Easy indulgence

Valentine’s Day is Friday? This Friday?

Oh dear, but it’s bucketing down with rain! I have a little one home from pre-school! I have 1,001 things that should have been done yesterday! There is no way I’ll be able to go browsing around the shops for a lovely little gift for Darling Husband...

Never fear, I have the absolute easiest chocolate truffle recipe *ever*, with storecupboard ingredients.

Take one large bar of chocolate (100g), either milk or dark; about 80ml of condensed milk; and a teeny splash of either vanilla or almond extract.

Optional ingredient: a few teaspoons of Cointreau, Amaretto or other liqueur.

Melt the chocolate and milk in a saucepan over very low heat, stirring gently once the chocolate starts melting, until you have a thick, creamy, smooth mixture (add a touch more condensed milk if chocolate is too thick, like dough).

Remove from heat and add any additional flavourings, then chill in the refrigerator for two hours.

Meanwhile, gather some coatings, such as these:

When the mixture is firm, scoop and roll into bite-sized balls, then coat decadently in preferred toppings

Chill until firm, then present lovingly to your sweetheart(s)! This recipe makes 10 truffles (okay, 11...but the cook must test one for quality control!). 

The children love the milk chocolate truffles, my oh-so-sophisticated palate prefers the dark chocolate...but what I love best about this recipe is that, surprisingly, the truffles aren’t overly sweet or too terribly rich. Very moreish! My mother made these at Christmas by the bucketful, and we gobbled them up! So of course I found another suitable holiday for indulgence...

Bon appetit, sweeties!

Chrissie x

Giveaway Winner and a Consolation Prize

My heartfelt thanks goes to all of you who entered and commented on my first giveaway – how lovely it is to meet new crafty folks!

Without further ado, the lucky winner of The Hand-Stitched Home and craft kit is:

Laura Tyler! Laura wrote:

Laura Tyler11:03 pm BST

I am very new to blogging some hope I am doing this right :-). Please may I be entered. 

What a nice welcome to the blogging universe, eh? Congratulations, Laura! I’ll be in touch straight away to get your details to send you the prize.

I offer a consolation prize for everyone else, in the form of a delicious crumble topping recipe to take us into autumn. Everyone has a crumble recipe, and each one is a little bit different from the next, so I’m always happy to try out new versions – this one is a doozy, I do hope you’ll try it!

Greengage-Blackberry Crumble with vanilla ice cream

Yesterday afternoon a friend presented me with a small bag of very ripe greengages from her garden. I had a good handful of early ripened blackberries, picked during a family walk...the two fruits were just destined to be together!

This topping recipe is a family favourite, and it works well with any autumn fruit (or even the peaches, nectarines and raspberries of summertime). I baked the greengage-blackberry crumble for last night’s dessert. After two bites Bunny asked, “There’s more of this, right?” Little Flower wolfed down two helpings and was sad that it was all gone!

Oat Crumble Topping

* Make a batch (or double batch!) of this topping and store it in the freezer for an instant weeknight dessert! *

120g/ ½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

220g/1 cup light brown sugar

120g/ ¾ cup plain flour

75g/ ¾ cup porridge or rolled oats

Pinch of cinnamon

Pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 180◦C/350◦F. Mix together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. With a pastry cutter or two knives, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

I can hear my mother: "You could've ironed that tea towel, Christine..."

Prepare your fruit of choice – here I just cut the greengages into bite-sized pieces and sprinkled over the blackberries. I had to use a very small Pirex dish, as there were just enough fruits for a small portion each.

Sprinkle over the crumble topping

Then pop into a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, depending on the size of your dish and pieces of fruit. Remove from oven when golden brown, then try to contain the family’s excitement until it cools enough to eat.

(Serving it with ice cream helps the cooling process...)

The topping makes a lovely gift, presented in a glass jar tied with twine and a little recipe card.

We’ve been invited to a new home party on Saturday, and I plan to give this to the hostess, rather than the usual flowers or candles.

Have a lovely weekend everyone, and welcome to all my new followers!

Chrissie x