Christmas treats for the family

I am somewhat spoilt and get two Christmases every year. My mum always holds Christmas at her house a week before the actual date so that us kids don't feel pressured to travel around the countryside trying to spend time with other family and friends.

Not so good for the waistline, but good in the sense that we get to spend a whole day together as a family...twice!

I thought I'd help mum out by bringing some sweet treats along for Fauxmas this year. I decided upon chocolate dipped cookies and truffles.

You can find my recipe for sugar cookies here and truffles here.

For both of these recipes I must tell you it's incredibly important to use a good quality chocolate for dipping. I would recommend any couverture chocolate as it is more fine and smooth than regular eating chocolate, but I also found that Plaistowe from the supermarket works well.

Melting chocolate needn't be an ordeal - I always melt my chocolate in short bursts in the microwave and have no trouble. Use a thick ceramic bowl - this keeps the heat in and keeps the chocolate at a good consistency.

For my truffles I use a truffle dipper, which is a spiral shaped device that helps to get a smooth coating on your truffles. There are other methods, such as a truffle fork; however I find these messier and harder to use.

Merry Christmas to all!