Chocoballs

Next on the list of Honeydukes delights? Cream-filled chocolates!

"'It's this sweet shop,' said Ron, a dreamy look coming over his face, 'where they've got everything... Pepper Imps-- they make you smoke at the mouth-- and great fat Chocoballs full of strawberry mousse and clotted cream, and these really excellent sugar quills, which you can suck in class and just look like you're thinking what to write next'" (Prisoner of Azkaban 77).

If you'd like, you can fill your chocoballs with clotted cream (which is very tasty), but it costs around $8 a (very tiny) bottle. I'll stick to strawberry mousse, thanks.

To Make Strawberry Mousse, You Will Need:

2 cups hulled fresh strawberries

1 Tbs sugar

1/2 pint heavy cream

3 egg whites

1. Chop hulled strawberries in a food processor, leave a few chunks. Mix in the sugar.

2. In a bowl, whip the cream with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.

3. In another bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer (with clean beaters) until stiff peaks form.

4. Fold the whipped cream into the strawberries. Mix well.

5. Fold the egg whites into the strawberry mixture. Mix well. Pop in the fridge until you're ready to use it.

For Strawberry Chocoballs, You Will Need:

Melting chocolate (couverture-- I recommend Wilton Melting Chocolate)

Strawberry Mousse (the above recipe makes about 100 times more than you need)

Candy/truffle molds

1. Melt your chocolate according to manufacturer's instructions.

2. Squeeze a bit of melted chocolate into each truffle cavity. Use your (washed!) fingers to be sure that a thin layer covers the whole cavity. Let the chocolate set.

3. Use a teaspoon to drop a small amount of strawberry mousse into each little chocolate bowl.

4. Squeeze more chocolate over the strawberry mousse, encapsulating it inside the chocoball. You make need to use your fingers again to gently smooth it out  bit.

5. Let the chocolate set, and then place the molds in the fridge for at least ten minutes. The colder the chocolates, the easier they will be to un-mold.

6. Carefully pop the chocoballs out of the molds. Be gentle and patient. I popped the bottoms off several of mine before I got the hang of it.

Though a little bit labor-intensive, these are quite delicious! And bonus, they look really impressive when you tell people you made them yourself! Enjoy!