How to make chocolates at home. Homemade chocolates

Candies- This confectionery made with sugar or chocolate. They can contain a wide variety of fillings: jelly, creme brulee, liqueur, nuts, jam, fudge, condensed milk, dried fruits and many others.

As for the types of sweets, there are many of them and it is not even possible to simply list them. All of them are quite accessible. By visiting the confectionery department, you can purchase almost any type of sweets. However, the dishonest attitude of manufacturers towards their products encourages them to prepare such desserts themselves at home.

But how difficult is it to make candy with your own hands? It is impossible to give a definite answer to this question. Some candies are quite simple to prepare, while others, on the contrary, require complex manipulations and enormous amounts of time and effort. So if you decide to make your own sweets at home, then, first of all, you need to study the specifics of the recipe for creating them. Only by assessing the complexity of a particular recipe can you decide on the advisability of preparing it.

The advantage of making homemade sweets is that you can avoid the use of harmful food additives, which abound in “factory-made” versions of your favorite dessert. Making your own sweets will be especially important for those who have children, as well as for allergy sufferers, because homemade sweets are not as harmful as store-bought ones, and in most cases are even useful.

How to make candy with your own hands? There is simply no general technology for preparing such delicacies, because they are all individual. Each type of candy requires not only its own set of ingredients, but also its own specific procedures. However, some general recommendations still exist.

So, for example, in the case of making chocolates, you need to be able to work correctly with the main ingredient - chocolate. Often recipes suggest melting it, without always specifying exactly how to do it. Meanwhile, Only properly melted chocolate will turn out tasty and attractive after hardening..

It is best to melt chocolate in a water bath. It should be brought to a temperature of fifty degrees, no more. But the melted treat should be stored at a lower temperature from 28 to 32 degrees. You can also use a microwave oven for melting purposes, but this must be done strictly as recommended in the recipe, otherwise the chocolate may overheat.

Chocolate that has been melted at too high a temperature will appear dull when it hardens and may also develop a white coating. A shiny, glossy surface on candies can only be achieved by using the above-mentioned chocolate melting technology.

When making sweets with your own hands, it is also important to protect the molds for them and the melted chocolate itself from the slightest moisture, since it causes this sweet product to crystallize.

As for the filling for homemade chocolates, it can be very varied. The simplest and useful options- These are nuts and dried fruits. It is best to pre-roast the nuts, because they are not as tasty in their raw form. But dried fruits must be washed with drinking water and, remembering the negative interaction of chocolate with moisture, dried thoroughly. The preparation of other filling options can be studied in the corresponding recipes.

A fairly popular type of candy among those with a sweet tooth is caramel. It can also be prepared at home. To do this, you just need to melt sugar (preferably brown cane) in a thick-bottomed cast iron or aluminum pan until liquid. Then the resulting mass is poured into molds and left until it hardens. This classic version making sugar caramel. It can be prepared in other ways with the addition of certain ingredients. However, this issue can also be studied in more detail in the corresponding step-by-step photo recipes on this site.

What candies can you make at home?

When you decide to make sweets at home, as a rule, the question always arises - what kind of sweets can you make with your own hands? The answer is very simple. Any! There are thousands of recipes for preparing these delicacies. Among them are all kinds of jelly and chocolate candies, fudge, pralines, truffles, roasted cakes, various bars, as well as caramel and candies. This list is far from exhaustive, as you can see by studying this section of the site and its step by step photos recipes for making sweets.

When starting to prepare certain sweets with your own hands, be sure to make sure you have necessary ingredients. There will be no time to run to the store while cooking! And, of course, be sure to read all the instructions for the selected recipe photo. Then soon you will be able to please your household delicious treats, prepared with your own hands.

Chin original fillings for sweets.

1. Caramel sea buckthorn-ginger filling

55 g sea buckthorn puree
15 g ginger juice
90 g cream
35 g glucose syrup
80 g sugar
25 g butter

Heat cream and juices separately. At the same time, in another saucepan, make caramel from sugar and glucose and bring it to an amber color. Gradually pour in the cream. Then puree.

Return to heat and cook until medium thick, 2-3 minutes. Cool. Pour into the housings at a temperature of 25-28 degrees C. And of course, be careful when working with caramel. Happy experimenting! And there was enough for 28 of these box truffles.

2. Truffle cinnamon-orange filling

Cinnamon-caramel ganache:
350 g heavy cream
5 g Ceylon cinnamon
25 g glucose syrup

Boil. Caramelize 65g sugar and deglaze with cream. Mix well.

For these box truffles, I cut the orange marmalade into small cubes and added it to each truffle.

500 g milk chocolate at least 31%
75 g dark chocolate
Dissolve a little and pour in cream.
75 g butter room temperature add it to the ganache and beat it with a blender. I added 10 g of Cointreau to half the ganache.
Fill the casings, place a disc of marmalade, let them stabilize and close the bottoms.

3. Lime ganache

80 g white chocolate
juice and zest of one lime
1/4 tsp. trimolina
15 g butter

Heat the juice and zest with trimoline and pour it onto the melted chocolate and mix well. Add butter and mix well again until smooth. Cool. Fill the finished cases.

4. Kahlua filling

Ingredients for 28-30 cases:
100 g white chocolate 29% Blanc Satin
110 g heavy cream infuse with 1 tsp. (with a slide) of ground coffee - strain.

The end result is 90 g of flavored cream. Heat the cream with 20 g of glucose syrup and pour it over the chocolate.

Punch with a blender. Add Kahlua liqueur 20 g through a blender. Place in a pastry bag. At 29 degrees C, deposit into the housings.

