Apricots Stuffed with Marzipan and Covered in Chocolate

Since it is past the whole Christmas thing, I can now reveal something that I prepared as a Christmas present for my brother and his girlfriend. The last time I made something covered in chocolate was in January and I completely forgot that it was actually pretty easy. I wanted the present to be quite different from the classic Christmas cookies and feel like something better than just chocolate covered fruit.

Taking the recipe from Delicious Gifts by Jess McCloskey that I got last year, I knew that the extra marzipan and cognac will make my present special. I didn't know though that the result of such a simple recipe would make a deliciously chewy chocolate treat that will put any store bought box of chocolates to shame.

In the end, they were a great success. Their only flaw was that they disappeared too quickly and that there was only 20 of them but since they are so easy to make, I might just make some more in a very near future :)

The Secret World Bonbons

I guess it's no secret that I'm a computer game fan as well. I already published one PC game inspired recipe and now I came up with a way to represent the dark urban fantasy MMORPG The Secret World as a dessert.

In the game, there is another world hidden from us. It is  so near, that it is almost tangible. Every tale and conspiracy theory are true in The Secret World. You are one of the chosen ones by Gaia, you are brought to this world to fight the forces of evil that stir beyond the veil. You belong to one of three factions that, while normally enemies with each other, joined forces to fight against the dark threat. The power-hungry Illuminati controlling the North America, the traditionalist Templars based in Europe, and the chaos instigators Dragon that have hold of Asia.

These three societies each don their colour - blue, red and green respectively - yet to our world they are hidden amongst myths. This gave me and idea for a chocolate covered candy that would have three distinct flavours, so you'd never know which you're going to get. Each, of course, would need to have the proper colour too.