Alyssa and I both have fond memories of Ghirardelli chocolates. Growing up near Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco means my sisters and mom and I would always stop by the shop on any trip to Fisherman’s Wharf. So when we were first approached by Ghirardelli to come up with a recipe for them, I wasn’t surprised when Alyssa told me that she used to entertain herself on the cheap when she first moved to San Francisco by walking around, exploring, and ending the day with an individually wrapped sample from the Ghirardelli Cafe.
Our favorite part of the matching memories was realizing how something as small as a chocolate could really make your day, not to mention stay in your memory. So we decided to come up with a homemade candy box using baking chips and melting wafers, nestled in a tiny paper creation. It’s perfect for Valentine’s Day- or any day!
If you’ve never tasted a Ghirardelli chocolate, you’re missing out. The chocolate has a deep cocoa flavor and when we took our first sample from the bags, we weren’t surprised to discover that the baking products were of a similarly tasty quality. Our first two truffles in the Ghirardelli candy box are made with Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Chips. Unlike most chocolate chips (which are milk chocolate or semi-sweet), these baking chips are dark and have a very rich flavor.
- 1/2 cup Ghirardelli baking chips
- 1 1/2 tablespoons orange-flavored liqueur
- 1/4 cup cream
- a few tablespoons of cocoa
- Heat 1/4 cup of cream until simmering. Add chocolate and liqueur and heat until chocolate is melted and all ingredients are mixed together.
- Pour into a wide and shallow container and refrigerate until cold, about one hour.
- Using a spoon or melon-baller, roll mixture into balls about 3/4 inch to 1 inch in size. You can also use your hands to create easily packed round balls- a little messier, but definitely simple.
- Place balls onto a piece of wax paper on a plate and chill for about ten minutes, until any melted chocolate or stickiness from the shaping process has hardened.
- Roll truffles in cocoa powder.
- Also delicious with raspberry liqueur!
- 1/2 cup Ghirardelli baking chips
- 2 tablespoons cream
- 1.5 ounces of hazelnut flavored wafer cookies (this was roughly 8 cookies for me, but will vary depending on which brand you use)
- a few tablespoons of powdered sugar
- Chop wafer cookies into small chunks.
- Heat cream until simmering. Add chocolate until melted.
- Fold in chopped wafer cookies.
- Refrigerate mixture until cold, about one hour.
- Use your hands to roll spoonfuls of the mixture into 1 inch balls.
- Chill rolled balls for about ten minutes to make sure they're not too soft.
- Roll truffles in powdered sugar.
Here’s a quick tip: my favorite way to roll truffles in either cocoa or powdered sugar is to add a few tablespoons to a plastic storage container, add the chilled truffle balls and shake gently. This helps coat the truffles easily, without making anything too sticky or misshapen.
Now, the final piece of candy is something just a bit different. I have used candy wafers before, but have never been a big fan because their taste is not that great. Not so with the Ghirardelli Dark Melting Wafers! These wafers are truly flavorful, with some magic that makes them melt smoothly without burning or scorching. It seemed like the candy box was missing some nuts, so we thought it would be perfect to create a piece of dipped caramel full of almonds.
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup sweetened condensed milk
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 cup almonds, rough chopped
- 1 cup Ghirardelli Dark Melting Wafers
- Melt butter in a saucepan on medium low heat.
- Add brown sugar and sugar until sugar is melted and combined.
- Add vanilla and sweetened condensed milk.
- Use a candy thermometer and heat mixture to 250 degrees.
- Add almonds and remove from heat. Pour immediately into a baking dish. (Mine was 5 inches by 7 inches, but a glass loaf pan would work too.)
- Cool until firm and cut into squares.
- Melt wafers in a small saucepan. Dip bottoms of the caramel squares halfway and place upside down on a sheet of wax paper until hardened.
Ok! You made it! Our candy is ready and waiting to be packaged up for that special someone!
To assemble, here is what you will need for each box:
- 2 8×8 pieces of pretty paper, folded into boxes using these easy-to-follow instructions
- 3 small paper baking cups
- ribbon
Now comes the fun part! Line three cups into one of your folded paper boxes. Add one of each of the chocolates to its individual cup. Close and wrap with a pretty ribbon!
The final step is the best part: give the small box away to cheer up someone’s day with three super tasty, chocolatey treats!
* This is a sponsored post. Compensation was provided by Ghirardelli. Opinions expressed here are the true opinions of Alyssa and/or Carla. Thanks so much for allowing us to bring you this content, which we truly believe is relevant to our readers! We promise to never endorse something we don’t believe in.
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