5. Banana ganache

69 g heavy cream
63 g milk
vanilla bean (I used paste)
69 g puree fresh banana
nutmeg to taste (I didn't add)
a pinch of salt
4 g lemon juice
3 g dark rum
250 g white chocolate 29%
10 g sorbitol
18 g glucose syrup

Cream, milk, vanilla, puree, salt and nutmeg, if using, and sugar until almost boiling. Pour over the chopped chocolate and beat with a blender. At 35 degrees, add rum, lemon juice. At 29 degrees, fill the capsules. Let it stabilize.

6. Olive oil-rosemary ganache

400 ml cream 33%
4 g rosemary leaves
60 g invert sugar
2 g fine sea salt
450 g dark chocolate from 66%
15 g butter at room temperature
75 ml olive oil

Heat cream with rosemary. Remove from heat, cover with cling film and leave for 2 hours. Strain through a fine sieve. Add sugar and salt to the cream and heat almost to a boil. Cool to 70 degrees C.

Dissolve the chocolate to 45 degrees C, gradually pour in the chilled cream and mix well. Add butter and stir. Gradually introduce olive oil, punch with a blender. Pour the ganache into the prepared tray. Stabilize. This ganache can be used for both slices and truffles, which is what I did. Cover with dark chocolate.

7. Mint ganache

Pleasant, for those who like mint, it is not flashy, but it smells good. Garnished with candied mint petals for a nice crunch.

225 g chocolate 65%
250 g cream 33%
15 g fresh mint leaves, clean and dry
30 g invert sugar
10 g liqueur (mint, but I have regular cloudberry)

Infuse mint leaves in cream (heat, leave overnight under film in the refrigerator). Strain, squeeze out the leaves and heat with sugar. Pour over the chopped chocolate and beat with a blender. At 38 degrees C, add liqueur and beat again. Fill the housings at 29 degrees C.

8. Mojito (the filling is absolutely bomb!)

220 g white chocolate
20 g cocoa butter
50 g lime puree
35 g cream 33%
20 g rum
30 g butter
lime zest
1-2 sprigs of mint

Melt chocolate, melt cocoa butter (if without cocoa butter the filling will be the same, but softer), heat lime puree, cream
Combine all this wealth, add soft drained butter, beat with a blender until smooth.

Pour in rum and very finely chopped mint leaves and zest, and puree with a blender. Cool and pour into chocolate case. Allow the filling to stabilize for a couple of hours and cover the bottom. I only make it in a dark chocolate body!

9. Matcha-lime ganache

150 g white chocolate
50 g cream
zest and juice of 1 lime (27 g warm juice)
15 g trimoline (inv sugar)
1 coffee spoon of matcha (2 g), depending on your taste - it was enough for me;)
15 g butter at room temperature

Heat the cream with sugar, pour it over the chopped chocolate, and stir. Add warm juice with zest, matcha tea and blend with a blender. At 38 degrees C, add oil and blend again.

Place the ganache in a pastry bag at 29 degrees C (here I usually rely on intuition, the main thing is not to melt the chocolate) and fill the prepared cases. Let it stabilize. I didn't have enough lime, next time I'll add a little more.

10. Pistachio filling

The filling turned out to be thick and with pieces of nuts, the body is made of 65% dark chocolate with the addition of milk (about 20%).

170 g white chocolate
80 g heavy cream
50 g pistachio paste (I use thick homemade one)
15 g trimoline (invert sugar)

We prepare as usual: sugar and cream, pour in chocolate, there is no butter here, because it’s not a truffle and you don’t need to keep the shape. But I want to experiment some more: make a more fluid filling... more creamy.

By the way, regarding the bottoms: my most ideal ones in this batch of chocolates are made using a transfer sheet (in my case it’s a thick file): cover the bottoms with chocolate, put the sheet and a spatula, pressing well, remove the excess and leave until complete crystallization. I don't know how correct this is - this is just my observation.

11. Mango-jasmine

Mango marmalade:
125 g mango puree
3 g yellow pectin (apple)
60 g sugar
Heat the puree to 39-40 degrees C, add pectin mixed with sugar, cook to 103 degrees C.

Jasmine ganache:
180 g cream 33%
5 g jasmine tea
150 g white chocolate 33-35%
25 g butter
15 g sorbitol
5 g dextrose

Infuse the cream with tea, bring to a boil, strain, bring the amount of cream to the specified level (during straining, some of the cream is lost). Bring the cream to a boil, pour over the chocolate, puree with a blender, cool to 30 degrees C, add soft butter.

If you want to increase the shelf life of candy and improve its properties, then sorbitol and dextrose will help you! Now they are sold in confectionery stores. They need to be added when the cream is heating, then both powders will dissolve there. Find a good, aromatic jasmine tea.

What kind of chocolate is the body made from? I only recognize the body made of dark chocolate:) it best emphasizes the charm of the filling. By the way, you can replace white chocolate with milk chocolate in ganache! I especially love Ghana at Cacao Barry.
Don’t ask how many candies this filling is enough for, I don’t know your shapes! For a lot of sweets :)

Candies in silicone molds with barabukh filling

Sweets in a basket with fillings (cream caramel, cream chocolate and cream cream).

