Christmas Treats To Make With Children (Confectionery)

Member Name: Ali72

Product:	Confectionery
Date:	20/11/05 (5062 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap, Easy

Disadvantages: Err...potential mess?

As the nights draw in and Christmas approaches (yes, it’s only 6 weeks away) I thought that I would share a favourite recipe. These easy sweets are a lot of fun to make with children, and are usually well received as homemade gifts. Without the chocolate coating, it involves no cooking at all.

Just in case you haven’t made this type of thing before, you can find the ingredients in the baking isle in any supermarket ;-)

* Peppermint creams (with optional half-chocolate coating) *

250g icing sugar, plus some for dusting work surfaces
1 egg white
Peppermint essence
Few drops cooking (sunflower) oil
Few drops of green food colouring (optional)

First, prepare a large piece of greaseproof paper, by rubbing it lightly with the few drops of oil. It’s good to have this done BEFORE getting your fingers messy.

Separate the egg white from the yolk, by cracking the egg over a bowl and passing the yolk back and forth between the two halves of the shell, letting the white drop into the bowl. Discard the yolk (or if you’re a poor student keep it for breakfast). Lightly whisk the egg white with a fork, but don’t overdo it – you’re not looking for a huge foamy mousse here.

Next, sift about two thirds of the icing sugar into a large mixing bowl. Pour the beaten egg white and a few drops of peppermint essence into the bowl, and start to mix with a fork. As the mixture stiffens, you will need to get your hands in to work it into a paste. Continue to add icing sugar until your paste is completely mixed and a play-dough consistency. You can add a few drops of food colouring too if you want to have green creams – it’s quite nice to have some white and some green. Keep your hands dusted with icing sugar, or you’ll get in a sticky mess.

You can shape your peppermint creams either by rolling out the dough to about 1cm thick (with a liberal coating of icing sugar on the rolling pin and work surface) and cutting out shapes, or just by flattening small balls of dough into discs.

Pop the finished sweets on the greaseproof paper and leave them uncovered to dry out (which takes at least a few hours, 24 is safest).

* For the optional chocolate coating: *

100-200g good dark chocolate

Place a mixing bowl over a saucepan half-full of water – it should fit snugly over the pan without touching the base. Bring the water to a simmer, and break the chocolate into pieces into the bowl. Turn the heat off, and stir the chocolate occasionally with a wooden spoon until it has all melted. Half-dip some of your peppermint creams in the chocolate, then put them on a baking sheet in the fridge to set.

Wrap prettily and give to friends and relatives (boxes decorated by the children go down well with the latter). Enjoy, but don’t eat them all at once.

Summary: Get the kids "cooking"