ČOKOLADNA KEMIJA / CHOCOLATE CHEMISTRY

Po zelo uspešni proizvodnji domačih pralin prejšnji vikend sem želela poiskati kakšne nove recepte za te dobrote.
Na žalost nisem bila kaj prida uspešna. Večina receptov je samo stopljena čokolada, ki se jo vlije v modelčke. Jaz pa sem želela nekaj domiselnega in drugačnega.

Pa sem se odločila poskusiti kar sama, s sestavinami, ki so mi všeč. Saj ne more biti tako težko. Kaj pa bi šlo lahko narobe?

Kaj kmalu sem ugotovila, da gre lahko kaj narobe.

S čokolado nimam dosti izkušenj (razen, da sem jo veliko pojedla in da jo uporabljam v pecivu) in zato ne poznam njenega obnašanja pri dodajanju različnih sestavin.

Začetek je bil obetaven - uporabila sem mešanico samih dobrih čokolad z visoko vsebnostjo kakava, jih stopila in dodala mandljev krokant.
Še vedno vse krasno.

Za boljši okus sem se odločila dodati dve veliki žlici pomarančnega likerja Cointreau.

In sem bila v težavah. V trenutku se je tekoča čokolada spremenila v lepljivo gmoto, ki nikakor ni bila primerna za vlivanje v modelčke. Okus je imela sicer božanski, izgled pa rahlo manj.
Ker sem se namenila delati bombone v modelčkih in ne pralin oblikovanih v kroglice, sem to neugledno maso pač natlačila v modelčke in upala na najbolje.

Končni rezultat ni seveda izgledal nič bolje kot sama masa, dober okus je pa ostal.

Na moje veliko veselje sem se že na začetku odločila, da polovico mase naredim brez alkohola in sem tako imela dovolj sestavin, da sem naredila še nekaj pralin lepšega izgleda.

Očitno se bo potrebno še česa naučiti!

After a very successful production of home-made chocolates last weekend I wanted to find some new recipes for these goodies.

Unfortunately, I didn't have much success. Most of the recipes I found were just melted chocolate poured into molds. But I wanted something different.

So I decided to give it a try myself, with the ingredients that I like. It can not be that hard. What could go wrong?

I soon realized that things can go wrong.

I do not have much experience with chocolate (except that I ate a lot of it over the years and that I use in it pastries) and therefore I do not know how it behaves when adding different ingredients.

The beginning was promising - I used a mixture of different good quality chocolates with high cocoa content. I melted them and added almond crocant.

Everything was great.

For better taste, I decided to add two large tablespoons of orange liqueur Cointreau.

And I was in trouble. When I added the alcohol the melted chocolate turned into a sticky mass, which was is no way suitable for pouring. The flavor was superb, but the appearance slightly less.

Since I wanted to make chocolates in molds and not truffles, I packed the sticky mass into molds and hoped for the best.

The end result is still awful, but they at least taste good.

I was glad that I previously decided to make half of the chocolates without alcohol. So I had enough ingredients at hand to make a batch of pretty chocolates.

I guess I still have some learning to do.

DOMAČE PRALINE / HOME MADE CHOCOLATES

Zadnje čase kar malo zapostavljam svojo zvesto pečico in pripravo peciva. Novembra in decembra je bila skoraj dnevno v uporabi, zdaj pa kar nimam navdiha za pečenje. Mogoče tudi zato, ker se trudim odložiti kakšen kilogram, če pa je doma sveže pecivo, se mu težko uprem.

Danes imamo posebno priložnost, ki je klicala po nečem domačem in odločila sem se pripraviti domače praline, ki so drugače že nekaj let na decembrskem prazničnem repertoarju. Pa še priprava je preprostejša in hitrejša kot kakšna torta, rezultat pa božanski. Zdaj, ko imam še posebne silikonske modelčke za praline, je tudi izgled skoraj profesionalen.

SESTAVINE:
250g lešnikovega nugata
150g mlečnega preliva za torte (ali čokolade)
80g temnega preliva za torte (ali čokolade)
20g nesladkanih praznih vafljev
40g sladkorja
40g olupljenih mandljev

Mandlje rahlo prepražiš v ponvi, sladkor v kozici stopiš do zlate karamele, dodaš mandlje in dobro premešaš (PAZI ZELO VROČE!). Z žlico razporediš na rahlo naoljen pekač in pustiš, da se ohladi.
Hladno karamelo in vaflje na drobno zmelješ.
Na vodni kopeli stopiš nugat ter oba preliva in v stopljeno maso vmešaš zdrobljeno karamelo in vaflje. S tekočo maso previdno napolniš modelčke in daš v hladilnik, da se dobro strdi.
Če nimaš modelčkov, lahko kakšen model za peko obložiš s folijo, vliješ maso in jo, ko se strdi, razrežeš na manjše koščke

Lately I am neglecting my oven and pastries making. In November and December it was almost daily in use, but now I am lacking inspiration for baking. Maybe because I'm trying to loose some kilograms and if there are fresh pastries available, it is difficult for me to resist.

