Turtles Without Nuts: Fruit Cup Turtles Recipe

A turtle without nuts? Believe it. This controversial confection is a key player in the new book Turtle, Truffle, Bark: Simple and Indulgent Chocolates to Make at Home.

Is it ok to make turtles with fruit instead of nuts? I say as long as the caramel is present, proceed. What do you think? Here's the recipe. 

Fruit Cup Turtles

Eek! A turtle without nuts? Well, why the hell not?
These days, we’ve got such an assortment of dried fruits to choose from, it boggles the mind. I can’t get

enough of those dried tart cherries, so let’s throw those in, along with chopped papaya and a bit of chopped, candied lemon peel. Let’s pretend these turtles are health food, and top them with toasted pumpkin seeds.

Chocolate color? Choose your poison. There is absolutely no way to do these wrong. Take two of these and call me in the morning!

• 2 cups dried tart cherries
• 2 cups chopped papaya
• 1 cup chopped lemon peel
• 3/4 pound caramel
• 1 pound tempered chocolate
• 1/2 cup roasted, salted pumpkin seeds

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Spread cherries in an even layer on the parchment. Layer papaya on top of the cherries. Sprinkle lemon peel on top of cherries and papaya. Set aside.

Place prepared caramel into a bowl. Put bowl in microwave, and heat on high for 45 seconds to 1 minute. Take out of microwave, stir well with medium­sized spatula, and put back in for 30 seconds. At this point, your caramel should be in liquid form.

Scoop a dollop of caramel from the bowl with your small silicone spatula, and using your other spatula, ease the caramel off the spatula and onto the fruit. Try to make them anywhere from 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter, depending on the size of the turtles you’d like to make. You’ll end up with 20 to 24 caramel turtle middles.

When caramel is completely cooled, you can start assembling your turtles.

Line one or two 18x13 sheet pans with parchment paper. Using a candy funnel, deposit dollops of chocolate on the parchment paper. Each one should be approximately 1 1⁄2 inches in diameter and there should be about an inch between each dollop. Make about six dollops, then place a caramel middle on each one. Continue making bottoms, topping with caramel, every six or so. When you have all your bottoms and middles done, go back to where you started and top the caramel with chocolate. You want to use enough chocolate to mostly cover the caramel. Sprinkle pumpkin seeds on top.

When turtles are completely hardened, they will last in an airtight container for three weeks. 

Excerpted with permission from Turtle, Truffle, Bark: Simple and Indulgent Chocolates to Make at Home

Chocolate Peanut Butter Eggs for Peanut Butter and Co.

Easter Candy has come a long way. When I was young, it seemed as if it was a matter of chocolate bunnies, jelly beans, and your choice of creme eggs or mini eggs in terms of treats. Then…along came the peanut butter egg. A delectable nugget of sweetened peanut butter coated in rich chocolate, it rocked my Easter basket and my world. Here’s a homemade version of a store-bought treat, made yet awesomer by incorporating peanut butter in the filling and the topping.

A word of advice? If you’re creating these confections for a crowd, please make a double batch. They’re seriously that simple, that addictive, and that good.

For the recipe, visit Peanut Butter and Company!

Sweet Find: Chilmark Chocolates, Martha's Vineyard

So, I have relatives who live on Martha's Vineyard. They live their year-round, so I guess that makes them "townies", or "Islanders".

And in spite of me asking them "have you hung out with Carly Simon and/or James Taylor lately?" every time we talk, they still love me enough to have introduced me to a sweet island treasure: Chilmark Chocolates.

It's true. While recently visiting SpyFamily in New Jersey, the Vineyard division of the family brought with them a box of assorted truffles by Chilmark. At first sight, it appeared to be a fairly regular box of chocolates.

But like some guy once said about a box of chocolates "you never know what you're gonna get". And in this case, it was a sweet surprise: old-fashioned, but exquisitely executed chocolate truffles and confections, including milk chocolates, dark chocolates, enrobed truffles, and flat bark-type chocolates. The chocolate was not especially fancy, but more like an exquisite version of an everyday brand, and in that way it became a sort of sublime experience. There is just something about these chocolates.

They have a sweet story, too; as I learned from this 1987 New York Times article,

CHILMARK CHOCOLATES began four years ago (CS Note: that would be 1983), the product of a young woman's passion for making fine chocolates. It has evolved into a social experiment in which about 30 workers with disabilities make and sell chocolates, using equipment adapted to their needs.

''Both the chocolates and working with the disabled were sort of trial-and-error,'' said Jan Campbell, the 25-year-old founder of this cottage industry in Chilmark, Mass., on Martha's Vineyard. ''We learned both as we went along.''

The chocolates, which are hand-dipped or handmade, are Ms. Campbell's invention. She learned the basics five years ago from her father, Malcolm, the vice president of the Van Leer Chocolate Corporation in Jersey City. Soon, she had turned her hobby into a business, making chocolates in her parents' kitchen and selling them in the farmers' market on Martha's Vineyard.

All I can say is, next time I visit the Vineyard Division of SpyFam, I'm going to forgo spying on Carly Simon's house and head straight for the sweet stuff at Chilmark Chocolates.

Chilmark Chocolates, 19 State Rd. Chilmark, MA 02535

Bonbon Jovi Truffles: A Sweet Treat for Serious Eats

Bonbon Jovi Truffles: they may be slippery when wet, but they don't give love a bad name.

Starting with a can't-go-wrong combination of smooth peanut butter and chocolate, these truffles get a snappy "pop" from Rice Krispies. Simple and delicious, these truffles are as addictive of a guilty pleasure as a hit single. They'll make your mouth as happy as singing Living on a Prayer at the top of your lungs with the windows down.

Note: I made my toppers using a 1-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter to mimic a Bon Jovi band logo, which is an ornate bleeding heart. If you break some hearts while removing them, don't sweat it—just use some confectioners' sugar and water like "glue" to put them back together. Decorate with writing markers or gel icing with the titles of your favorite Bon Jovi hits.

For the full tutorial and post, visit Serious Eats!