Chocolate-covered prunes are a popular DIY treat. To make the dessert a success, you need to buy delicious soft dried fruits and not skimp on icing. A ready-made delicacy is quite suitable for a gift, just put the candies in a beautiful box.
Candy with nut filling: the classic version
The easiest and fastest version of homemade chocolates with a whole nut filling. The finished products must be kept cool, but not placed in the refrigerator, otherwise the chocolate will be covered with a white coating. To reduce calories, you can substitute milk for cream.
Ingredients:
- 150 g soft pitted prunes;
- 100 g of dark chocolate;
- 100 g of walnut kernels;
- 0.5 cups of cream.
Rinse dry prunes, add hot water, after 5 minutes, put in a colander and dry. Fry the walnuts in a dry frying pan or roast them in the microwave to make the taste more delicate. Cut each prune and put a nut inside. Squeeze the berry tightly with your hands so that it appears whole.
Break the chocolate into pieces, put in a saucepan, melt in a water bath. Pour in the cream and stir until the mixture is completely homogeneous. Alternately prick the prunes on a wooden skewer and dip them into the liquid chocolate so that the icing evenly covers the candies. Set aside to set on a lightly oiled plate. When the candies have hardened, put them in a nice box or vase. Thus, you can cook prunes in white, bitter or flavored colored chocolate: orange, lemon, pistachio.
Assorted chocolates: step-by-step preparation
An original recipe suitable for those with experience in making homemade chocolates. Treats are formed using special forms or plastic cores. To make an assortment, prunes are supplemented with different nuts: pine, forest, walnuts.
Ingredients:
- 100 g of white chocolate;
- 100 g of dark chocolate;
- 200 g pitted prunes;
- 100 g assorted nuts;
- 100 ml of cream.
Free the prunes from the pits, rinse. If the dried fruits are hard, pour boiling water over them for 10 minutes, put them in a colander, and dry.
Prepare the nut filling. You can put almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, walnuts and pine nuts in sweets. Peel them of shells and hard films, dry in the oven for a more concentrated taste. Grind each species in a mortar or chop coarsely with a knife.
Cut the prunes into halves or quarters (depending on size). Fill each part with chopped nuts of the same type. Arrange the prepared berries on a plate.
Put pieces of white chocolate in one glass or earthenware bowl, break a dark bar in another. Place both containers in the microwave and melt. Pour half of the cream into each portion, stir, reheat in the microwave. You get 2 glaze options: white and dark.
Prepare a silicone candy mold or plastic core. Brush each indentation with dark or white chocolate using a small silicone brush. Allow the mass to harden. Put a piece of prunes with nuts in each cell and pour over the chocolate of the desired color. Put the mold in the refrigerator until it hardens completely.
Turn the finished candies onto the board. Heat the rest of the glaze in the microwave. Using a pastry syringe or parchment paper cornet, apply a few dark chocolate strokes on the white-glazed candies. Decorate the dark chocolate candies in the same way with white strokes. Let the decor harden, arrange the candies in corrugated outlets and put them in the gift box.
Home-glazed candies: a step-by-step recipe
You can use homemade icing instead of store-bought chocolate. It will cost less, and the taste of the sweets will be quite decent. The delicacy turns out to be less high-calorie than products with natural chocolate and will appeal to people on a diet. The proportions of sugar and cocoa can be adjusted to taste. Almonds are easy to ground with other nuts, such as walnuts or hazelnuts.
Ingredients:
- 300 g large pitted prunes;
- 3 tbsp. l. high quality cocoa;
- 3 tbsp. l. oils;
- 0.5 cups of milk;
- 3 tbsp. l. Sahara;
- 100 g of peeled almonds.
Blanch the almonds in boiling water, remove the hard skin from the kernels. Dry the nuts in a pan, cool, coarsely chop or grind in a mortar. Wash prunes in several waters, dry on a spread towel.
Prepare the icing. Pour milk into a saucepan with thick walls, heat over medium heat. Mix cocoa powder with sugar. To make the icing tasty, you need to use a high-quality product, instant cocoa varieties will not work.
Pour the chocolate-sugar mixture into the milk and stir vigorously until the mixture becomes homogeneous, without lumps. When the milk boils, add the butter to the saucepan and stir again. Remove glaze from heat.
Cut the prunes into halves, place in a flat-bottomed container in one layer, sprinkle evenly with chopped almonds. Pour hot glaze over the fruit and nut mass, smooth the surface with a spatula, leave to harden. When the mass has cooled down a little, place it in the refrigerator.
Cut the frozen chocolate-fruit delicacy into squares or rhombuses, put on a plate covered with a napkin. Soft candies melt in your mouth and go well with freshly brewed coffee or black tea.
