Peppermint Creams - by Lorraine Pascale

I saw this recipe on  Lorraine Pascale's TV programme and I just had to try making them, my boyfriend adores pepper mint creams as they remind him of his Grandmother. I made them for my friends and family for Easter and they were a big hit, great for any occasion and perfect for a gift for someone special.

Ingredients:

• 320g icing sugar
• 130g condensed milk
• 2 tsp peppermint extract - I added in a little extra to get a nice mint flavour
• 200g dark chocolate (i used milk as my family don't like dark chocolate)

Recipe:

1. Add the icing sugar, condensed milk and peppermint extract in a bowl. Mix all the ingredients together until you can form a icing sugar dough ball (you might need to work it a little).
2. Place the dough onto a floured (with icing sugar) work surface and roll it out until the dough is between 3 and 5mm thick.
3. Cut out your shapes using whichever tool you prefer, a shot glass/spirit measure give a great size.
4. Place your peppermint cream shapes onto a parchment lined surface (I didn't have this so I used cling film) and leave in the fridge for at least ah hour to set.
5. Then melt 200g chocolate in a pyrex bowl over a simmering pan of water (make sure the water is not touching the bottom of the bowl as it will make it too hot).  Take your peppermint creams out of the fridge and dip them in the chocolate half way or allow the first half to set in the fridge before coating the other half to cover them completely.

Wrap in little bags with ribbon or on tissue paper in small boxes.