Chocolate pinecones: An irresistible festive centrepiece

When the oven is running at full capacity before the holidays, a dessert that doesn’t require baking is like a soothing balm. It makes everything in the kitchen proceed more smoothly, as another item on the list is completed in no time at all. The dessert captivates children due to one special ingredient.

The most popular sweet decoration for Christmas is iced gingerbread cookies. But they aren't the only treats that look wonderful among Christmas dishes. The assortment of tasty decorations also includes chocolate pinecones. You make them similarly to pralines. Sprinkled with icing sugar, they look like they're dusted with snow.

For sweet pinecones, you need chocolate cereal shells. Choose those with the best ingredients, meaning a high content of whole grains and a minimal amount of sugar. Avoid glucose syrup and palm oil, which consists of about 50% saturated fatty acids.

It's best to prepare the dough for pinecones using a bain-marie, meaning in a metal bowl suspended over a pot of boiling water.

Ingredients:

                          
• 300g of cocoa biscuits,
• 140g of soft butter,
• 2 tablespoons of cocoa,
• 140g of dark chocolate,
• 60ml of double cream,
• 1 packet of chocolate breakfast cereal,
• icing sugar.

Instructions:

                      
1. Crush the biscuits into a fine powder—you can use a blender to assist.
2. Melt the chopped chocolate in a bain-marie, mixing with butter and cream until smooth. Add cocoa, mix thoroughly again, and remove from the heat.
3. Add the crushed biscuits to the thick chocolate cream.
4. Shape the mixture into balls with your hands and mould them into pinecone shapes.
5. Insert the chocolate cereal into the finished pralines, starting from the top.
6. Sprinkle with icing sugar and store in the fridge to harden.