I come bearing gifts. Yummy gifts.

Posted on Dec 29, 2009 in Crafty Goodness, Food | 1 comment

This year’s Christmas gifts were another epic undertaking [but that seems to be a common theme in all of my gifts] but the end result was utter deliciousness.

There’s something awesome about conquering a treat that otherwise seems so mysterious and difficult to achieve [there's only a matter of time before I attempt my hand at macarons!]. Everyone thinks you’re a genius and even when you tell them just how insanely easy it was, they scoff and brush it off. I mean, I tried to tell everyone just how simple these were to make [seriously: melt chocolate, chill, scoop, roll, chill, dip] and they refused to hear of it.

Anywho, this year I decided to make chocolate truffles. Oh yes, I turned my kitchen into a chocolate factory that would make Willy Wonka shake his head and scoff. Because it wasn’t that awesome. It was freezing though made for perfect conditions to work with chocolate. Oh, the truffles.

I made four different flavors:

1) White Chocolate Champagne

2) Peanut Butter [dipped in bittersweet chocolate - if I were to do this again, I'd use a semi-sweet chocolate instead]

3) Chocolate Nutella

and my absolute favorite: S’Mores. Oh yes I did.

Oh, wait. It gets better!

Why, yes that IS a marshmallow in the center! How’d it get there? It’s like magic! Or the power of smooshing two halves of the truffle around the marshmallow. This little nugget tastes so awesome that I am super sad that I don’t have any more extras. They were the first to be eaten. Oh. I would so make this over and over and over again. In fact, I think I will in the future.

Aside from the S’Mores truffles, my other favorite part of this year’s gift was the packaging. Of course. This was made simple thanks to one Martha Stewart Crafts. I stumbled upon her food packaging set at Michael’s and thought they were the cutest thing ever. I debated the merits of attempting to replicate them on the cheap but realized that when everything was said and done, there was no way I’d be able to do so any cheaper than buying them. And then fate stepped in and they were put on sale! I was SUPPOSED to use these boxes!

And I am so glad I did. They had everything I needed: boxes, inner scalloped boxes, tissue paper and those cute labels. The only additional thing I bought was the baker’s twine because I thought they needed a little something on top. Definitely a good add. My only complaint was that the corners of the bottom portion of the boxes didn’t line up as nicely as they should have and made it a bit difficult to get the top box on. You should check that out Ms. Stewart.

I am starting to look for ideas for next year. I know that I’m not always saving money by making these treats [especially when you add up the cost of quality ingredients] but I know my friends really look forward to receiving these gifts and genuinely enjoy them, which is really the only point.