I was buying silicone molds for cupcakes, but they are smaller than regular cupcakes (I took “1001 little things” from the joint venture); from another joint venture I ordered slabs of chocolate glaze.
I melt the chocolate (in a milk cooker), first put the white chocolate on the bottom of the mold, take it out onto the balcony for 5 minutes, then spread the dark chocolate on the walls with a spoon (so that there are no gaps) (again in the cold), it hardens very quickly. Then I fill it with fillings (also from SP), today I put caramel cream, cream + cherry jam, cream chocolate and boiled condensed milk. I make a bottom on top: I simply fill each mold to the top and again in the cold. Once it hardens, it is very easy to pull out.
You can also buy special molds for candy or silicone ice molds, but if you take ice molds, you need to look for a soft form (Ikea ones won’t work, they are very hard, you can break the candy while you take it out).

Homemade sweets a la "Raffaello" from KurnosiK

• 1 pack of corn. sticks (60 g),
• 1 can of condensed liquid milk,
• 1 bag of coconut flakes (50 g).

Grind the corn sticks through a meat grinder (blender or food processor).
Add condensed milk and mix well to form a mass from which you can roll a ball. You can put roasted peanuts inside each ball or Walnut.
Roll in coconut flakes, put in the refrigerator for a while and quickly boil the kettle. Let's enjoy delicious sweets!

Sweet "Badrinath" from Cedar

Ingredients: dates, raisins, figs, tangerine or orange juice, ground walnuts. Combine everything to form a sticky mass. Roll into balls and roll in toasted sesame seeds or coconut flakes. It is better to cool the balls a little in the refrigerator before serving. Healthy and natural!

Melt the sugar until it turns caramel and add the walnuts. Mix. The whole nut ended up in caramel. Then grind in a blender. Then add chocolate. We put this mass into molds. From the remaining chocolate I made candies with nuts and raisins.
I made homemade CHOCOLATE, but you can also use store-bought (melt it in a water bath first).
For homemade chocolate: melt 300 grams of natural cocoa butter, add 125-140 grams of cocoa powder and 100-130 grams of powdered sugar (as you like). Mix everything thoroughly and pour into molds, adding your favorite filling.

Anyone born in the 80s will understand me. Then there was just a boom in the production of domestic sucking cockerels. Dad, me and my little brother loved this process. Well, dad didn’t worry too much about the recipe, and sometimes our roosters were stringy for some reason and terribly stuck to the teeth, sometimes burnt, but it always seemed like there was nothing tastier in the world.
And now, 20 years later, my husband and I are making such cockerels for our child (or rather for nostalgia for ourselves). Again, dad is trying to lead the process. The search for those same metal molds has not yet yielded success, but we found a way out of the situation - we pour them into a muffin tin in the form of roses. And the whole family happily licks, sucks and gnaws these candies, all sweet and sticky (including the cat, which the child also wants to treat), and then together we go to wash (except for the cat, which really does not like this process).
5 tbsp. l. sugar, 3 tbsp. Bring the water to a boil and cook until the color changes; it should turn golden, but not brown. Pour into molds. Place in the refrigerator until firm. This quantity makes 6 roses.

Candies "Nostalgia" from Iranik

• 1 pack corn sticks,
• 200 gr. creamy toffee,
• crushed nuts,
• coconut flakes.

Dip corn sticks in dissolved toffee and roll in coconut flakes, crushed nuts, sesame seeds (we have it all together, the assistant did his best).

Dried fruit candies "Useful" from Lenok

• Take pitted dates
• dried apricots (smaller than dates),
• prunes (smaller than dried apricots),
• cashews (the same amount as prunes, but more is possible) - whole,
• coconut flakes for sprinkling.

Dry the cashews in the oven. While they are drying, cut the dried fruits. We cut it. Finely, about 0.5*0.5 cm. Mix everything together with cashews (whole or halves, no need to chop). Roll into balls the size of a walnut. Roll in coconut flakes. That's all!

You just need to prepare this mass, which consists of 400 g of condensed milk, 50 g of butter, 200 g of coconut.
Melt condensed milk with butter over low heat. Add coconut flakes and put the prepared raw materials in the refrigerator overnight. Take it out with your child on Sunday morning. Roll into balls. Carefully insert the almond inside (previously peeled: to do this, soak the nuts for an hour), level the ball and roll in coconut flakes or nuts (nuts taste better). The delicacy is ready.

Sweets "Gift on a stick" from Haruka

Ingredients:

• caramel barberry - 150 grams,
• dry rose petals (raw buds from tea shop) - a pinch,
• wooden sticks (skewers, toothpicks) - 30 pcs.,
• stencils heart and herringbone.

Grind the caramel into crumbs in a blender.
Grind the buds or leaves in a mortar or masher.
Mix together the caramel crumbs and crushed flowers.
Place baking paper on a baking sheet.
Then we put a stick, a stencil, pour in caramel, smooth out the edges, and only then carefully remove the stencil.
Place in a preheated oven at 180C and watch, as soon as the caramel has melted, remove. Carefully remove the candies from the paper.
We make a stencil from cardboard by drawing the desired shape and cutting it out inside.
Baking paper is best used with silicone coating, candy sticks very poorly from plain ones.
I made candies in the shape of hearts, Christmas trees and without a stencil - just circles, poured with a spoon and leveled.
For a gift, such candies can be wrapped in transparent paper and tied with a ribbon.

Candies "Nougat in chocolate" from Kedar

Awesome candy, I recommend trying it.
For the filling I used nut nougat, which I then rolled into small balls and filled with chocolate directly in the molds.
Nougat: 200 g honey + 200 g sugar + a little water - boil for 15 minutes.
Beat 2 egg whites + 20 g into a thick foam powdered sugar.
Add whites to honey. Cook until thick, stirring constantly. When the nougat begins to pull away from the walls, it means it is ready. Add medium ground walnuts. Place in a mold or on a baking sheet (after laying down paper or film), and refrigerate.
I used homemade chocolate: 300 grams of cocoa butter + 100 grams of sugar. powder + 130 g cocoa powder.

