chocolate-covered Oreos

A small collection of goodies, all inspired by a Mexican fiesta… Cupcakes, Chocolate-Chipotle Cookies, Macarons (filled with Mexican chocolate ganache), and Chocolate-covered Oreos.

FIESTA CUPCAKES

Any vanilla cupcake recipe (or chocolate) will work. Refer to this post for the buttercream, which was divided in two unequal portions: a larger portion dyed pink, and a smaller portion dyed orange. Then, a petal tip like 102 was used to add the icing in layers, as shown below. Any combination of colors will work, this one seemed appropriate for the Cinco de Mayo theme.

CHOCOLATE-CHIPOTLE COOKIES

I am so smitten by these! Not at all complicated to put together, start with your favorite chocolate cookie recipe (mine is definitely this one), paint with Americolor white before baking to get the crackled effect. Then use Royal icing dyed with flesh tone or ivory to pipe a round for the face. Use any colors you want to make the wavy decorations. Once that sets, you can paint the face and hair, add the arms, and you are done. You can see the steps below.

They make for a real fun set, and will please those who prefer a modest amount of icing on their cookies.

Many colors will work, and I also made a batch with sugar cookies instead of chocolate, with a pink and orange skirt.

MEXICAN CHOCOLATE MACARONS

For these macs, I used my default French meringue method (recipe here), divided the batter into three portions, a large pink, a medium size yellow, and a smaller orange. Piped a circle of pink, went with yellow in the center, then orange to form three concentric circles. Baked the shells and decorated with Royal icing. The ganache was made with

4 oz semisweet chocolate
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp cinnamon
a pinch of cayenne pepper

Once the ganache cooled, I whipped it with a handheld mixer for a minute or so. You cannot go too long or the whole thing will turn grainy. You just want to incorporate some air into the ganache.

FIESTA CHOCOLATE COVERED OREOS

These are so much fun to make! I used chocolate transfer sheets cut to fit the inside of the mold, as described in this post. I love this colorful pattern, that would look good also on a white chocolate background.

HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!

ONE YEAR AGO: Thai-Meatballs Over Wilted Bok-Choy

TWO YEARS AGO: Asparagus with Gunpowder Masala

THREE YEARS AGO: The Home Bakers Collective, April Project

FOUR YEARS AGO: Asian-Style Eggplant Meatballs

FIVE YEAR AGO: Uzbek Flatbread

SIX YEARS AGO: First Monday Favorite – Black Sesame FOUR

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Chocolate Orange Mini-Cakes

EIGHT YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen, May 2015

NINE YEARS AGO: P90X3, a Review of Tony Horton’s Latest Fitness Program

TEN YEARS AGO: Pasta and Mussels in Saffron Broth

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Triple Chocolate Brownies

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Shanghai Soup Dumplings

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Bite-sized Chocolate Pleasure

I am slightly obsessed with these. So. Many. Possibilities. I will have to disappoint the purists, though. I do not use high-quality chocolate to make them, I go with compound chocolate. Go ahead, twist your nose, but I have to be mindful of my baking budget. Feel free to splurge and temper chocolate if you prefer.

To make them you will need the appropriate molds. Go to online sources such as amazon or etsy and search for molds for chocolate covered Oreos. I will share links to the specific ones I used, but there are countless possibilities out there. Then, you need your choice of dark or white compound chocolate (about 250g for a mold of 6 cookies). A touch of coconut oil, maybe 1 teaspoon. And the items to decorate: oil-soluble food dye, luster powder, or chocolate transfer sheets.

VERSION #1

CHERRY BLOSSOMS ON WHITE CHOCOLATE

Mold used can be found here. To decorate this set, I used chocolate transfer sheets that I bought a couple of years ago (!!!!). Simply cut them to fit the bottom of the mold, making sure the transfer motif is up, so it will be in contact with the warm chocolate. Pour the melted white chocolate and pour about halfway up. Place an Oreo cookie inside, and add chocolate to cover. Tap a little bit to force air bubbles up, smooth the top (which will be the bottom of the enrobed cookie), and refrigerate for 30 minutes. You can also freeze for about 10 minutes. They should come out very easily.

VERSION #2

DARK CHOCOLATE ON FLOWER MOLD

Mold used for this set can be found here. Same method as the previous one, except that the gold decoration was achieved by painting the bottom of the mold with luster powder (as a powder, no vodka needed). A little bit goes a long way, next time I will use less. They also look nice left plain.

VERSION #3

WHITE CHOCOLATE WITH PINK AND GOLD

For the molds, follow this and this link. A small portion of melted chocolate-coconut oil was dyed with fat-soluble red dye (a very small amount, to get a pink tone), and used to paint the bottom of the mold. Then the rest of the melted chocolate was poured normally on top, cookie added, and topped to close with more chocolate. Details with gold were painted after unfolding. The White poinsettias were dusted with dry gold powder, the heart was painted with gold + vodka.

Since there is not need to temper chocolate, these are incredibly easy and quick to make. You can make a batch of 6 or 12 in 45 minutes, including cooling time. They would be a ton of fun to make with kids too, so consider that option for a fun weekend…