Homemade chocolates are a wonderful treat both for yourself and for friends and family. They’re satisfying to make and, of course, fun to eat. In Turtle, Truffle, Bark: Simple and Indulgent Chocolates to Make at Home, you’ll find dozens of recipes for relatively easy – but still delicious and very professional looking – chocolates that you can easily make in your home kitchen. All you need to do is pick up some good quality chocolate and read through the introduction to tempering chocolate (or follow along with my How to Temper Chocolate at Home post!!) and you’ll be ready to start!.
The book covers three basic types of chocolate treats: Barks, Turtles and Truffles. I would say that of the three, barks are the easiest to make and it makes sense that you start off the book with that chapter. Barks are essentially flat pieces of chocolate with a variety of toppings on them. The toppings can range from sweet to salty and transform ordinary chocolate (already delicious on its own) into a very addictive dessert. Turtles are chocolate confections that incorporate nuts, caramels and/or fruits into chocolates, like a bite-sized candy bar. Like the bark, you can use a simple base to create a variety of unique concoctions. The recipes include everything from classic pecan turtles to turtles made with white chocolate and blueberries. The final chapter is dedicated to truffles, which require a little more hands-on time than the other two types of goodies and involve infusing chocolate with a variety of flavors. All three chapters are fun to look through, full of delicious recipes that are easy to follow along with.
You’ll be able to use the techniques in this book over and over again, which makes it very satisfying to work with. The treats make fantastic homemade gifts any time of year.
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