Chocolate "Truffles" from Kedar

• 100 g butter,
• 1 tbsp. powdered milk,
• ground nuts.

Melt chocolate (I made homemade chocolate) + butter + powdered milk+ nuts. Mix everything and leave to cool. Then form truffles and roll in grated cocoa or milk powder.

Nut candies in white chocolate (mine are glazed) from Varvara Plyushkin

• 150 gr. hazelnut and cashew mixture. I roasted the hazelnuts first. Finely chop the nuts.
• 70 gr. raisins, washed and dried.
• 70 gr. dark chocolate, finely crushed.
• 2-3 tbsp. l. condensed milk.
• 200 gr. white chocolate or frosting.

In a cup, mix crushed nuts, chocolate, raisins, I cut them a little.
Add condensed milk and mix well to form balls.
Make balls and put them in the freezer or outside (I have a cold corridor).
Melt the white chocolate and dip the balls into it, place it on paper and refrigerate until it hardens.

Candies with coconut flakes, Bounty type, from Varvara Plyushkin

• Coconut flakes - 3 cups.
• Condensed milk - 200 gr.
• Powdered sugar - a little.
• Vanilla essence or flavoring - 1 tsp.
• Dark chocolate or glaze - 350 gr.

Pour the shavings into a cup, add condensed milk, vanillin and mix. Add a little powdered sugar, enough to form balls, do not overdo it.
Make balls and put them in the cold.
When hardened, roll in melted chocolate (I use confectionery glaze).

• Any dried fruit, so that the total weight is approximately 300 grams. I have prunes, apples in cinnamon, pear, ranetki, raisins - 300 gr.
• Crushed, rather finely, hazelnuts and peanuts, pre-roasted - 100 gr.
• 2-3 tbsp. l. cognac, rum or liqueur. I have cognac + rum flavoring.
• approximately 200 gr. I have a lot of chocolate, I have icing.

Each dried fruit was individually ground in a blender and placed in a cup. Finely crushed nuts and cognac are also included. Mix everything well. Make balls and put them in the cold. Then roll in melted chocolate (glaze).

• 130 gr. honey.
• 400 gr. Sahara
• 50 ml. water.
• 2 egg whites
• 300 gr. almonds, pre-roasted and cooled.
• Chocolate (or frosting) - a lot.

Place honey and sugar in a saucepan and pour 50 ml into it. water. Place on the fire, let it boil, reduce the heat and cook over low heat for 10-12 minutes.
During this time, beat the whites in a cup with a mixer for the entire 10 minutes that the syrup boils.
When the time is up, the syrup should be ready. Take it and, without stopping whisking, pour in this hot syrup in a thin stream.
Then beat again for a long time, another 10 minutes, until the mass becomes very high and so viscous that it will be difficult for the mixer to turn.
So it's ready.
Pour the almonds in there and mix well quickly.
Place on a sheet covered with parchment, first grease it with a thin layer of butter, and level with a spoon.
Refrigerate for 1 hour to harden.
When it hardens, cut into pieces. Melt the chocolate.
Dip the pieces in chocolate and place on parchment, take out in the cold to harden.
Ready.

Candies "Katanias" from gattapelata

for 30-35 pieces

• 200 gr. almonds (shelled)
• 150 gr. Sahara,
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice,
• 20 gr. butter,
• 300 gr. white chocolate (it is better to take high-quality chocolate),
• cocoa powder for sprinkling (or ~150g chocolate).

Peeled almonds (peeling almonds is very simple - you need to pour boiling water over them and leave for 15 minutes in a closed container - the husks are removed from the nuts almost by themselves) pour onto a baking sheet lined with cooking paper. Place in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for about 10 minutes - in general, check often, almonds are easy to burn.
The color of the right almond is coffee with milk.
Then, while the almonds are cooling, make caramel: pour sugar into a saucepan with a thick bottom and add lemon juice. Ideally, the caramel will be the color of light honey. Quickly pour this caramel over the almonds (directly on the cooking paper - everything can be easily removed from it) and mix well. Quickly - because this is how the caramel hardens, but you need to have time to mix the almonds and, if possible, separate the almonds from each other. But don’t try too hard, most of the nuts can then be broken off from each other painlessly.
The almonds in the caramel cool down quite quickly. Next, you need to select 30-35 of the most beautiful and smooth nuts, and grind the rest in a coffee grinder or blender (I did this in a blender). There may be variations here - I wanted to make a smooth mass, even, so I ground it as finely as possible. If you like grilled meats, you can grind them coarser, of course.
Melt the chocolate and butter in a water bath and gradually add the ground nuts. The result will be a plastic mass. If it seems to you that the mass is not flexible enough, add more chocolate (remember the simple truth, it is better to take more chocolate than butter, otherwise the candies will crumble).
The chocolate-nut mixture can be put in the refrigerator for half an hour, where it will thicken a little.
Form a small ball from the nut-chocolate mixture, put almonds in the middle, and form an oval candy.
Sift the cocoa onto a flat surface, roll the candies well in cocoa on all sides, place on parchment, put in the refrigerator for about 1 hour so that they harden well.
I rolled some in cocoa and made some in melted dark chocolate. And then I put it on the wire rack to let the excess chocolate drip off.
I liked the dark chocolate ones better.

