Please join us for chocolate and champagne!

Amanda Turner knew her grandmother, the late Hazel Sanders of Cleveland, loved a party. Once settled in her grandmother’s home, which she had recently renovated, she thought, why not have Hazel’s friends over for a little chocolate and Champagne and raise a toast together in her honor? The guest list grew to include other generations, but while standing in Hazel’s dining room, one of her grandmother’s friends remarked, “Why, I used to have several of us over each year right before Christmas for chocolate and Champagne, too!” Thus a sweet and festive holiday tradition was reborn.

Chocolate Ganache mini cupcakes
 
For the cake:
1/4 pound unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs at room temperature
1 (16-ounce) bottle Hershey’s chocolate syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
 
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Heavily spray a mini muffin pan. Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time. Mix in chocolate syrup and vanilla. Add flour and mix until just combined. Pour batter into pan and bake 40 to 45 minutes, until just set in the middle. Let cool completely before removing from the pan.
 
For the ganache:
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
 
Cook the cream, chips and coffee granules in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm. Spoon a dollop of icing onto each mini cupcake and let run down the sides.
For the pink candied flowers, Amanda ordered the cherry blossom kit from wendykromer.com.
 
 
 
Chocolate Truffles
1 cup heavy cream
10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
3 tablespoons brandy, whiskey or liqueur of your own choice
 
Pour the cream into a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate all at once. Stir until melted, and then stir in brandy or other liqueur. Cover the mixture with plastic wrap and chill for at least 4 hours or up to overnight.
 
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a small ice cream scoop or melon baller (depending on what size truffle you want to make), scrape up the mixture into 20 large balls or 30 smaller balls and place on the lined baking sheet. Dip the scoop into cold water occasionally to prevent the mixture from sticking. At this point, the truffles can be rolled in various toppings or dusted with cocoa powder, powdered sugar or coconut flakes. One popular topping is finely chopped pistachio.