Wednesday 8 January 2014

Homemade Chocodiles (Chocolate Covered Twinkies)

If you were born in the U.S. before 2012 (when Twinkies went out of business), then you remember buying that beautiful red, white, and blue box filled with the infamous 10 Twinkies, and then gobbling them down before mom or dad noticed. Now, Chocodiles are another story. A CHOCOLATE COVERED TWINKIE?!? You had me at "Chocolate covered Twinkie. Who wouldn't want a chocolate covered twinkie?? Well I am a little late posting this, but with the holidays back to back and the parents visiting, I haven't been on much. I made these Chocodiles a couple weeks back and they were just to die for (I mean if you love chocolate and love Twinkies, and they're homemade!) Go ahead and give them a try!


*Makes: 9 chocodiles

Ingredients:

For the sponge cake:
  • 2 cups (260g) flour
  • 1 cup (250ml) milk, at room temperature
  • 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
  • 8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 2 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
For filling:
  • 1/2 cup (110g) marshmallow fluff
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1/2 cup (70g) powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
For chocolate glaze:
  • 10 oz. (300g) chocolate (milk & dark mixed)
  • 1/2 cup (120g) double cream



Directions

For the sponge cake:
Step 1: Grease 8 to 12 premade canoe wells (how-to pictures below), using aluminum foil and a spice jar. Preheat oven to 350F/ 180C. 


Use 2 sheets of aluminum foil for double the strength. Place a standard spice jar in the middle.


Fold inwards and on the ends, making it as tight as possible (remember, you still have to get that spice jar out though!)


Ta-da! Now make 11 more.

Step 2: Whisk together flour and baking powder in a bowl. Set aside.


Step 3: Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, until it is very light and fluffy-almost at soft peaks. Stir in vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. 




Step 4: Pour into prepared pans. Tip: I would recommend filling them only halfway, there is a lot of leavening in the the mixed batter and this might cause them to overflow if you add more. Bake for 15 minutes or until the cakes are just golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of the center cupcake comes out clean. Remove from the oven, invert to a wire rack and cool completely before filling.




For the cream filling:
Step 5: Whisk everything together in the bowl of a stand mixer till smooth and creamy. Simple as that.


For chocolate glaze:
Step 6: In a small sauce pan, add the heavy cream. Bring up just to a boil. Take the pan off the heat and add it to the chocolate. Let the mixture set for about 2 minutes, then stir everything together until shiny and smooth (with not lumps).



Step 7: To fill, use a pastry bag or cream filling gun and fill three holes (skewers make good hole punchers, just be careful not to poke all the way to the other side and make sure to give it a little wiggle so the inside hole is slightly bigger than the outside) on the underside of the cake with cream. Slightly overfill each hole, then use your thumb to tap it in.



For the glaze:
Step 8: Dip the bottoms of cooled, filled cakes in the chocolate then place on a wire rack over a bowl and pour the chocolate directly from the pan over the top of the cakes to coat the tops. Refill the pan with the chocolate that collects in the bowl. 




Step 9: Allow the cakes to drip over a wire rack with waxed paper underneath to catch the drips. Repeat if needed. Tip: it seems like you are making a lot of glaze (and you are), but it's better to have too much than to not have enough!



Step 10: It may take the cakes up to an hour (maybe more) to be completely dry. You can pop them in the fridge to speed things up. Either way, enjoy with a glass of milk like I did. Cheers! 

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