, then upended them to form hollow shells. 10 minutes in the fridge, then I could fill them with my prepared minty ganache.

After another 5-minute nap in the fridge, I covered the bottoms of the chocolates with more tempered chocolates and let them nap some more in the fridge.

Today, I took advantage of the daylight to snap some nice pictures. The top (shell) layer of chocolate is a bit thick for my liking, but I'm really glad that they turned out so nice! And I must say, that mint chocolate ganache is pretty addicting!

Chocolate-Encased Mint Truffles

I made a batch of mint truffles at home to give to some family friends, and also to share with my family. My 5-year-old niece got involved, helping me break apart chocolate, and mixing in the cream.

For the family friends, I did not have time to coat them. In fact, I only barely managed to roll them in cocoa powder, they were so soft. My niece didn't like them coated, as the cocoa powder is pretty bitter, so she just ate the filling.

With the 2nd half of the batch, I tried to make them last a little longer, so I tried to temper chocolate for the first time. By the time my chocolate was tempered, the filling was no longer holding shape. By then, I was too tired to start over, so I just scooped portions of filling and dropped it into the chocolate. The whole thing was then laid on a sheet of baking paper. When all the filling was covered, I rolled them in cocoa powder.