A Little Pintereality - Almond Joy Truffles Gone Wrong

Darn you, Pinterest.

Darn you for once again convincing me, against my better judgement, that I should try to bake.

In more competent hands (like those of the original baker), I'm sure the that this recipe for Almond Joy Truffles is quite easy and the final product delightful. In my hands, it was a complete and utter mess.

The idea seemed simple - no actual "baking" involved. Mix coconut with corn syrup, cover in chocolate. At home Almond Joy in minutes. Easy Peasy.

Here's the recipe from Desserted Planet...

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 c. Dessicated (Unsweetened) Coconut
• 3/4 c. Light Corn Syrup
• 1 lb. Good Quality Milk or Dark Chocolate Coating
• Slivered Almonds, toasted (or toasted coconut, white chocolate, etc)

Instructions

1. Place coconut in a medium bowl. Bring the corn syrup to a boil over high heat. Pour the corn syrup over the coconut and gently mix to coat. Let this sit for at least one hour.
2. Melt chocolate in a bowl in the microwave at 20 second intervals, stirring between each time until completely smooth and melted. Roll the coconut into small balls and dip in the chocolate. Top immediately with one almond sliver (or whatever you are using) and let dry completely on foil.

Here is the final product from THAT blog - a perfectly formed little bundle of coconutty goodness.

Image from Desserted Planet - NOT my end result

And...here's a run down of my truffle attempt...

I started by combining the coconut and corn syrup. I used cheapo generic products from Kroger. Hey, trying to save a buck.

I let the mixture sit for more than an hour, as directed. Then, I tried to form the coconut balls.

Here's where things went downhill. Maybe I should have sprung for more expensive ingredients. Maybe I misunderstood the meaning of dessicated. Maybe I should have let the mixture sit longer. Maybe I should have mixed it better or more often throughout the wait time. Whatever the reason, the coconut refused to "ball."

I managed to form about 12 lumps, somewhat resembling spheres, getting my hands covered in goo and coconut shreds in the process. 

I melted the chocolate as directed, again using Kroger generic (I KNOW this was a mistake - the blogger told me to use high quality). After melting, I scooped one "ball" up with a spoon and attempted to dip it in the chocolate. 

What happened next makes perfect sense, but I just can't decide what I should have done differently to avoid the result. 

Upon hitting the warm chocolate, the corn syrup in the "ball" liquified and the ball became the pile of grossness you see below.

When sugar is heated, it melts. Makes sense. So, answer me this (really, please do if you can)...how should I have dipped the "balls" to have them remain intact?

Dipping was clearly not going to work, so I switched gears and decided to spoon a bit of chocolate on top of each "truffle."

 I put an almond sliver on each mound and refrigerated to let the chocolate set.

Though the final product doesn't look horrible, it's not without issues.

After being out of the fridge for more than a minute or two, the truffles begin to melt, the corn syrup losing its hold on the coconut. And that Kroger chocolate. Yuck. It seems to have more sugar than a glass of southern sweet tea. 

Chalk this one up as an Allison Pinterest Fail. But oh well, at least it's blog fodder. :)