Chocolate Covered Matzahs

My kids are craving something sweet.  Normally, we always have fresh, baked goodies in the house.  With Passover, we eliminate from our diet,  anything made from the five major grains (wheat, rye, barley, oats and spelt).  Some traditional Jews avoid rice, corn, peanuts and legumes.  All of these items have been used to make bread.  I am not super strict (I have let the kids have chips and a family member gave them some gummy bears which have corn syrup ) and I don't clean out my house of all grains nor do I change out my dishes.  Personally, I want me children to have an understanding of what the holiday means and have some sort of discipline. 

With that said, they are missing the baked treats that normally adorn our home.  I haven't made this particular recipe in a few years and felt that this was the perfect solution to their sweet craving.  Sometimes I toast some pecans or almonds and sprinkle them on the top, but this time I opted to chop up some of the homemde candied orange peels I had in the freezer.  The scent and the taste of the orange made all the difference in the world.  

Here is the recipe:

4 pieces of  matzah

1 C. butter-melted

1 C. brown sugar, packed

12 oz. semi sweet chocolate chips

pre heat oven to 450*

Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and lightly spray with cooking spray

Lay matzahs in an even layer on foil

Melt butter in pan.  When melted add brown sugar and bring to a boil.  Once boiled, pour mixture over matzahs.  Use an off set spatula to spread an even layer.  Bake for 4 minutes

Take tray out of oven and and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Put back in the oven for 1 minute.  Remove from the oven and use an off set spatula to spread and even layer.  Sprinkle with whatever topping you desire or just leave plain.  Put in freezer until set.  Once set, break apart as if it were brittle.  Store in a cool, dry place.

Since I have started tempering my chocolate, I do prefer chocolate that way.  I was making these not only for the kids but for some friends as well.  Had I had more time, I would have tempered the chocolate.  

Wrapped up and ready to deliver!

VALENTINE'S

Valentine's day is just another excuse to mess up the kitchen.  As I am always baking, this year, I wanted to do some candy.  A year ago, I got into candy.  I invested in a tempering machine, I have been collecting molds and buying the best ingredients I can find.  I love candy!  I can name every piece of candy, with my eyes closed, at Sees.  Anything with a caramel inside of it is the one for me!

My friend Lisa and I both share a lot of the same passions; photography, baking, creating beautiful things on the computer and she and I love to get together and do all the things that we love.  Lisa has been creating and selling these pretzels for the past year.  When I decided I wanted to make candy for valentine's gifts, she had to be a part of it.  It was a perfect rainy weekend for she and I to pawn our kids off on our husbands and get lost in my kitchen!

I know, I said candy.  But a holiday (or any day of the week) wouldn't be a holiday with out something festive made out of butter, sugar, flour, vanilla, etc!  I made these for the 5th grade bake sale.  Packaged them all separately and they looked real purrty!

I told you I love caramels.  We used Lisa's recipe for caramels.  OMG!  That's all I can say.  We made several batches of caramel and only chocolate covered a few.  Big mistake!  We couldn't part with these particular candies.  We divided them up amongst us and mine are hidden in a very safe place where my kids will not be able to find them.  I eat one a day.  May need to make some more.  

These are the scraps left over from the carmallows (see below).  Couldn't let the anything go to waste.  When you make something in a slab and then you cut it into shapes there is so much waste.  Got to come up with a good solution for this.  Will keep thinking...

Peppermint Patties.  I have made these before and they are super easy.  I used the recipe from Gourmet Magazine Dec 07.  They are really good, however next time I would cut them a little thicker.  

My kids love "Scotchmallows" from Sees.  They are kind of the perfect candy.  Caramel, marshmallow, dark chocolate.  What could be bad??!!  MS Magazine had these in the Decemeber 08 issue and I just needed an excuse to do it.  Valentine's was the perfect excuse.  I liked this caramel recipe however didn't love it.  I also didn't really like this particular marshmallow recipe.  Next time (sooner rather than later), I will use Lisa's caramel recipe and an old marshmallow recipe, that I always use, which is from epicurious. com.  I am not complaining about them( i ate at least 5), they were good, but I know they can be better.

I had some left over homemade marshmallows in the freezer.  I also had some marcona almonds (salted).  I had extra tempered bitter chocolate so decided to make some rocky road.  Another all time favorite treat.

Yet, forgot to photograph the final product.  Not surprising that I forgot.  I am amazed that I remember to pick Levi up from pre-school most days!

Here are those luxurios caramels I was speaking about.  These are made with honey.  Have perused some recipes on the internet and few caramel recipes have honey in them ( Carole Bloome uses honey in hers-I like her books).  Sprinkled a little fleur de sal on the top.  Mmm Mmm good!

Wrapped up and ready to package

The perils of tempering!

I gave out about 15 boxes to teachers, friends and the kids Nana's.  The rest went to the 5th grade bake sale.  They were sold before they left my house.  Got lots of emails asking what I was contributing to the bake sale...made a few enemies (those who didn't get their order in on time).  Next time I will plan better.

Have a great Valentine's day!