Today there is a special occasion that called for something homemade and I decided to prepare homemade chocolates, which I always make for holidays in December. And it is even simpler and faster to make them than any cake. The result is heavenly and now that I have special silicone molds for chocolates they look almost professional.

 

INGREDIENTS:

250g hazelnut nougat

150g milk chocolate

80g dark chocolate

20g unsweetened empty waffle

40g sugar

40g blanched almonds

Lightly roast the almonds in a pan, melt the sugar in a saucepan to golden caramel, add almonds and mix well (TAKE CARE, IT IS VERY HOT!). With a spoon spread on a lightly oiled baking tray and leave to cool.

Crumble the cold caramel and waffles.

In a water bath melt nougat and both chocolates. Stir in caramel and waffles and carefully fill the molds. Put in the fridge to harden.

If you do not have molds, take any baking tray, cover with aluminum foil, spread the chocolate and cut in to pieces when hard.

PIKA IN ANICA / PIPPI AND ANNIKA

V naši hiši smo spet šivali pustne maske.

Čeprav sama nad pustom nisem ravno najbolj navdušena, se skušam potruditi za otroke, da se lahko zabavajo.
Manumajček se je letos odločil, da je že prevelik za maškaranje, Manumajčici pa sta si izbrali precej enostavni maski - Pika Nogavička in Anica.

Za Anico mi ni bilo potrebno nič šivati, samo en meter satenastega traku za pentljo v laseh in roza obleke iz omare (ki nam jih res ne primanjkuje).

Piki pa sem v skladu z opisom njene garderobe v knjigi sešila rumeno obleko in modre hlačke z belimi pikami. Ostalo pa smo nabrali po hiši.

I was sewing costumes again.

I am not a big fan of masquerade myself, but I try to do my best for the children so they can have fun.

Manuboy decided this year that he was too old for dressing up. Manugirls luckily chose very simple costumes - Pippi Longstocking and Annika.

For Annikaa I did not have to sew anything. I just bought one meter of satin ribbon and put it in her hair and took some pink clothes out of the closet (which we have in abundance).

For Pippi I stayed true to the description in the book and made a yellow dress and blue shorts with white polka dots. The rest was gathered around the house.

OBLEKICE ZA KINDL-A / KINDLE COVER

Naša družina je znana po tem, da vsi radi beremo. Še posebno Manumajček.
In da na dopust tovorimo nenormalno velike kupe knjig.

Rešitev bi bila Kindle, težava je samo v tem, da zanj ne obstajajo knjige v slovenščini oz. da Manumajček zaenkrat še ne bere knjig v tujih jezikih.
Dokler se eno ali drugo ne spremeni smo obsojeni na cele potovalke knjig.

Ne glede na to, da v našem gospodinjstvu še ne premoremo Kindla, pa sta pod mojimi prsti nastali že dve oblekici zanj po navodilih najdenih na internetu. Za mojo prijateljico in njeno taščo.

Popolnoma zadovoljna sicer nisem, sta pa v bistvu prototipa in sta bila narejena ob odsotnosti samega objekta.

Our family is known for the fact that we all like to read, especially Manuboy.

And that we carry enormous amounts of books when we go on holiday.

A solution would be a Kindle. But there is a problem – there aren't books in Slovenian and Manuboy doesn't read books in foreign languages yet.

As long as one or the other does not change we are doomed to a whole suitcase of books.

Even thou we do not own a Kindle in our house, two Kindle-covers already came »from my hands«. The instructions were found on the Internet. They were for my friend end her mother in law.

I'm not completely satisfied, but those are basically the prototypes and were made in the absence of the actual objects.

NOVE VREČKE ZA MALICO / LUNCH BAGS UPDATE

Odkar sem pokazala prve in druge vrečke za malico je minilo že kar nekaj časa. Seveda pa med tem časom nisem počivala in jih je nastalo še kar nekaj. In vse imajo že zadovoljne in nikoli lačne lastnike.


Skrajni čas, da se lotim nove serije.

It's been quite some time since I showed you the first and second batch of lunch bags. I didn't rest during this time and I have some more bags to show you. They all have happy and never hungry owners.

It is time for me to start a new series.