Denise says:
These are wafer thin tempered chocolates that can be decorated with your choice of dried fruit, chopped nuts, chocolate sprinkles, crystallised ginger or even hundreds and thousands.
Tempering chocolate, the process of melting chocolate has its own set of rules which result in a chocolate that is smooth with a shiny finish and satisfying snap.
Preparation Time: 20 minutes plus cooling
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Makes: 24
Ingredients:
300g dark chocolate (70%)300g good quality white chocolate
4 tablespoons chopped roasted hazelnuts
4 tablespoons dark chocolate sprinkles
2 tablespoons dried cranberries – roughly chopped
2 tablespoons pistachio nuts – roughly chopped
Method
1) Line 4 baking sheets with non-stick baking parchment paper. Break the dark and white chocolate into pieces and melt separately as follows.2) Pour a small amount of water into a saucepan and bring to a very gentle simmer.
3) Place a bowl on top and put two thirds of the amount of chocolate that you are using into the bowl. Stir gently with the spatula as it melts.
4) Add the remaining third of the chocolate to the melted chocolate and stir slowly, taking care not to over stir. This will melt into the chocolate and will also cool the chocolate slightly.
5) Test the temperature of the chocolate to make sure that you have tempered correctly. If you have a thermometer the temperature should be:
Dark chocolate: 31 – 32 C
White Chocolate: 27 – 28 C
Or another way to test the chocolate is to dip the end of the palette knife in the chocolate and set aside. If it starts to set in around 5 minutes then the chocolate is tempered and ready to use. If the chocolate does not set then it is still too hot. If this is the case, add a little more cool chocolate and stir gently.
6) Spoon heaped teaspoons of melted chocolate onto the baking sheets spreading it into discs with the back of a spoon. Scatter over your desired topping ~ chopped nuts, dried cranberries or chocolate sprinkles.
7) Set aside to cool and harden completely before removing from the parchment paper with a palette knife.
8) Store in an airtight container ~ they will keep for 4 -5 days!