Some psychologists associate the love of sweets with instability, stress and lack of love. We, sweet tooths, will not enter into discussions with embittered people, but will simply smile and unwrap a delicious chocolate candy. Let unromantic lovers of pickles know that we are ready to give our loved one the last piece of chocolate. Sometimes we are so filled with warm feelings for our loved ones and ourselves that we can make our own chocolates at home.

Chocolate psychotherapy

New Zealand psychotherapist Murray Langham has been studying the chocolate issue for many years and even wrote several books about it. According to the author, you can determine a person’s character by his favorite type of chocolate.

Chocolate therapist Murray Langham is a qualified doctor, but for many years he worked as a chef and his conclusions have a practical basis. Landham now has his own candy company. Here are a few secrets from a hypnologist-chocolate therapist.

Candy Shape:

• If you like candy round shape, you are a sociable extrovert.
• Balanced, honest and reliable people choose squares.
• Those who prefer oval candies easily get along with people, feel great in a new society and often become the life of the party.
  • Lovers of rectangles know how to listen to their interlocutor and always remain calm.
  • Can't take your eyes off the strange candies twisted in a spiral? This shows that you are a very energetic, but disorganized person.
  • Diamonds attract those who dream of wealth.
  • Triangle people have little interest in the feelings of others, but they are easy-going.

Type of chocolate:

• Milk chocolate is created for sentimental romantics.
• Dark chocolate lovers strive for innovation in all areas of life.
• Those who prefer white chocolate are endowed with a heightened sense of justice, but at the same time they lack courage.
• Gourmets and connoisseurs of comfort cannot resist dark chocolate.
• If you are not too worried about the type of chocolate, then you are a flexible person and always ready to compromise.

Candy filling:

• Tactful people with a developed sense of style like nuts in the filling.
• Passionate and dreamy people will not refuse coconut flakes.
• Lovers of mint flavor have a vivid imagination.
• Coffee filling for the impatient.
• The reliable and faithful love sweets with orange jam.
• Spirituality manifests itself in the love of Turkish delight or jelly filling.
• Sensitive individuals will appreciate chocolate fudge.

The good thing about homemade chocolates is that you can choose the color, shape and filling yourself. Sweetness, prepared with your own hands, will allow you to express yourself and show off your culinary skills.

Secrets of making homemade chocolates

Making chocolates is not a difficult task, you just need to know a few rules:

Chocolate does not like heat and temperature changes

The room temperature should not exceed 20 o C. It is also necessary to observe temperature regime when melting chocolate, otherwise the candies will be dull and “gray”. The ideal temperature for dark chocolate is 32 o C, for milk chocolate - 30 o C, for white chocolate - 28 o C. When the candies are ready, leave them to harden at a temperature no higher than 20 o C. If the room is warmer, put it in the refrigerator for 10 minutes, but not in the freezer.

Not a drop of water

The molds must be completely dry. Water in the melted mass will cause crystallization and the candies will be spoiled.

Correct melting

Chocolate candies homemade can be made from cocoa, drops or chocolate bars without fillers. It is easier to melt drops; the tiles should be crushed by hand or rubbed on coarse grater. You can melt chocolate in the microwave or in a water bath, but in the first case it is difficult to control the temperature. It is not recommended to heat the mixture in a saucepan over a fire, as the chocolate will burn and everything will be ruined. Heat the chocolate in a bathhouse to about 45 o C and lower the temperature by adding cold drops or crumbs.

Use molds

Dry silicate or polycarbonate molds are ideal. The candies will be attractive and glossy. You can pour chocolate into the packaging left over from the finished sweets, but you won’t get a spectacular gloss. You can give it shape without molds, and provide shine with glaze.

Choice of filling

Chocolate goes well with prunes, dried apricots, nuts, nougat, ganache, and marzipan. Ganache is made from chocolate, cream, rum or cognac. Before filling, the nougat must be heated to 25 o C. Too hot a filling will spoil the chocolate.

You can also put it inside fresh berries, but it’s better to still use jam. Combined with ganache, the filling will be very tasty. Ganache does not harden like chocolate; it always retains a plastic consistency.

Storage conditions

The shelf life of homemade sweets depends on the filling. If you used dried fruits, the finished candies can be stored in the refrigerator for no longer than a month. The ganache filling may spoil faster. If the candy contains nuts, the shelf life increases, but fresh fruit filling cannot be stored even for a couple of days.

Homemade chocolate recipes

Making candies with your own hands is not difficult, it all depends on the chosen recipe and your confectionery experience. Start with the most simple recipes, and pretty soon you will be able to prepare chocolate masterpieces.

Cocoa candies “Balls”

Compound:

• 100 g cocoa powder
• 300 g dry cookies
• 250 ml milk
• 200 g butter
• 100 g walnuts
• 250 g sugar
• 50 g powdered sugar

Preparation:

1. Mix cocoa with sugar.
2. Pour in warm milk, stir and cook until the sugar is completely dissolved.
3. Grind the cookies in a meat grinder, coffee grinder or by hand.
4. Pour hot cocoa over cookie crumbs. Mix thoroughly so that there are no lumps. Leave to cool.
5. Add soft butter and knead into a homogeneous mass.
6. Form balls and roll them in crushed walnuts. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
7. Chill in the refrigerator for an hour.

These simple candies are similar to Potato cake. Even a child can prepare them, but adults and children love this delicacy.

