Are you a chocoholic? I am for sure and as they say, variety is the spice of life! Indulge your chocolate lovers this holiday season with a delectable dessert station including chocolate cakes, candies, fudge, brownies, truffles and cookies oh my! Ghirardelli has you covered with so many rich chocolate chips, bars and candies to create delicious desserts to satisfy all your chocolate cravings and desires.
This is the time of year I look forward to pulling out all my grandmother’s fancy dishes and goblets to create a special table-scape for all my fancy desserts. Utilizing these family treasures brings a sense of nostalgia and reminds me of our special holidays together in the kitchen. It also gives me a fun creative outlet that brings me great joy!
Make sure to plan your baking schedule, because baking takes time and you want to enjoy the process without being overwhelmed with last minute rushing. Start a few days before with the cookies and fudge, they will stay fresh in a sealed container. Remember baking is a science, exact measuring is crucial. Making fudge can especially be a challenge, temperature and timing matter, so don’t get distracted or try to multi-task. My mom and I used to make batches of chocolate and peanut butter fudge every Christmas for gifts. I remember her using a marble slab to cool it on. The marble allows the fudge to cool evenly and quickly. If you do not have a marble slab handy, you can simply cool your fudge by spreading it baking pan and refrigerate it for 2 hours or until firm. For extra special holiday fudge; you can stir in Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark SQUARES, toasted pecans, or drizzle melted white chocolate on top. The hardest part is the waiting to taste it!
Not sure about you, but I prefer dark chocolate maybe because it is less sweet and has more of a pure intense chocolate flavor. Make sure you also provide milk chocolate options because kids and many adults prefer this more familiar chocolate taste. I once made a beautiful multi-layered dark chocolate cake for my young daughter’s birthday party and learned this lesson the hard way. I was so proud of my rich dark chocolate five layered masterpiece, but all the kids wanted to eat were the gummy worms on top. All the adults at the party loved it!
Chocolate candy is always a winner on the dessert table! Offer an assortment Ghirardelli SQUARES. They have so many yummy flavor combos like; Milk Chocolate Caramel, Dark Chocolate Mint, Dark Chocolate Raspberry, Dark Chocolate Sea Salted Carmel and even an Intense Dark Salted Caramel. They will disappear very quickly, so just put a few of each out at a time.
For me the holiday season would not be the same without trying a few new chocolate recipes. This year I want to have something extra special to share on my dessert table, so I plan to make dark chocolate brownie truffles, chocolate-peanut butter thumbprint cookies and a chocolate orange mousse cake! This holiday season let your imagination run wild and bring joy to others with chocolate indulgence, your guest will be delighted, and your home will smell wonderful too. Happy baking to all!