Butter an 8 inch square tin. Break the chocolate into pieces and put witll the butter into a basin set over a pan of hot water. Leave until the mixture has melted, stirring once or twice. Remove the basin from the pan of water and stir in the cream and the vanilla essence. Gradually mix in the icing sugar. Transfer to the tin, leave to cool, and then cut into sguares. Alternatively, keep the mixture soft in a basill over a: pan of hot water, off the Stove. Take toaspoons of the mixture, roll into balls in hands dusted with icing sugar and dip into dishes of dessicated coconut, chopped nuts, powdered drinking chcocolate or `hundreds and thousands'.