Choose high quality chocolate—Callebaut, Sharffenberger, Green & Black’s, or even a big organic bar from Trader Joe’s—and avoid regular chocolate chips; they don’t melt well. Choose all sorts of inclusions for dipping; I usually pick three or four to do in one candy-making session, about a cup of each in their own small bowls. Be sure to have everything ready for dipping before tempering the chocolate, so that you can work swiftly once the chocolate is ready. Make as much or as little chocolate as you like, though the more you use, the easier it is to keep the chocolate tempered while you work. The quantity of candies in the end depends on the size of your drops and your inclusions, but a pound of chocolate yields about 3 dozen 1-inch candies.
1poundsemi-sweet chocolate (not chips for cookies),preferably about 60% cacao, finely chopped
Inclusions for Dipping:
Nuts, roasted and salted (peanuts, almonds,pecans, you name it)
Rice Krispies
Marshmallows
Pretzels
Toasted coconut (sweetened or unsweetened; crush the toasted coconut flakes for uniformity)
Dried fruit (cherries, cranberries, raisins, apricots, blueberries, you nameit)
Instructions
Line two sheet pans with waxed paper. Place the nuts and other inclusions each in their own small bowl for dipping, each with their own teaspoon for dipping.
Temper the chocolate. Do this by melting the chocolate gently either in the microwave (15-second increments, stir between) or over a barely simmering double boiler, very slowly, to 110 degrees. Cool down by seeding the melted chocolate with more finely chopped chocolate and stirring frequently until it reaches 84 degrees (use less seeding as the chocolate gets into the 80’s, orthe seed won’t melt well). Warm back up very gently to 89-91 degrees and keep the chocolate at that temperature for dipping.
Dip the chocolates: Work swiftly to keep the chocolate tempered, at 88-91 degrees throughout this process. Pour about a cup of chocolate over the nuts or other inclusions in one of the small bowls set up earlier. Stir until coated. Using a teaspoon, drop a small quantity (4-5 almonds, for example) onto the waxed paper, arranging the nuts on top of one another to form the piece of candy. Repeat until all of the inclusion is dipped. Repeat this process for each bowl o finclusions, dipping one bowl of inclusions at a time before pouring chocolate into the next bowl.
The chocolate may cool too much and go out of temper (it thickens). Place it back on the double boiler or in the microwave at five-second intervals to bring it back to temperature (88-91 degrees) and continue working.
Place the sheet pans of candies in a cool, dry spot to set up and harden. Box for gifts, or place in little paper cups on a platter or tiered plate stand to serve, extra special.