Coconut Chocolates

Kids birthday parties can be so exhausting. But I've survived one more of those. Still carring the consequencies and longing for a nice massage, but trying to go on.
The important thing is my daughter had fun with her friends. Turning ten is special for every little princess. It's incredible how fast she's been growing. She's almost as tall as myself, and she'll probably start stealing my shoes any time now.
I had the kids decorate some cupcakes at the party and that was so much fun. They were so excited, they kept exchanging different colour frostings I prepared for them, and they all ended up with multi colored cupcakes. None of them dared eating them, they wanted to take them home so they could show their work to everyone. That was so cute that I promised them we would certainly repeat the experience as a little cupcake workshop one day.

Now, tired or not, I can't sit still. And in this dreary weather there's really little to do but sit at home.
The coconut filled chocolates have been on my mind for a while now. I tried a couple recipes in the past, but didn't find them particularly satisfactory. So I finally took things in my own hands, and came up with these.
Delicate milk chocolate shell, hiding a soft chocolate coconut filling. I'm pretty satisfied this time. And since the little human cub running around this house had to have a small piece and expressed his satisfaction, too,  I hid them where noone can find them. Can't stand the competition when it comes to chocolates *_* 

Coconut Chocolates

(for about 25 small bars)
* 200 g good quality white chocolate
* 85 g coconut milk
* 150 g sweetened condensed milk
* 20 g butter
* 80 g dried shredded coconut
+ about 300 g milk chocolate

Put the coconut milk and the condensed milk in a small saucepan and warm them up almost to the boiling point.
Put the finely chopped white chocolate in a glass mixing bowl. Pour the hot milk over and stir well until the chocolate's melted completely.
Add the softened butter and in the end the dried shredded coconut.
Cover the bowl and let the mixture cool down completely then put it in the fridge for a couple hours.
Transfer the coconut mixture into a pastry bag with a round tip and squeeze out little sticks, the size you prefer. Form the coconut sticks on a piece of baking paper placed over a tray or a baking tin.
Leave them in the fridge for several hours, or, even better, overnight.
Melt and temper (instructions HERE) the milk chocolate.
Dip the coconut stick into milk chocolate and leave on a piece of baking paper to set.
Once they are set and dry, they can be stored in a cool and dry place, protected from humidity.

Cioccolatini al cocco

(per circa 25 cioccolatini)
* 200 g di cioccolato bianco di buona qualità
* 85 g di latte di cocco
* 150 g di latte condensato zuccherato
* 20 g di burro
* 80 g di cocco essicato
+ circa 300 g di cioccolato al latte

Riunite il latte di cocco e quello condensato e scaldateli quasi fino a ebollizione.
Mettete in una ciotola il cioccolato bianco tritato finemente e versateci sopra il latte caldo.
Mescolate finché il cioccolato non si sarà sciolto completamente.
Aggiungete il burro precedentemente lasciato ammorbidire e alla fine il cocco.
Coprite la ciotola e lasciate raffreddare il composto a temperatura ambiente, e successivamente anche in frigo se dovesse risultare ancora troppo morbido.
Trasferite il composto al cocco in una tasca da pasticcere con la punta tonda liscia e formate su un foglio di carta da forno tanti bastoncini di grandezza che preferite.
Copriteli con un foglio di pellicola e lasciate rassodare in frigo per qualche ora, o ancora meglio, tutta la notte.
Fate sciogliere e poi temperate il cioccolato al latte (istruzioni QUI).
Immergete i bastoncini al cocco nel cioccolato e poi lasciateli asciugare su un foglio di carta da forno.
Una volta asciutti conservateli in un luogo fresco e asciutto, protetti dal umidità.

Čokoladice s kokosom

(za oko 25 čokoladica)
* 200 g kvalitetne bijele čokolade
* 85 g kokosovog mlijeka
* 150 g zaslađenog kondenziranog mlijeka
* 20 g maslaca
* 80 g kokosovog brašna
+ oko 300 g mliječne čokolade                                        

Zagrijte kokosovo mlijeko pomiješano sa zaslađenim kondenziranim mlijekom skoro do vrenja.
U zdjelu stavite sitno nasjeckanu bijelu čokoladu. Prelijte je vrućim mlijekom i miješajte žlicom dok se potpuno ne istopi.
Umiješajte maslac, a zatim i kokosovo brašno.
Kad ste dobro sjedinili smjesu ostavite je da se potpuno ohladi na sobnoj temperaturi, a po potrebi kasnije i u hladnjaku.
Premjestite smjesu u slastičarsku vrećicu s okruglim otvorom (ili obično plastičnu vrećicu kojoj odrežite vrh).
Oblikujte uz pomoć vrećice na komadu papira za pečenje ili plehu obloženom prozirnom folijom, prutiće veličine po želji.
Stavite ih u hladnjak na nekoliko sati ili još bolje preko noći, da se stisnu i malo prosuše.
Otopite i temperirajte mliječnu čokoladu (UPUTE za temperiranje čokolade.
Uvaljajte oblikovane kokos prutiće u otopljenu čokoladu i stavljajte ih na papir za pečenje da se čokolada stegne. Ako ste čokoladu pravilno temperirali ona će se sama osušiti na sobnoj temperaturi bez potrebe da čokoladice poslije stavljate u hladnjak.
Čuvajte ih na suhom i ne previše toplom mjestu.