The Snow is Falling

Christmas in Sydney is not at all cold (though 2012's Christmas certainly seemed so - let's hope for a repeat, shall we?). Nope. Not one bit as freezing as Europe and those other Northern countries. Even our Winter is warm in comparison.

But for some reason I long for sub-zero temperatures, sweaters and socks, hot chocolate and a cozy fireplace.

Those cold nights wrapped up in blankets, with hot chocolate and a favourite movie.(Titanic, anyone?) *Sigh* Those are the kind of things a girl wants....

But instead of sulking and remembering how UNBEARABLY HOT it is in Summer, and how not-really-cold it is in Winter, I made CHOCOLATE SNOWMEN!!! YAY

 

These cake balls are eeeeeeeeeasy - so easy in fact I've already made them three times this Christmas season!

All you need to do is bake up any chocolate cake recipe you fancy (or any other flavour, for that matter), and then when it has cooled, crumble it with your fingers into a bowl until the cake resembles crumbs.

Right. Good work. That was fun, I know. Now make a small amount (maybe 1/2 - 1 cup full) of buttercream. Should be chocolate, I guess, but so long as it's sugar I really don't think anyone will care! Mix this into your cake crumbs until everything is slightly sticky with frosting.

Roll balls of cake (about 1-2 Tablespoons full) and put them on a baking sheet lined with baking/parchment paper. These balls of deliciousness need to be chilled until firm - about 30 minutes.

 

Once the balls are chilled, melt some white chocolate buttons (I end up using about 2 packets, but not all at once since the chocolate resets quickly) and dip each ball into the chocolate. I'll admit, this is the hardest part for me, and the least likeable part of the process. BUT it gets better from here!

As soon as a ball has had its dunking in chocolate, place it back on the baking paper and quickly put a marshmallow on top for the snowman's head. Repeat with the rest of the balls, then chill them again in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes. 

Decorating time!!! Melt some more white chocolate, and, one snowman at a time, drizzle the chocolate over its marshmallow head until the whole marshmallow is covered with chocolate.

You don't want to drizzle so much chocolate that you can't see the first layer of chocolate on the cake ball, though, since you want the snowmen to look as though they are melting :D 

Now, quick as you can before the chocolate sets, stick a fruit tingle or other flat disc-shaped lolly onto the marshmallow head as a hat base.

Wrap a sour strap (cut into 4 so it's not so chunky) around the snowman's neck for a scarf to keep himself from getting too cold.

Then drop cachous onto the head for eyes, and a small orange (or blue for a frostbite snowman!) chocolate chip for the nose.

If you wish, you can add more coloured choc chips, some M&M's or some cachous onto the body for buttons.

Dip a mini marshmallow into some white chocolate so that it will stick to the fruit tingle hat base.

 

And voila! Gorgeous and addictive chocolate cake snowmen! Perfect for that Christmas party, or just for some fun and yummy-ness!