Cocoa candies with almonds

Compound:

• 100 cocoa powder
• 100 g butter
• Half a glass of powdered sugar
• 50 g peeled and roasted almonds

Preparation:

1. Melt the butter.
2. Add powdered sugar. Gently add cocoa, stirring constantly.
3. Let the mixture cool and form the candies.
4. Place a nut in the middle of each.
5. Sprinkle with powdered sugar
6. When the candies have cooled, place them in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

Candies with condensed milk and powdered milk

Compound:

• Powdered milk - 150 g
• Boiled condensed milk - 200 ml
• Kakaya powder - 100 g
• Powdered sugar - 50 g
• Butter - 50 g
• Walnuts - 150 g
• Banana - 1 pc.

Make sweets from powdered milk at home to please yourself and your children. From this quantity of products approximately 30 candies are obtained.

Preparation:

1. Heat the oil in a water bath and dissolve the powdered sugar in it.
2. Mix with boiled condensed milk.
3. Add milk powder and cocoa. Mix the mixture with a mixer in a container with high edges. Place in the refrigerator.
4. Roast the nuts in a dry frying pan. Walnuts can be replaced with any others. Select some of the nuts for the filling, and make crumbs from the rest to roll the candies.
5. Cut the banana into slices about 2 cm thick and divide each into three parts.
6. Grease your palms with butter to chocolate mass didn't stick to my hands.
7. Take a teaspoon of the mixture and roll into balls using your palms. Flatten the ball with a flat cake, add a piece of banana and a nut. Seal and roll into a ball.
8. Roll the candies in crushed nuts and place in a cool place for several hours.

Sweets made from milk powder with banana at home will be delicious, but you don’t need to store them for a long time and cook them for future use. Sweets with fresh fruit can be stored in the refrigerator for no more than 2 days.

Prunes in chocolate

Everyone's favorite chocolate-covered prunes made at home will be even tastier. Prepare the prunes in advance: rinse, pour boiling water over them for 20 minutes, remove the pits, and place them on a board to let the fruits dry.

Compound:

• 200 g pitted prunes
• 100g dark chocolate bar
• Roasted almonds, peanuts, walnuts or any other nuts - approximately 150 g

Preparation:

1. Roast the nuts in a dry frying pan.
2. Place a nut into each swollen and dried prune.
3. Melt the chopped chocolate in a water bath.
4. Prick the prunes with a fork and dip into the chocolate.
5. Place the candies on the parchment.
6. When the first layer of chocolate hardens, repeat the procedure.

Homemade truffle sweets with drunken cherries

Compound:

• Dark chocolate (at least 75% cocoa) - 250 g + 150 g for glaze
• Heavy cream - 250 ml
• Butter - 50 g
• Dried cherries - 35-40 pieces
• Cognac – 75 ml
• Almonds or walnuts for garnish
• Cocoa - 4 spoons

Preparation:

1. 12 hours before preparing the sweets, pour cognac over the cherries and cover with a lid or film.
2. Grind the chocolate.
3. Boil the cream, add the chocolate and stir until it has dissolved.
4. Add butter, cool and refrigerate for several hours.
5. Remove the cherries from the cognac and dry them with paper towels.
6. Roll the cold chocolate mixture into balls the size of a walnut. Place a cherry in the middle.
7. Place the finished candies on a plate and refrigerate for 10-15 minutes.
8. Chop the peeled and toasted nuts. Finely chop the remaining cherries.
9. Melt the chocolate for the glaze in a water bath and let it cool.
10. Prick the truffle onto a fork or skewer, dip into the cold glaze, place on a wire rack and garnish with nuts and cherries.
11. There is not enough glaze for all the candies; roll the remaining ones in cocoa. On one dish or in a box, candies with different surfaces will look interesting.
12. Ready truffles should cool in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Truffles made from cocoa and milk powder

Compound:

• Glass of sugar
• 100 ml cream
• 100 g butter
• Egg white - 1 pc.
• Cocoa - 100 g + 25 g for sprinkling
• Powdered milk - 100 g
• A tablespoon of powdered sugar and crushed nuts for sprinkling

Preparation:

• Add sugar to the cream, heat over low heat and cook for three minutes.
• Remove from heat, add butter, milk powder and cocoa. Stir until smooth.
• Beat the chilled whites into a thick foam.
• Mix with chocolate mixture and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes. During this time the mass should thicken. After that, put it in the refrigerator.
• Mix a sprinkle of crushed nuts, powdered sugar and cocoa.
• Form the candies into traditional truffle mounds or balls. To prevent chocolate from sticking to your palms, grease them with butter. If desired, you can put filling in the middle of each candy.
• Truffles should stand in a cool place for several hours.

Candy "Bird's milk" at home

Everyone knows delicious sweets from childhood. " bird's milk", cooked with your own hands, will be even better, although you will have to tinker.

Compound:

• 180 g sugar
• 150 g condensed milk
• 100 g butter
• 3 egg whites
• 15 g gelatin
• 100 ml water
• 300 g dark chocolate

Preparation:

1. Pour water over sugar and gelatin and place on low heat. Stir until everything is dissolved. Do not bring to a boil.
2. Beat the warm butter with a mixer, gradually adding condensed milk.
3. Beat the whites into a thick foam.
4. Pour gelatin into the whites in a thin stream and continue whisking.
5. Add condensed milk with butter. Beat until smooth.
6. Pour the mixture into molds and place in the refrigerator for 3 hours.
7. Melt the chopped chocolate in a water bath and cool to room temperature.
8. Prick the frozen soufflé onto a fork and dip it into chocolate. Place the candies on a plate.
9. Bird's milk will be ready when the chocolate hardens and becomes hard.

The idea of ​​making truffle sweets or “Bird's milk” at home may seem strange - the choice of chocolate in stores is huge. Each chocolate maker has her own arguments - some like to invent own recipes and find new tastes, others want to be sure of the composition of the products, and still others are not satisfied with the traditional design of sweets. Experiment and delight yourself and your loved ones!

