It’s the end of the year already! Again…time has gone by way too quickly. It felt like it was mad rush, part 3 again when I got back from New York. I dived straight back into work and amid the nuttiness, I had to prepare for Christmas. I decided to go for something simple and hand made this year. As a Christmas gift, I made some brownies and hot chocolate on a stick. Who wouldn’t love hot chocolate and brownies? :)
I used my trusty brownie recipe, and to make it a little more festive, added some cranberries in. The hot chocolate was a lot easier to make than I thought. It is basically a thick chocolate ganache, and can also be just eaten as it is. It was the packaging that confounded me a little as the plastic cellophane bags were tiny and didn’t make it easy for me to drop the brownies in. This gift is incredibly easy (and cheap!) to make. All you need is lots of chocolate, some cellophane bags (I bought mine from Sainsbury’s), and ribbons. I love that this can be gifted at any time of the year and not just Christmas.
Hot Chocolate on a Stick (makes around 20) 250g good quality dark chocolate, chopped 150ml double cream mini marshmallows skewers, or ice cream/lollipop sticks mini cupcake silicone molds Heat cream in a saucepan until simmering but not boiling. Pour over chocolate, leave for a minute or 2 and whisk until chocolate is melted. Pour into molds and leave to set. As the ganache is hardening, insert skewers and make sure they stay straight (mine ended up crooked at and angle). Top with mini marshmallows and let ganache cool completely for a few hours or overnight. When the ganache is completely set, peel off silicone moulds.Directions for making hot chocolate
Swirl and melt the chocolate in a mug of scalding hot milk. Snuggle up and enjoy! Or skip the milk altogether and just pop in mouth! :)
Assembly of hot chocolate/brownie gift bag
Make 2 batches of brownies (1 batch makes around 16 brownies) and hot chocolates. Insert 2 brownies into each cellophane bag and a hot chocolate. Insert a piece of greaseproof paper in between each brownie and hot chocolate if desired. Tie with some ribbon and a gift tag with instructions on how to make the hot chocolate. Try not to “mistake” mouth as the gift bag…I hope you have as much fun making the hot chocolate and gifts as I did. Have a lovely new year and a wonderful year ahead!
Posted by theintrepidbaker | Filed under Brownies, Drinks, recipes