White Chocolate Pecan Bites

By eveweb

These snowy-themed bites make the perfect hostess or holiday gift. Daunted by your lack of pastry chef skills? Don’t fret; skip a few steps with the shortcut TIP following the recipe.

Ingredients

• 60 pecan halves, about 5 oz (150 g)
• 7 oz (210 g) white chocolate, chopped
• Generous pinches to 1 tbsp (15 mL) edible silver dust or 1 tbsp (15 mL) white cake sparkles

Preparation

Step 1

1 Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).

2 Spread nuts out over a baking sheet. Toast in centre of preheated oven until fragrant and lightly toasted, 5 minutes. Let cool completely.

3 Partially fill a pot with water that can fit a metal bowl overtop without touching the water. Bring water to a simmer. Place chocolate in bowl.

4 Meanwhile, set aside another bowl that is slightly smaller in size than the chocolate-filled bowl. Partially fill the bowl without chocolate with cold water and ice.

5 Place bowl of chocolate over simmering water. Using a heatproof rubber spatula, stir often until melted. Carefully measure the temperature of the chocolate. Stir often, removing from heat occasionally until chocolate reaches exactly 110° to 111°F (43° to 44°C). Immediately place bowl with melted chocolate over bowl of ice water. Stir often until chocolate reduces to 78° to 80°F (26° to 27°C). Place back over simmering water and increase temperature of chocolate to exactly 85° to 87°F (29° to 31°C). Remove from heat.

6 Dip half of cooled pecan halves in chocolate. Shake off excess chocolate, and then place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with dust or sparkles. Let set.


Makes 60 pecan bites


TIP Skip steps 3 through 5 (the candy thermometer and tempering) by simply melting the chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler. Continue with step 6, then refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour. They will keep well, refrigerated, for up to 3 days. This version is just as tasty as the original but won’t last as long as the tempered version, so don’t leave them out for hours on end.