Buying real chocolate candies in stores is an almost impossible task. If you start studying their composition, the content of cocoa beans and butters will occupy tenth positions. But the concentration of sugar in them is prohibitive. There is only one way out - to make chocolates with your own hands at home. The process of making them is simple; it involves regular chocolate bars, pieces or drops. A cheaper equivalent could be cocoa powder.

How to make homemade chocolates: nuances

A homemade delicacy will be a source of pride if you know a couple of secrets on how to make chocolate candies. It is permissible to use any type of tile as a base. You just need to remember the difference in the melting temperature of the chocolate component:

• bitter and dark – 32 degrees;
• dairy – 30;
• white – 28.

The base for chocolate candies must be of a homogeneous structure; porous products and products with fillings will not be suitable (they will not be able to melt properly).

Note! You can heat the chocolate bar in the microwave or in a water bath. However, confectioners increasingly began to choose a method with hot water(when the broken product is placed in a sealed bag and immersed in a well-heated liquid). This melting method allows you to 100% avoid curdling of the chocolate base due to overheating.

Homemade sweets will turn out perfect if you follow a number of subtleties:

1. In the room where they cook chocolate dessert, it shouldn't be too hot. The optimal temperature is 20 degrees. It is in such conditions (and not in the cold) that chocolates should harden. If additional cooling is unavoidable, then homemade sweets can be kept on the warmest shelf of the refrigerator for no more than 10 minutes.
2. For molding chocolate products Any container will do, but it is better to use a silicone version (the candy is easier to remove from them and does not acquire a white coating during the cooling process).
3. The mold into which you plan to pour the chocolate mass must be completely dry. Otherwise, oil crystallization processes will start, and the candies will be irrevocably damaged.
4. If you don’t have suitable molding containers on hand, you can mold the chocolates by hand and then glaze them.
5. Do not allow liquids to boil during cooking.

When it comes to fillings, there is also room for your imagination to run wild, because you can make so many goodies from chocolate. Most often, the following are used as candy fillers:

• nuts (almonds, peanuts, pistachios, cashews, walnuts);
• dried fruits (prunes, figs, dried apricots, raisins);
• nougat;
• fresh berries, fruit or jam;
• marzipan;
• alcohol;
• coffee or other cream;
• jelly;
• Turkish delight;
• coconut shavings;
• spices and spices (mint, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom, vanilla).

Or you can mix the fillings and get exclusive designer products at the end self made.

DIY homemade chocolate candy recipes

It is better to start mastering the recipe for homemade chocolates with the most simple ways cooking. In order not to spoil the products, it is recommended to move on to more complicated options only after your hand has become sufficiently familiar with basic techniques.

Quick candy

The simplest cooking method involves using cocoa, sugar and butter. The result of mixing will be an aromatic chocolate mass with a rich taste, which, if desired, can be supplemented with aromatic additives.

Ingredients:

• cocoa powder – 250 g;
• sugar – 120 g (if you need slightly bitter sweets, reduce the amount of sweetener by half);
• melted butter and water - 150 ml each;
• flour – 30 g (if desired, can be replaced with an almond analogue or ground oatmeal);
• milk – 100 ml.

Cooking technique:

1. Mix butter and cocoa until smooth and shiny.
2. Heat the water well (no need to boil).
3. Dilute the chocolate base in hot liquid, add milk, sugar and flour. Stir so that there are no lumps.
4. Line the mold with cling film (if it is not made of silicone) and pour out the sweet mass.
5. Give the workpiece time to harden. Due to the lack of chocolate in the composition, homemade cocoa chocolates must harden in the freezer for 2 hours. It is also better to cover the top of the mold with cling film, otherwise the products will acquire an unpleasant odor.

At the end, the chocolate dessert is simply cut or broken into individual candies and enjoyed with your favorite delicacy.

Almond treat

Making cocoa candies can be made a little more complicated by using almonds as a filling. The mass is initially denser than in the previous recipe, so the dessert requires less time to harden.

Ingredients:

• cocoa and butter - 100 g each;
• roasted almond kernels – 50 g;
• powdered sugar – ½ tbsp.

Cooking technique:

1. Soften the butter until liquid.
2. Combine the powder with cocoa and pour the oil base into them.
3. Stir the mixture and let it cool slightly. When it becomes thicker, make round candies, placing 1-2 almonds in the center of each.
4. Sprinkle if necessary. Chocolate or coconut shavings, crushed nuts, marzipan or confectionery sprinkles will do.

Before tasting, handmade sweets must be refrigerated for 2 hours (but not in the freezer).

Homemade truffles

The second most popular candy recipe imitates the truffle aftertaste. Cooking is so simple that you can involve children in it.

Ingredients:

• maximum dark chocolate (which you can find) - 1 bar;
• cocoa powder for sprinkling - 3 tbsp;
• powdered sugar – 60 g;
• 35% cream – 70 ml;
• chopped nut mix of cashews and almonds - 2 tbsp. (at your look);
• cognac – 1 tbsp. (optional).

Cooking technique:

1. Finely break the chocolate (try to make the fragments approximately the same size) and melt in any way.
2. Dissolve the powder in the cream and heat it.
3. stopping the operation of the device. If children will not eat the candy, add cognac.
4. Leave the mixture to partially set. Typically the process takes 3 hours at 20 degrees or 1 hour in the refrigerator.
5. When the mass acquires the consistency of dumpling dough, roll it into balls with wet hands. If desired, nut filling is added at the same stage.

