Easy Chocolate Pudding

Written and Created by PaperCraftCentral Susan

Make a last minute easy chocolate pudding gifts for Christmas, or change the colours and make a special treat for any occasion - pink hearts for Valentine's Day, a sugar flower or jelly bean for a birthday, sprinkles in any colour to suit the day. You are only limited by your imagination for decorating possibilities.

Don't forget to package your treats in wonderful handmade papercraft wrappings. Try a cellophane bag and a bag topper, for instance. You can make nice bag toppers with your papercraft punches, a cellophane bag, stamps and maybe staples or ribbon.

"There's nothing better than a good friend, except a good friend with chocolate.
~LindaGrayson, The Pickwick Papers"

Easy Chocolate Puddings for Christmas or any other special occasion are quick and simple to make at home. You won't believe how quick these are to make. And they look wonderful, all packaged up in cellophane with a decorated bag topper.

I made some of these at the last minute for a Christmas event.

By the way, there's a place to upload pictures of your own special treats at the bottom of the page. Scroll down to see. I hope you will show me your variations of how to decorate gift bags for different occasions.

How to Make Easy Chocolate Pudding Treats

Here's what you need to make 12 Favors:

• A package of 12 Chocolate Royale biscuits/cookies, but any chocolate covered marshmallow cookie with a biscuit/cookie base will do (Chocolate Royales are found in Australian supermarkets)
• If you cannot find ready made chocolate marshmallow cookies, you could choose a round cookie base, a jumbo marshmallow, and dip them in melted chocolate yourself. That would make it even more special!
  
• About 4 tablespoons of white chocolate melts
• 12 x Jaffa lollies (again, these are Australian. You could use maraschino cherries, halved, or any round red candy that looks like a cherry. Jaffas are actually orange flavoured chocolates. Yum!)
• 12 x Spearmint leaf lollies (yep, Australian, though they may be harder to find these days. I heard Allens stopped making them! Use green coloured jellies or perhaps some strips of angelica instead to make them look like leaves)
• A snap lock bag and a pair of sharp scissors

Here's what to do:

• Place the biscuits/cookies out on a cookie sheet or some baking (parchment) paper leaving a little space between each.
• Take out the lollies/candies so they are within reach of the cookies. You will need to work quickly.
• Place the white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and melt it in 20 second bursts, stirring between heatings, or melt over a double boiler on a stove top. Only melt the white chocolate till it is smooth enough to pour or spoon into a bag.HINT: chocolate becomes grainy if it gets any hint of moisture in it while it is melting, Use a dry metal spoon, a dry pot, and if using a double boiler, make sure no steam gets into the chocolate.
  
• Spoon the melted chocolate into the plastic zip lock bag. Snip one corner of the bag with the sharp scissors and use the bag to squeeze the melted goodness onto the top of each cookie, to make it look like custard on a Christmas pudding. Allow it to run down the sides of the biscuit a little so it does look like custard.
• Quickly take a Jaffa and hold it on the custard on top of a cookie. Only let go of it when you can feel it will not slide off. Quickly add a spearmint leaf and hold it there too till it is safely anchored
• Place the completed puddings into the refrigerator to set.

While the puddings are firming in the refrigerator, eat some of the leftover lollies and die cut some bag toppers with your Die Cut and Embossing Machine  (I used the now retired Top Note die but you could use circles, ovals or squares too, as long as they can be folded in half and fit the top of your cellophane bags) out of cardstock and decorate them as you wish with your stamps and markers or blends.

I added each recipient's name to the topper.You could make your own gift tags to attach to the bag topper as well, and use paper flowers like Poinsettiaas for Christmas?

Then I add one or two decorated biscuits/cookies to a small cellophane bag and staple it closed with my topper.

Now you have your Easy Chocolate Puddings all ready to give as special favours.

Let me see how yours turn out when you make them by adding them below.

PS: Keep them away from other goodie lovers around you. They can disappear fast!

PPS: If you need some more recipes for things to put in your decorative boxes and containers, see my Chocolate Favor Recipe board on Pintrest.