Chanukah Recipe #5.... Get out that chocolate!

Martha Stewart's Chocolate-covered 

Marshmallow Dreidels

I warned you yesterday to grab some chocolate chips or chocolate bars and today I deliver on the promise to help you use.
Unwrap said chocolate.
Share if you're more generous than me.
Devour and enjoy.

Kidding.  But by all means, go out and just eat the plain chocolate if you so desire.  Nothing wrong with that.

If you do have a little will-power, however, make these kitschy-yet-adorable chocolate dreidels.  As soon as a friend posted the link to Martha Stewart's recipe, I knew they had to be mine.  And with A LOT of help (thank you friends!!!), they were.

This is not to say that they are very difficult, or terribly time-consuming, but that they were being made just before/during a big party where I gave myself 40 minutes to make all the food.  And that I tripled the recipe.

I'll post the recipe with our additions, tweak and commentary below.  Feel free to reference Martha's recipe, linked above, if you a) want to enjoy the perfect photos and/or b) have more patience and craftiness than I do.

A note about ingredients: most marshmallows are not vegetarian as they contain animal-derived gelatin.  I have heard about vegan marshmallows available through Whole Foods and natural food stores.  I used vegan chocolate chips as the coating but even dark chocolate Hershey Kisses have milk and a vegan/non-dairy alternative does not seems available.  I apologize to folks who are vegan/Kosher/dairy-avoidant and would love to hear if anyone creates or hears of an alternative.

And for the record, these are just eye candy (ha, ha, ha); they taste really good too.  You know....because it's chocolate. Covering marshmallows.  Enough Said.

Click on people's faces in the photo to tag them.

                                                                                   

Martha Stewart's Chocolate-covered Marshmallow Dreidels as adapted by my fantastic friends

Makes 36 dreidels (if every bag of Kraft marshmallows has an accurate count, and if your crowd has no marshmallow-nabbers in it)
Martha says that these can stay in the fridge for up to 8 hours after making.  

- 36 chocolate Hershey kisses, dark or milk chocolate, unwrapped
- 2 twelve-ounce bags of chocolate chips, or 24 ounces of chopped, plain chocolate (We used 2 bags of store-brand semi-sweet chips & they worked just fine)

- 36 (plus a few extra to account for breakage and snacking) small, thin pretzel sticks

- Milk or soy milk (or non-dairy milk)

- 6 ounces (half a standard bag) of white chocolate chips or a tube of white cake-writing gel (OPTIONAL!)

1.  In a medium to large microwaveable bowl, melt about 1/3 of your chocolate by microwaving for 45 seconds at a time and stirring between rounds until your chocolate is smooth and shiny.

2.  Line several plates or a large cookie sheets with parchment paper or plastic wrap or coat lightly with cooking spray or vegetable oil.

3. Dip the flat part of each Hershey kiss in to the bowl of melted chocolate and adhere the kiss to the flat part of each marshmallow. Lay on the prepared plates/cookie sheets.

4. Refrigerate the marshmallows for 10 minutes to set the melted chocolate.

5. When the marshmallows have about 5 minutes left, add the rest of the chocolate to the previously melted chocolate and melt as in step 1.  Add a tablespoons of milk at a time to thin the mixture to a spreadable consistency.

6.  Dip or spread chocolate on the marshmallows to cover them and the kisses.  (Martha's recipes calls for the marshmallows to be dipped in chocolate, however my friends found this impossible and add the soymilk to thin slightly then brushed the chocolate on the marshmallow/kiss combo to cover.) Lay back on the trays and refrigerate for 15 minutes until set.

7.  Poke a pretzel stick in the top of each marshmallow to create the dreidels handle.

8. Martha calls for melting white chocolate, putting it into a ziploc bag, cutting off the very tip of the corner, and writing Hebrew letter on 3 sides to resemble a real dreidel.  I thought a cake writing gel tube might work too, thought might not firm up as well.  We decided enough was enough and served them without  further adornments.

Directions

1. Dip bottom of chocolate kiss in melted semisweet chocolate. Press onto marshmallow; transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat to make 12 dreidels. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
2. Cut a small slit in bottom of each marshmallow; insert 1 thin pretzel stick. Dip dreidels in chocolate, and return to baking sheet. Refrigerate until set, about 15 minutes.
3. Fill a resealable plastic bag with melted white chocolate; cut a tiny opening in a corner, and pipe Hebrew letters onto 3 sides of each dreidel. Refrigerate at least 5 minutes or up to 8 hours before serving.

8 Nights of Recipes

Here's an idea......
It's quite nearly Chanukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights.  (And yes, Hanukkah, Hanukah, or Chanukkah are also perfectly correct spellings...there's no perfect English translation from the Hebrew word.)

Chanukah means different things to different people...if you're in the under 16 set, it might be 8 nights of presents.  For many, it's a time to be with family and friends and relax at a casual, symbolic meal, accentuating the Festival aspect of the holiday.  Some of us raised in American consumer culture may remark that Chanukah has become the Jewish Christmas....which feels fun to some folks and very much besides the point of the holidays to others (I'm in the 2nd camp, in case you asked.)

However, one thing that Chanukah means to the large majority is food. Specifically, food fried in oil.  The story of Chanukah from ancient times goes that a small amount of oil, which was meant to burn for only a brief period, managed to stay lit for an unprecedented 8 nights.  These 8 nights of light were needed to clean and restore the Temple. And thanks to that ancient miraculous oil, modern day Jews get to indulge in all manner of delightful fried stuffs this time of year.

The classic treat is the all-hailed potato latke; thin pancakes of crispy shredded potatoes, often served with sour cream and applesauce. (You want a plateful right now, don't you? Or maybe that's just me projecting again....)  A second favorite is sufganiyot; the humble jelly donut.  People make these at home....from scratch.  And no, that won't be the recipe I'll be sharing today. (Maybe someday, eh?)

Today, I'm simply here to let you know that as my Chanukah gift to you, I'll be attempting to post 8 nights of recipes (or delicious food ideas) for the 8 nights of Chanukah.  Will they all be fried in luscious lashings of the finest olive oil?  For the sake of all of our arteries (and budgets), no.  I'm sure I'll post 1 or more holiday-appropriate treats, but what I'm especially interested in discussing, sharing, and eating is what we can enjoy as part of a meal alongside the latkes.

So over the course of the holiday, expect a dip, a soup, some crunchy veggies, and maybe a surprise treat or too.
And of course more potential latke accompaniments are always desired....what do you serve with your latkes?