This is a fairly basic Chocolate Truffle recipe. It uses the same Ganache and 3 different coatings. These make a great gift for Valentines Day or any other special occasion. If you are having a Dinner Party serve these after your meal with a coffee.
If you wanted to you could add a couple of spoons of rum or brandy to the cream to flavour it. You could also put a couple of cardamon pods in it to infuse, strain these before you mix with the chocolate.
I have made these very rich using dark chocolate. if you want them a bit less bitter you could use half milk chocolate. It really is important to use the best quality chocolate you can afford.
135g Double Cream
Coco Powder
Icing Sugar
100g Castor Sugar
100g Chopped Hazelnuts
To make the hazelnut topping first line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Then put the sugar and hazelnuts into a wide bottomed pan and heat over a gentle heat to make a caramel.
Do not stir it at all, you can swirl the pan as the sugar melts so it cooks evenly. Take your time with this as it will burn very quickly and become bitter. When the sugar is a nice deep brown colour pour it out onto your parchment paper and spread out with a spoon. This will be incredibly hot so don't be tempted to touch it or taste it!
Leave it to cool completely before breaking it up a bit a giving it a blast in a food processor. You don't want it too fine, it needs a little texture. Don't let it run in the food processor for too long, do short pulses and the heat of the motor will melt the sugar.
When the chocolate is firm use a parisienne cutter (melon baller) to cut it into rounds. Have a mug of hot water and heat up the blade and then using a circular motion cut out the chocolate. You can shape them with your hands but it gets very messy!
When you have them cut out you can finish them with the toppings. Sift the coco onto one plate, sift the icing sugar on another and put the hazelnut praline powder on another. Coat the chocolates in whichever topping you want and arrange them in a box. You can get Petit Four cases from most supermarket if you want to use them. Experiment with different toppings and flavours, and let me know how it goes.
If you wanted to you could add a couple of spoons of rum or brandy to the cream to flavour it. You could also put a couple of cardamon pods in it to infuse, strain these before you mix with the chocolate.
I have made these very rich using dark chocolate. if you want them a bit less bitter you could use half milk chocolate. It really is important to use the best quality chocolate you can afford.
Ingredients
225g Chocolate, Grated or finely sliced.135g Double Cream
Coco Powder
Icing Sugar
100g Castor Sugar
100g Chopped Hazelnuts
Method
To make the chocolates heat the cream over a moderate heat until it just comes to the boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and stir quickly until it is smooth and glossy. Pour the mix into a tin or bowl. Anything that is not too wide will do, it's easier to mould them if the mix is not too shallow, I used a small loaf tin. Put this in the fridge or leave in a cool place to set up.To make the hazelnut topping first line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Then put the sugar and hazelnuts into a wide bottomed pan and heat over a gentle heat to make a caramel.
Do not stir it at all, you can swirl the pan as the sugar melts so it cooks evenly. Take your time with this as it will burn very quickly and become bitter. When the sugar is a nice deep brown colour pour it out onto your parchment paper and spread out with a spoon. This will be incredibly hot so don't be tempted to touch it or taste it!
Leave it to cool completely before breaking it up a bit a giving it a blast in a food processor. You don't want it too fine, it needs a little texture. Don't let it run in the food processor for too long, do short pulses and the heat of the motor will melt the sugar.
When the chocolate is firm use a parisienne cutter (melon baller) to cut it into rounds. Have a mug of hot water and heat up the blade and then using a circular motion cut out the chocolate. You can shape them with your hands but it gets very messy!
When you have them cut out you can finish them with the toppings. Sift the coco onto one plate, sift the icing sugar on another and put the hazelnut praline powder on another. Coat the chocolates in whichever topping you want and arrange them in a box. You can get Petit Four cases from most supermarket if you want to use them. Experiment with different toppings and flavours, and let me know how it goes.
Comments
Post a Comment