Hey everyone, it’s Kayli! 🙂
I love giving gifts. Especially the edible kind, just a little something sweet to let someone know I’m grateful for them. Christmas is the perfect excuse to do just that.
This is my first year with ACTUAL neighbors, {who are completely fantastic and definitely deserved a little acknowledgement} so I needed a quick, cheap and, cute something to give.
Since pretty much anything chocolate covered is a good idea, and candy canes are a season staple- I thought I’d give the combination a try. The result? Sweet success. 🙂
So here’s a quick tutorial on a treat for the wonderful people in YOUR life.
This is my first year with ACTUAL neighbors, {who are completely fantastic and definitely deserved a little acknowledgement} so I needed a quick, cheap and, cute something to give.
Since pretty much anything chocolate covered is a good idea, and candy canes are a season staple- I thought I’d give the combination a try. The result? Sweet success. 🙂
So here’s a quick tutorial on a treat for the wonderful people in YOUR life.
Things you’ll need:
- 1 bag of milk chocolate chips
- 1 bag of white chocolate chips
- A thermometer to temper your chocolate
- Candy canes (as many as you want to give away- but keep in mind you only have so much chocolate, so you might need to melt more if you have lots to give!)
- Parchment or wax paper
- Extras (sprinkles, bags, etc.)
{I think after everything it cost around 11 dollars for the whole process. (not counting the thermometer) Not bad for seven bags of goodness!}
First things first- you need to get your candy canes unwrapped and your parchment paper down. Once you start your chocolate, things will move pretty fast and you’ll need to be ready.
Once that’s done, you’ll need temper your chocolate.
This is SUPER easy and it really does make all the difference in the world when you need to dip something. I started by putting 3/4 of the bag of milk chocolate chips in a coffee mug. (So I would have enough depth to dip.)
You’re going to microwave the chocolate in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until the chocolate reaches about 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Once it gets good and hot, take it out and let it cool to around 100 degrees. Once it’s cooled, add the rest of the chocolate and reheat to 100.
Once that’s done, you’ll need temper your chocolate.
This is SUPER easy and it really does make all the difference in the world when you need to dip something. I started by putting 3/4 of the bag of milk chocolate chips in a coffee mug. (So I would have enough depth to dip.)
You’re going to microwave the chocolate in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until the chocolate reaches about 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Once it gets good and hot, take it out and let it cool to around 100 degrees. Once it’s cooled, add the rest of the chocolate and reheat to 100.
What you’ll end up with is a cup of shiny chocolate, ready for your candy canes! {Make sure you’ve let it cool to about 100 or your canes will crack in the heat.} I dipped my mine individually, bend down- just for appearance.
Then I put them on the paper.
Then I put them on the paper.
You might have to reheat your chocolate if you have a lot of canes- just pop it in the microwave for about 15 seconds, then stir, and check the temperature to make sure you’re back to 100.
Once I got them all dipped and laid out, I put sprinkles on a few while the chocolate was still wet. Then I left the rest to be drizzled with white chocolate once the milk chocolate had hardened.
Once I got them all dipped and laid out, I put sprinkles on a few while the chocolate was still wet. Then I left the rest to be drizzled with white chocolate once the milk chocolate had hardened.
|
| Pretty, no? |
Let your canes sit until the chocolate is firm.
Then repeat the tempering process with your white chips.
Drizzle your white chocolate over the milk chocolate and let set. Once the white chocolate was firm, I pulled the canes from the paper and placed them in fun holiday bags, ends down.
I put about four in each bag since the families on our street are small and have four or fewer members. At least one cane for each person in the family would be great.
|
| I need to work on my drizzling skills. 😉 |
|
| The Final Product |
And that’s it!
The clean up wasn’t bad and I ended up with an inexpensive but very sweet stash of gifts. If you try them, be sure to comment and let us know how it went!
The clean up wasn’t bad and I ended up with an inexpensive but very sweet stash of gifts. If you try them, be sure to comment and let us know how it went!
Happy Dipping!
Yum!! So cute!!
Kelli
http://www.theinspiredcollection.blogspot.com
cute idea, cute packaging! they look delish….lucky neighbors!
They look so nice all packed up! And I totally agree, everything covered with chocolate is yummy!!
Kayli, won't you be my neighbor? These look delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Carlee
http://www.ladybirdl.com
Those look DELICIOUS!!! Your drizzle skills are so bad!! You should see my cookie icing skills! OH WAIT! You can't, cuz I ain't posting that nitemare!! LOL! I love when you have time post, Kayli!! 🙂
So cute! Featuring YOU tomorrow over on my blog at 11. Thank you so much for linking up to {wow me] wednesday last week. Have a happy new year!!
Ginger @ gingersnapcrafts.com