Key Lime Chocolates

Nummmmmm....

chocolate paired with creamy Key Lime -

what a perfect flavor combination for 

chocolates.  There is just something

about tart lime and chocolate!

Mrs. Claus included these on the menu

last year and this year at her chocolate

dipping factory.

(By the way, I have to thank Linda at

Life and Linda

for surprising me with that sassy

Mrs. Claus picture on my header.  What a

fun surprise to open my blog and see that!!)

This is one of our favorites

Key Lime Chocolates.

They are fashioned after

one of our favorites at

Condies, where I

had the chance to go and dip

a couple of years ago.  See that post here.

These I shaped into more of a flat 

patty and then decorated with some

chocolate jimmies and Christmas candy

toppers.

Mrs. Claus has been dipping chocolates

here at Purple Chocolat Home for 34

years now!!!  Wow, that's a lot of ten pound

blocks of chocolate that we have gone through.

Click here to learn how to melt, temper and dip

chocolates.

Key Lime Centers

1 1/3 C. water

1/3 C. light Karo syrup

1/4 C. butter

4 C. sugar

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1/8 tsp salt

1/3 C. marshmallow cream

1/4 tsp. citric acid

Green food color

6 drops lime oil

4 drops lemon oil

In a heavy 4-5 quart saucepan place the

water, Karo, butter, sugar, cream of tartar

 and salt.  Place over high heat and bring to a

boil stirring constantly.  When the syrup reaches

a boil, wash down the sides of the pan with wet

pastry brush.  You want to make sure there are

no undissolved sugar crystals left on the side

of the pan or the mixture will crystalize and

be grainy rather than smooth.

While the mixture boils, bring a small

saucepan half full of water to a rolling

boil and test your candy thermometer.

Your altitude can affect the temperature

that water boils at.  Water should boil

at 212 and here in the mountain west

mine boils at 200 so I have to subtract

12 degrees off any recipe.

Boil to 239 degrees and then pour into

a 9x13 inch pan without stirring or

scraping out the pan.  Without moving

the pan too much place it in the fridge

for about 15-20 minutes or until the

bottom of the pan is just barely warm.

Begin stirring with a wooden spoon, just

making sure to move it around.  After about

10 minutes of stirring, stir in the marshmallow

cream and citric acid.

It will

take between 20-40 minutes of stirring

until the mixture thickens and becomes

like a thick frosting.  When it becomes 

thick, knead in the food coloring and 

flavoring oils.  

Form into patties and place on a 

parchment covered cookie sheet.  

Prepare your chocolate for dipping

and then dip the centers.  Top with 

jimmies and decorating sprinkles

when the chocolate is still wet.

These will keep for several weeks.

You can also cover them tightly 

and refrigerate.

They ripen or get creamier with time.

We always make a variety of

chocolates.  I like to make the centers the day

before and then dip and dip and dip!

We dipped a few really

quickly as my missionary son, Chase

asked for the Almond Rum Balls

and since they were going to Korea,

we had to get going.  The little ones stopped

by after school.  This is little Jacquelyn

who has grown up so much.

The smell of melted chocolate fills

the house - fantastic!

Yum, bet these won't last long

around here!

Thanks for sharing in all of the

Christmas joy and fun at 

Purple Chocolat Home.

I will be posting these with

Foodie Friday