Christmas Candy

Remember I mentioned that I made chocolates for Christmas in 2013? Probably not since it's been ages. But I finally remembered that I promised to tell you about the chocolates I made and miserably failed to uphold said promise, posting about only two of the half dozen candies I made. Sorry. To make up for it, I will finally tell you about the other four. All in this one post. From my least favorite (don't get me wrong I liked them all) to my favorite:

I made chocolate and walnut fudge with fleur de sel. It came out a bit dry. I'm not sure if I over-cooked the fudge or if the salt dried it out. Either way the texture was off, but the flavor wasn't. The sweet fudge with the salt and nuts was excellent in spite of the slightly crumbly texture.

I also made chocolate dipped meringues. I made coffee flavored meringues, dipped them in dark chocolate and, while the chocolate was still tacky, dipped that in toasted pecan pieces. Delicious! The only problem with these crunchy, sweet little treats is that they are on the sweet side. I like meringues, but even the best meringue (and these were the best) are a bit sweet for me. I like them, but they just aren't my favorite. The dark chocolate and pecans did help with that--and looked pretty.

I made marzipan candies. The marzipan was mixed with finely chopped apricots that had been soaked in almond liquor. Then the marzipan with the imbibed apricots gets rolled into balls and dipped in good quality milk chocolate. Oh gosh they were good! And I usually prefer dark chocolate to milk, so the fact that these beat two dark chocolate candies is a credit to how freakin' good they are.

Last and certainly not least, my homemade peppermint patties. I love peppermint patties, they are one of my favorite candies. Homemade ones are 10 times better than the storebought ones--even the good quality storebought ones like Bendicks. These were fondant mixed with a copious amount of peppermint extract, shaped into disks, and coated in bittersweet chocolate. Oh goodness. Just to make them better I topped them with a sprinkle of crushed candy cane--festive and yummy.

Merry June to all, and to all a goodnight!