White Chocolate Filling Base

This is a basic filling which we use in our chocolate making workshops. It uses 3 very simple ingredients and can then be modified with colours, flavours and other ingredients to make a variety of options. Basically, it is  a recipe for icing! It can also be used on a cake or cupcakes if you have extra left over.

We generally make a single base mix in the quantities listed below, then separate it into 4 portions and make these into variations. You could separate this mixture into 10 or more different flavours as it will be enough to fill around 200 chocolates.

Ingredients

• 200 grams white chocolate (white so you can colour it - use dark or milk if you don't need to add colour)
• 250 grams cream cheese (at room temperature, not cold)
• 2 to 3 cups of icing sugar (depending on preferred consistency - if unsure, start with 2 and add extra to suit your purpose... remember the white chocolate will set making the entire mixture harder, so don't add too much!

Method

• Melt chocolate in a stainless steel or ceramic bowl over a water bath
• Add room temperature cream cheese (if it's cold, it will set the chocolate and that won't blend properly)
• Mix well until smooth and creamy - use a whisk or hand beaters if you have them
• Stir through sifted icing sugar, 1 cup at a time
• If you wish you can add colours and flavours at this time, or you could add solid ingredients like nuts after it has set
• Refrigerate until set, or until firm enough to be pressed into chocolate lined moulds

This can be made weeks in advance as cream cheese has a long life while still being smooth and creamy. You can add almost any flavour or ingredients to this mixture so have fun experimenting! Here's some ideas to get you started:

- Pina Colada: Dried coconut and dried pineapple, or use flavouring. You can use any standard flavouring in this mixture available from the supermarket, but remember when flavouring chocolate by itself you need to use flavouring oils. Add a small amount of yellow colouring.

- Rocky Road: Nuts, marshmallows, coconut and jelly lollies like snakes or raspberries or turkish delight.

- Peppermint: Using a flavour or grated peppermint crisp chocolate bar available from the supermarket. Addd a small amount of green colouring.

- Coffee: Add a small amount of coffee paste (coffee dissolved in a tiny amount of water). Use a good quality coffee to get the best taste.

- Berries: Add a small amount of pink food colouring and stir through some chopped dried cranberries or  cherries.

- Chocolate Liqueur: Add a nip of chocolate liqueur and an extra half cup of icing sugar

- Strawberry or other flavours: Add pink colouring and strawberry flavouring, or pick any other flavour you like and colour this accordingly. There are hundreds of colour and flavour combinations.Why not get creative and try some swirly patterns?!

Good luck, and happy chocolate making!