The End of Matt's Valentines Week!

As I mentioned before, the chocolate covered berries weren't Matt's only present! Since we're both poor and I couldn't buy him much, I decided to make him some personalized chocolates!

One of his favourite things in chocolate is citrus, so I decided to play off of that. The ones I made for him were Lime-Clementine flavoured!





Now, I'm not one to supply only one flavour choice, and since I had 500g of chocolate, I made three choices; the Lime-Clementine that I discussed above, Raspberry jam cups, and Cardamom Rosewater!

For a while I contemplated hand making the chocolate itself, but I wasn't able to find the raw cocoa butter that I would need if I didn't want to hand grind the cocoa beans myself! 


In the end, I settled upon simply flavouring the chocolate. This recipe is quite like the one for the chocolate covered strawberries, as there really isn't one! 


I prefer using more natural ingredients, so instead of using flavour essences, I used the actual flavour. Using the essence for things like citrus would be a lot easier, as the reaction of the acid with the chocolate thickens it.


So!  Here's the method to my madness.

Melt the chocolate at 30 second intervals, or in a bain marie.
If you are going to be adding sugar, put it in before the chocolate has fully melted, as this will help it dissolve easier. Again, I suggest using fruit sugar so that it dissolves easier. 
Next, you have to prepare your flavour. If using citrus, i suggest rolling it under your palm a bit before cutting it open to get the juices flowing.
Take the melted chocolate off the heat, and add the flavours.* For my first batch, i put in the juice of 1/3 of a lime and a whole clementine.
The next flavour was the Cardamom Rosewater. To get the cardamom to be softer (I used the seeds you find inside of the pods, but grounded works well too), I soaked it in the rosewater for 25 minutes.
Pour into the moulds, and let set in the fridge for 2 hours.


*If you are going to be filling cups, then  this is what you should do : 
Fill up 1/3 of the cup with chocolate, and put in the freezer for 5-10 minutes, until almost completely set. 
Spoon a small amount of your filling into the CENTRE of the mould. Do not let it touch the sides

When all the moulds have the filling, cover with chocolate, making sure that none of the centre filling can be seen.
Let set in the fridge for 2 hours.

Setting times may vary depending on the size of your mould and the temperature of your fridge/ freezer. 


Suggestions : 

Play with flavours! Some of the best combinations are the weirdest sounding, like Orange and Geranium. Be creative, you never know what might be delicious!a