Tis the season to get slightly tipsy… As you’ll know if you have tried my barmaids mince pies I’m a fan of reaching for a bit of the ‘Christmas spirits’ as the day comes closer. Why not try making these rum truffles as a present or just a nice treat over Christmas? (Warning, if they are for a present you will want to wait till the very last date you can before making as they require refrigeration and only keep for 3 days, this is usually not a problem once you’ve opened them however, all the more excuse to eat them!).
(I wrapped mine individually in cling film as they were a present for my team mates).
To make your own you will need:
*225g/8oz plain choc
*50ml/2floz double cream
*75g/3oz softened butter
*2tbsp caster sugar
*2 egg yolks
*2tbsp rum
*50g/2oz cocoa
*brown sugar (for dipping)
- Melt the chocolate with a tablespoon of water, in a bowl over hot water.
- Once the chocolate has melted let it cool a little. Take off the heat and add in the cream, butter and sugar a little at a time.
- Once the mixture has cooled add in the egg yolks and rum and beat until smooth and shiny.
- Leave to cool in the fridge for a few hours, ideally overnight.
- Pick out a ball using a tablespoon, roll it into a ball & coat with sugar. You can then put it into a foil sweet case or into cling film.
- The truffles will keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
Christmas decorations that I made.
We had a craft fair at work featuring all things that people who work with me make when they aren’t in the office. It was amazing the sheer amount of different things people do. Originally I wasn’t going to have a stall, but after getting turned down by the Christmas fair I was going to attend I found I had rather a lot of stock. These are the 4 Christmas decoration designs that I made (5 of each) and here they are hanging on my mum’s Christmas tree.
Let them eat cake! Everyone loves cake right? Well why not make a cake mix for a special someone? We are not talking shop bought, simply weight out all the dry ingredients (you can either do a straightforward sponge or add spices or flavourings), include instructions on wet ingreients needed and how to bake. Tie your instructions to the outside of the jar and label well. Your recipient now has the perfect emergency cake ready to go as soon as they need it.
There are also some stunning decorations over at the Purl Bee blog (so many project, so little time!) These are the plain version (and you’ll need the basic instruction for those if you want to make the more complex colourful ones which are here (there are some simple ones included as well).
