MANDY - Wow .. that shop sounds Wonderful lol .... I must admit when I was visiting family in Canada I was in drool mode most of the time seeing so many things I had never seen before in the grocery stores and little shops .... I came back with so many Halloween decorations and goodies (best time of year to be there lol) I had to pay extra for my bags!! (admittedly it wasn't just halloween things .. I sorta got carried away .. even bought back a BIG tin of maple syrup for my dad lol). I got a wonderful surprise in the store the other day .. they have started importing some things and they had marshmallow in a container (been looking for this for ages) AND CANNED PUMPKIN!!! Soooo often I have wanted to make pumpkin pie and darned if I kept getting given recipes which called for a can or 2 of pumpkin .. Im like dang .. we dont have that here .. now .. I have found some!! Not sure if that is a good thing though lol .. I fell in love with this pie when I was in Canada and had it for the first time.
As for the truffles they are ridiculously easy to make ..
1 packet of plain biscuits .. I use ones called Griffins Superwines or Arnotts Nice ... but I think Graham Crackers are the same sort of thing? For each batch I use 10-12 biscuits. Finely crush them with a rolling pin (or in a blender - but the rolling pin is a good workout lol).
50g Butter (melted)
2-3Tbsp Milk ... now this is where the kahlua gets in lol .. I tend to use kahlua instead lol ..
75g Icing Sugar (I think this is called Confectioners Sugar?)
All I do is mix the crumbs, melted butter, sugar and kahlua together until it forms a ball, then I wrap it in cling film (trying to remember what others would call glad wrap lol or plastic wrap ) and put it in the fridge for about 30-40 minutes until its firm. Then I use a melon baller to scoop out the size balls that are just the right size I think.
Melt some chocolate and dip them in, then leave them to set on a lined tray. Once set dip again if you think its needed.
For the Lemon or Raspberry ones .. same amount of Sugar, Crumbs and Butter, but add in the Milk and then 2-3tsp of Lemon or Raspberry extract. I also like to add Lemon Rind to the lemon ones or a soft chewy raspberry lolly as a centre for the other ones .. or chopped up in it lol .. and then I dip them in the White Chocolate that I melt .. I think white chocolate goes well with these flavours .. dark chocolate for Kahlua or other liqueurs (I love using Cointreau as well for a lovely Orange Chocolate flavour - a fave with hunny lol ... or a Peppermint Liqueur for an after dinner mint type).
For Choc Coconut ones - add 1tsp of Dark Cocoa and 1Tbsp of Coconut, with maybe a little Chocolate sauce or even a Chicory essence if you want a chocolate/coffee flavour ... and these ones I like in a milk chocolate.
Honestly the flavours you can add to the basic 3 ingredients (Biscuits, butter and sugar) can create some incredible flavours .. and you dont have to dip them in chocolate either .. you can roll in nuts, coconut, cocoa, chocolate hail, 100s and 1000s.
For the Oreo ones I change it a little more but its a more fiddly mix to work with .. about 30 Oreo cookies (I like to mix chocolate and original cream ones) blitzed in the blender, mix in softened cream cheese (I use about 3/4 of a 250g tub), I add in some dark cocoa (about 1tsp) and 1-2tsp of Vanilla (usually 1tsp if Im using Vanilla Paste instead of essence). This is a really wet mix, so I put it in the fridge to chill for an hour or so .. then still wettish I scoop out balls and put them on lined trays then put those trays in the freezer for at least 3-4 hours so they harden enough to be able to dip in the chocolate. These give you a soft centred truffle - I have used this centre in my chocolate moulds too - putting a layer of chocolate in and fill with the oreo ..
Anyway .. enough of that .. sorry peeps .. hope you are getting naughty cravings after all that lol .. Love to bake .. but happily even more love for giving it all away
Busy weekend coming up .. so better get to bed lol ..
Hugs all .. will try to catch up more later
Oh and WAHOO on our new members .. great attitudes and some lovely figures showing up on the boards too