Homemade chocolates a la York Peppermint Patties

A bit late on posting this, my apologies. I made these during the holidays to give out as gifts to people. They look complicated, and taste amazing, but really aren't that difficult. They do however, take quite a bit of time from beginning to end. Make these with any extracts. I used Maple, Peppermint, Raspberry and Orange. You could use coconut, lemon, or any other extracts your choose. The Peppermint is quite a strong flavor so use the 1/2 tsp measure for that. The other flavors, I did end up adding more of the extracts so that they had a strong and rich flavor. Make sure that you adjust and add a bit more of the confectioners sugar to keep the consistency the same. I also added gel food coloring to mine. If you choose to add the coloring add it to the liquids Before YOU add it to the sugar. Otherwise you'll get splotches of color. This needs to be quite stiff, otherwise when you dip into the chocolate they will get melty and end up an odd shape. Onto the recipe!

Homemade Peppermint Patties
from Gourmet Magazine
2 1/4 cups confectioners sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 1/2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
1 T shortening
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar, for kneading and rolling
10 ounces 70%-cacao bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (Try other kinds of chocolate with different flavors!)

Beat 2 1/4 cups confectioners sugar with corn syrup, water, peppermint extract, shortening, and a pinch of salt using an electric mixer (with paddle attachment if using a stand mixer) at medium speed until just combined. Knead on a work surface dusted with remaining 1/4 cup confectioners sugar until smooth. Roll out between sheets of parchment paper on a large baking sheet into a 7- to 8-inch round (about 1/4 inch thick). Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes. Remove top sheet of paper and sprinkle round with confectioners sugar. Replace top sheet, then flip round over and repeat sprinkling on other side.

Cut out as many rounds as possible with cutter, transferring to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Freeze until firm, at least 10 minutes. Meanwhile, gather scraps, reroll, and freeze, then cut out more rounds, freezing them.

To make chocolate coating:
Melt three fourths of chocolate in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Remove bowl from pan and add remaining chocolate, stirring until smooth. Cool until thermometer inserted at least 1/2 inch into chocolate registers 80°F.

Return water in pan to a boil and remove from heat. Set bowl with cooled chocolate over pan and reheat, stirring, until thermometer registers 88 to 91°F. Remove bowl from pan.

A different way to do this would be to place your chocolate chunks into a microwave safe dish and put them in the microwave for 15 second intervals. Stirring after every 15 seconds. When it starts to melt just keep it up. I DID NOT temper my chocolate and everything turned out just fine. So don't be intimidated by this step.

Balance 1 peppermint round on a fork and submerge in melted chocolate, letting excess drip off and scraping back of fork against rim of bowl if necessary, then return patty to sheet. Coat remaining rounds, rewarming chocolate to 88 to 91°F as necessary. Let patties stand until chocolate is set, about 1 hour.

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