mmmmmm chocolatey
You know how everyone always puts their best face forward on Facebook and Instagram? No one (well, except one person I follow) ever seems to have a bad day and everyone’s families, spouses, children and pets appear cheery, clean, and (for the most part) perfectly lit while loving life in every photo. We all know life like this doesn’t exist all the time. I type this as I’m sitting here at the computer in my pjs, without (gasp) makeup and it’s almost 3PM! I’m 3 blog posts behind because I can’t seem to find the time to write them up. The photos are created and processed, taken in the moment (thank goodness) but the posts still need to be written.
Y’all, babies (and I only have one) are exhausting. And I have a “good” baby. He’s happy, takes naps, is now sleeping through the night and I am still exhausted. Making pesticide-free baby food from scratch (read: steaming and pureeing veg and fruit), making sure the baby doesn’t put something in his mouth he shouldn’t, working my job, trying to make dinner AND do all the laundry is tiring! (Why is there so much additional laundry for such a tiny person?) I thought I’d give a nod towards the reality today. The above pretty picture is typically one you would see on my site. Here is the camera pulled back slightly to the reality:
at least the lighting is good!
Toys everywhere, house a mess, rug askew from rug mat, baby with spit up down the front of his onesie, and my once pristine prop shelf in an unorganized shambles. When you need a dose of humorous reality, go to this website as soon as you can or follow them on Instagram, as they are hilarious: www.assholeparents.com. It’s basically photos of crying toddlers who are upset because their parents wouldn’t let them do something potentially harmful to themselves, like play with steak knives or DRIVE THE CAR. It’s funny parenting realism at it’s best. Back to this recipe. It’s from Joy The Baker, a super-hip successful young food blogger who’s almost too cool for school. She posts a lot, but then again she’s single without a baby. Yep, I said it, I’m one of those folks now.
The cuteness
Back to the recipe, basically, you dip sugar cones in melted chocolate and then again in other things like sprinkles or more chocolate. I was tired and figured I didn’t really need instructions to replicate something this simple-sounding so I didn’t read Joy’s at all. I guess you are supposed to let the chocolate set on the cone for 30 seconds before dipping again into sprinkles or other things, but who has all these 30 seconds laying around to wait for chocolate to dry? Oops. I didn’t do this and ended up with chocolate sprinkle mush and chocolate chopped chocolate mush and none of the extra stuff on the cone. To be honest, the chopped chocolate mush was delicious when eaten with a spoon, I mean, let’s not be wasteful, eh?!
mmmmm chocolate mush
To begin, I took a heat-proof bowl and paired it with a saucepan that fit well. I filled the pan with water just below the bottom of the bowl, so the bowl didn’t touch the water. This is called making a “double boiler”. Can you melt chocolate in the microwave? Sure, but I’ve read that it can seize up and then it’s ruined. So a’double boilin’ we shall go. Toss a couple of handfuls of chocolate chips into the bowl and stir until the chocolate is melted, smooth and glossy.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and put stuff into bowls with which you’d like to coat your chocolate cones. Sprinkles, more chopped chocolate, nuts, whatever. Just wait 30 seconds in-between dipping in chocolate and dipping in sprinkles, otherwise you’ll get a mushy mixture.
Honestly, that’s it. So simple, it’s not really even a recipe. My second attempt was much better. The chocolate had cooled slightly but was still dippable, and waiting that 30 seconds really did do the trick. Here’s attempt #2:
chunky but delicious
Was the extra chocolate chunky because I didn’t chop it finely enough? Yep. Did anyone care? Nope. Do I prefer my dipped cones this way now? Yep. Thanks Joy!
Chocolate Dipped Sugar Cones
Prep time: 15 minutes
Serves: 12 cones
Ingredients:
- 12 sugar cones
- 2 cups chocolate chips (I like Ghiradelli’s dark)
- 1/2 of your favorite chocolate bar, chopped
- rainbow sprinkles (optional)
Method:
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside for later use.
- Fit a heat proof bowl with a saucepan. Fill saucepan with water, taking care the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Bring water to a gentle boil.
- Add chocolate chips to bowl and stir until chocolate is smooth and melted.
- Dip ends of cones into slightly cooled, melted chocolate. Wait 30 seconds before dipping and rolling into toppings of choice.
- Let dry on parchment lined sheet in fridge for 20 minutes before serving. Cones can be frozen in a zip bag in the freezer for up to one month.