The final touch is to roll the candies in cocoa and let them stand in the refrigerator for another 1 hour for final hardening.

"Drunk Cherry"

The combination of cherry sourness with a chocolate base is a classic, and candies are not spared. You don’t have to buy the products in gift boxes to enjoy them. They are easy to make yourself.

Ingredients:

• concentrated dark chocolate (from 75%) – 250 g (plus 160 g for coating);
• cocoa – 4 tbsp;
• heavy cream – 1 cup;
• cherries (it is better to take dried ones, when the candies will last longer) – 37 pcs.;
• cow butter – 50 g;
• cognac or rum – 70 ml;
• nuts for decoration - to taste.

Cooking technique:

1. Soak the cherries in alcohol at least 12 hours before cooking. The container with them must be sealed with a lid or covered with film.
2. Finely break the chocolate.
3. Heat the cream and pour the resulting chocolate pieces. Stir until the sweet base is completely dissolved.
4. Add soft butter to the mixture and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
5. Remove the cherries from the infusion and pat dry with a towel to remove unnecessary bitterness.
6. Roll balls of the same size from the chocolate base and place 1 berry inside.
7. Keep the candies cool for 15 minutes.
8. Lightly fry the nut crumbs and finely chop the remaining cherries.
9. Melt chocolate for glaze. When it has cooled, pour some of the candy over it and sprinkle with the nut and berry mixture.
10. Roll the remaining products in cocoa.

Bring chocolate balls until desired condition in the refrigerator for another hour. Handmade cherry candies are so impressive that they are suitable for gifts.

Prunes in chocolate

Especially delicious dessert obtained from dried fruits, doused chocolate icing. Such sweets will not affect your figure if you use tiles of bitter varieties.

Ingredients:

• prunes steamed in boiling water, peeled from kernels - 200 g;
• nut mixture – 150 g;
• concentrated dark chocolate – 100 g.

Cooking technique:

1. Peel the nuts and dry them in a dry frying pan.
2. Stuff each prune with nuts.
3. Melt the chocolate and dip each prune in it.
4. Place the glazed pieces on parchment and let the chocolate set. Then pour over the prunes again.

By the way! Dried apricots and figs in chocolate are prepared using a similar procedure. It is not necessary to stuff dried fruits.

Then the candies will turn out softer and juicier. Instead of the classic dark chocolate filling, you can use a milk or white type of coating.

Mint chocolate truffles from Gordon Ramsay

British chef Gordon Ramsay offers his own variation step-by-step preparation chocolates.

Ingredients:

• dark 70% chocolate – 500 g;
• diced butter – 130 g;
• heavy and regular cream - 250 ml each;
• liquid honey – 130 g;
• fresh mint - a small bunch;
• cocoa, chocolate chips, nut crumbs, crushed cookies - for deboning.

Cooking technique:

1. Lightly crush the herb with a rolling pin until it begins to release its aromas.
2. Place the greens in the cream and heat for 5-6 minutes.
3. Pour chocolate pieces, honey and butter into a saucepan, pour cream into them.
4. Take out the mint and start mixing the mixture until the solid fragments are completely dissolved.
5. Place future homemade chocolates in molds and refrigerate for 1-1.5 hours.
6. Make 4 types of toppings (cookies, cocoa, nuts, chocolate).
7. Each candy is rolled in a certain type of crumbs.

The finished sweets are cooled again. You can store chocolates for no more than 4 days.

Option with condensed milk

Multilayer filling can be present not only in store-bought chocolates. There is a way to make this dessert at home.

Ingredients:

• cocoa – 100g;
• powdered milk – 150 g;
• ripe banana – 1 pc.;
• powder and butter - 50 g each;
• boiled condensed milk – 200 ml;
• peeled walnut kernels – 150 g.

Cooking technique:

1. Dissolve powdered sugar in steamed oil.
2. Gradually introduce condensed milk, milk and cocoa powder. Beat the mixture with a mixer and refrigerate to set.
3. Dry the nuts in a frying pan. Grind some of them into crumbs, leave the rest for filling candies.
4. Cut the banana into slices, each of which is additionally divided into 3 parts.
5. Remove the slightly hardened chocolate component from the refrigerator and form it into cakes.

Place a piece of banana and a nut in the center. Pinch the edges.

All that remains is to roll the products in nuts and let them harden. You need to store chocolates at home in the refrigerator. Those present in the composition fresh fruits reduce shelf life to 2 days.

How and how long can you store homemade sweets?

It’s hard to dream of storing homemade chocolates like store-bought counterparts for months. The problem is that homemade dessert does not contain preservatives and is completely natural. Therefore, the maximum possible shelf life of homemade chocolate products does not exceed 1 month, and even then only if placed in a cold place.

This rule applies to chocolate masterpieces that do not contain fruits or berries. The presence of fresh inclusions immediately reduces the storage period to 2 days.

• the optimal storage temperature for sweets is 15-18 degrees above zero (lower values ​​worsen the taste of chocolate products);
• direct impact sun rays and high humidity destroy useful qualities product, so chocolates should be protected from them;
• It is better to pack the candies hermetically (this way they will not be able to absorb foreign odors and will remain fresh longer).

You can identify chocolates whose expiration date has passed by external signs. Due to the gradual loss of moisture, they decrease in size. If visually everything is fine with sweets, but the taste has acquired an atypical sourness or bitterness, in order to avoid food poisoning, you shouldn't eat them.

An inexperienced housewife can make her own chocolates at home. No special skill is required when preparing. It is enough to choose fresh ingredients and follow general recommendations.