Try Something New Thursday

For a long time I've been collecting recipes for the internet or from random cookbooks thinking that I would try them someday...well today is the day!!  And every Thursday for that matter.....I'm delving into my archives and picking out a new recipe to try.

I'm going to start it off right with Hot Chocolate On a Stick.  This recipe is from Giver's Log and if you haven't visited her site you are really missing out! 

The recipe is very basic....which allows lots of room for interpretation and modification.  I searched around in the pantry and found that I had enough of all of the ingredients to make about 2 batches each consisting of 8 items.  I don't have any fancy silicone molds, and I wasn't big on the idea of using ice cube trays.  What I do have is a cache of mini-muffin liners that I got on sale after Valentines Day.  So I figured that I would give them a go.  I filled one with water and found that they hold almost exactly 1oz - Perfection!!  So I filled up a mini-muffin tray with liners and got started.

The first batch is for the kiddies.  I used milk chocolate and didn't add any extras.  The second batch is for adults.  I used dark chocolate and added some coffee flavoring.

First you need to melt the chocolate.  There are a bunch of ways to melt chocolate, but I prefer the old fashioned double boiler method.  The first rule of melting chocolate is NO WATER.  Even a tiny drop of water will make the whole thing seize up.  So, if you're following along, I just told you to put your chocolate over a pot of steam, but not to get any water in the chocolate.  Life is full of challenges.

After the chocolate is melted you add powdered sugar and cocoa and whatever flavorings you like (remember no water....so no vanilla extract or run or anything like that.)  I left the kid's sticks au natural, and added about 1/4 cup of powdered espresso to the grown-up sticks.

After I added the dry ingredients, the mixture got thick...and I mean really thick.  The instructions said the use a icing bag and pipe it into your mold...but it was pretty clear that that was not going to happen. So instead I used s spoon and just plopped some of the chocolate mixture into each mini-muffin cup. 

The whole project took me about an 45 minutes.  Which means that I was able to get it done before I was informed (in no uncertain terms) that it was time for a nap.