Mrs. Claus & Her Chocolate Factory

Elf #1 reporting for work.

This week Mrs. Claus gathered all of her little

elves to work in her chocolate factory so that

 all of the goodies would be ready for

Christmas.

She has always dipped the old fashioned way but

a few years ago she found this chocolate tempering

machine and now the elves can produce

fine chocolates a lot faster.

The smell of milk chocolate wafts through the factory

making Mrs. Claus and the elves very hungry.  When

you work in the chocolate factory, you are allowed

to eat as much as you like, just no licking your

fingers or double dipping.

The first day of the Christmas shift involves making the centers.

All of the elves have a say in which centers we are going

to make each year.  Each elf has his or her favorite so

many varieties are in production.

These lucious pink ones are Raspberry Creams, yum!

The second day in the factory involves dipping, tasting,

and dipping some more. (And tasting some more and some more.)

Everyone's favorite at the North Pole is the Almond Rum Balls.

These have a creamy white center that is dipped in milk

chocolate and rolled in toasted almonds.

You would be amazed how much elves can eat

when it comes to candy.  Amazingly they don't

gain weight from the chocolates.

Leonard our head chef in the kitchen and factory

keeps everyone moving.   I don't know how he

keeps his clothes clean around all of that chocolate.

Although Mrs. Claus likes Christmas cookies, her specialty

is chocolates.  She has been hand dipping chocolates

since the year after she was married to Mr. Claus.

You don't even want to know how long that is!

Other elves oversee the inventory

checking for quality.  The elves love to eat the

rejects.

Leonard counts everything to make sure there

is plenty for snacking until Christmas Day.

Leonard shows off some of this year's varieties. 

We have chocolate covered cherries

and

chocolate dipped chocolate marshmallows

dusted with powdered sugar and topped with a white dragee.

The famous Almond Rum Balls,

Lots and lots of the chocolate marshmallows.

Creamy Symphony Fudge dipped in chocolate and rolled

in crushed toffee bits.

Chocolate Covered Almonds, some dusted with Chili powder

to add a little spice to life.

And Mrs. Claus's favorite, Raspberry Creams dipped in

dark chocolate.  Unfortunately some of the female elves

also love these so they don't stay around long enough.

Mrs. Claus loves cake platters, so she stacks

three (with a little glue so tiny elves don't knock them off)

and displays the finished chocolates on them.

The elves made these for her to show her how much they

love her.  The bottom one represents Mr. Claus.

(These are his slippers for relaxing.)  Yes,

the elves caught him taking a break.

The middle one represents Mrs. Claus.

(They did pretty well on that one!)  She

likes the ceramic shoes better than hers.

And they fashioned the top platter to represent

themselves, surrounded by packages.

Eat as many as you like, Mrs. Claus will refill the platters

all through the month.

"Mrs. Claus, May I please?"

Like she could refuse those eyes!

Don't mind this little elf, he was new to the factory

this year (he is only 18 months.)

Almond Rum Balls Recipe

1 C. soft butter

1 can sweetened condensed milk

4 C. powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp. almond flavoring

1/2 tsp. rum flavoring

Beat everything together in a large mixer bowl until

creamy.  Cover and refrigerate at least overnight.

Flour your hands and the pan you will place the

balls on.  Roll small balls of fondant with floured

hands.  (It will be very stick and you have to

work fast.  Don't make them too big as you have

to cover with chocolate and nuts - about 1/2 inch

balls is good.)  Place on pan and place in freezer.

We are going to dip these frozen so that they

don't get too soft and fall apart.

You need tempered dipping chocolate for

best results, or you can use chocolate coating

if desired.

Chop the block of dipping chocolate into

rough chunks and place in a microwave safe

bowl.  Microwave for 1 minute.  Stir, EVEN

THOUGH IT LOOKS LIKE NOTHING MELTED!

This will keep the chocolate from scroching on the

bottom of the bowl.  Microwave one minute more

and stir again, microwave another minute and stir.

A large bowl of chocolate will be melted in about

3 - 3 1/2 minutes. 

Now the hard part, it has to cool to about 90 degrees

or when a drop is placed on your bottom lip

 it feels cold. 

If you don't have a chocolate tempering machine,

as most don't, place 1-2 C. melted chocolate in

a cold clean electric frying pan.  Stir around with

your hand as it cools.  Chocolate must constantly

be stirred (the machine does it for you!!!) or

the butter fat rises to the top and causes bloom

or streaks and spots.  To see if the chocolate is

cool enough, test it on your lip, use an instant

read thermometer or drizzle a little on the counter.

It must set up on the counter in between 1 and 2

minutes.  DON'T RUSH THE COOLING!

If you do, your chocolates will be streaked and

ugly.  Be patient.

Place frozen center (usually your centers aren't

frozen, but these are) in the cooled chocolate,

Cover with chocolate and lift with 2 fingers.  Shake

off the excess chocolate - about 5 or more shakes of

 your hand, then invert chocolate and let it drop off your

fingers into a plate of cool chopped almonds.  Use

your other hand to cover the center with nuts, rolling

it to cover.  Let the chocolate set up while it sits in the

nuts.  These are great for a beginner because if the

chocolate streaks you can't see it because of the nuts. 

Place the cooled chocolates on a

parchment lined pan.

When the pan is full, place in the fridge for a few

minutes to set the chocolate.

When the chocolate in the frying pan becomes too

cool to use, turn the heat on to the count of 3 then

turn it off.  Remember chocolate melts at a really

low temp. and if you leave the heat on you will

have to wait forever for your pan and chocolate to

cool down.  You can also dip out of a bowl that you

place in the microwave every so often for a few seconds

to reheat the chocolate.  Mrs. Claus used both of these

methods for years until she treated herself.

If you would like Santa or Mrs. Claus to bring you

a chocolate tempering machine this year check

out this website.  Hers is not as professional

as these look but it works well.

If it all sounds too

complicated just use the chocolate coating.

It won't be as good, but it is much easier

than working with couverture chocolate.

(Couverture chocolate can be purchased at

specialty stores or online.  Mrs. Claus uses Peters

or Merkens.)

  She also wants you to know that she

 has seen some similar cake platters at Home Goods.

On Pink Saturday this week they are sharing

favorite holiday movies.  Mrs. Claus can't help but mention

one of hers on this post,

ELF

with all of these cute little elves working at

the chocolate factory.  She especially loves

the 4 main food groups -

Candy

Candy canes

Candy corn

Syrup!

Wait, what about chocolate?

Mrs. Claus is going to go party at

Feathered Nest, Foodie Friday, Pink Saturday

Favorite Things, Seasonal Sundays,

It's a Wonderful Life, Seven Thirty Three