Eggnog truffles

The eggnog flavor, here transformed into truffles (a very easy recipe that does not call for many ingredients) has already been around my kitchen in cookie, crème brûlée and ice cream form; I loved each and every one of the twists on that classic holiday flavor and maybe, if there’s still time, I will also try Flo Braker’s eggnog pound cake.

Another twist on a classic I adore is Eric Prydz’s “Call on Me” (despite the lame video clip) – not to mention it’s great for the treadmill, too. :)

Eggnog truffles
from The Christmas Candy Book

130g white chocolate, finely chopped
1 ½ tablespoons heavy cream
1 ½ tablespoons rum – or to taste
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg – or to taste
cocoa powder, for rolling the truffles

Place chocolate and cream in a small heatproof bowl and melt over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring until creamy and smooth. Remove from the heat, add the rum and mix to combine. Set aside to cool, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours or overnight. Using a small cookie-scoop or a small spoon, make truffles with 1 ½ teaspoons of ganache per truffle and roll into the cocoa powder. Place in fluted paper cases. Keep refrigerated. Truffles can be refrigerated for up to 5 days.

Makes about 15

Honey and dark chocolate truffles - a great gift

Cookies are my favorite things to give as gifts – they’re super tasty, easy to package and everyone likes them. But facing a lack of butter – I know, what kind of baker forgets to buy butter? – I turned to truffles. And it ended up being a smart choice – my friend was delighted to receive a box of these and told me they were absolutely delicious. And to make things even better I got to use a book I hadn’t flipped in ages.

Honey and dark chocolate truffles
slightly adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

250g (9oz) dark chocolate, finely chopped – I used one with 53% cocoa solids
½ cup (120ml) heavy cream
¼ cup honey
pinch of salt
unsweetened cocoa powder, for rolling the truffles

Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Set aside.
Combine cream, honey and salt in a small saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring until honey is dissolved. When the mixture starts to boil, remove from heat and pour over the chocolate. Mix until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, 3-4 hours or overnight. Using a small cookie-scoop or a spoon, make truffles with generous 1 ½ teaspoons of ganache per truffle and roll into the cocoa powder. Place in fluted paper cases and serve.
Truffles can be refrigerated for up to 5 days.

Makes about 30 truffles

White chocolate, lime and candied kumquat truffles and two kinds of recycling

Hollywood has been recycling some of the movies I loved watching on TV as a kid; last night at the movies I saw the trailer for the new “Conan the Barbarian”, which, to be honest, did not impress me much – for starters, they do not have James Earl Jones as the villain. :)

I’ll stick to recycling food – isn’t it much better? Needing to use up the candied kumquats left from the cupcake recipe, I made truffles – and they turned out absolutely delicious.

White chocolate, lime and candied kumquat truffles
based on a truffle recipe from the gorgeous The Sweet Life: Desserts from Chanterelle

1/3 cup (80ml) heavy cream
225g (8oz) good white chocolate, finely chopped
finely grated zest of 1 lime
1 ½ teaspoons lime juice
heaping 1/3 cup finely chopped candied kumquats*
icing sugar or cocoa powder, for rolling

Place cream and chocolate in a heatproof bowl and melt over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring until creamy and smooth. Remove from the heat, add the lime zest, juice and kumquats and mix to combine. Set aside to cool, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours or overnight. Using a small cookie-scoop or a small spoon, make truffles with 1 slightly rounded teaspoon of ganache per truffle and roll into the icing sugar or cocoa. Place in fluted paper cases and serve.
Truffles can be refrigerated for up to 5 days.

* remove the kumquat slices from syrup and place over a wire rack; set aside overnight to dry, then chop

Makes about 25 truffles

Chocolate-orange truffles with almonds - flavor combos that never tire

Since you already know that I obsess over things from time to time it will come as no surprise to you that I’ve put chocolate and orange together in ganache form again – it worked so well as tart filling I thought it would be delicious as truffles, too (and the almonds add a wonderful texture element here – do not omit them).

That way, I know you won’t find it weird that I’ve already finished the first book (644 pages!), have begun the second and bought the third. ;)

Chocolate-orange truffles with almonds
slightly adapted from the amazing, out-of-this-world Bon Appetit Desserts

1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon (90ml) heavy cream
170g (6oz) dark chocolate, finely chopped (do not exceed 61% cacao)
finely grated zest of 1 small orange
1 teaspoon Cointreau or Grand Marnier – or to taste
½ cup flaked almonds, lightly toasted, cooled and finely chopped

Place chocolate and cream in a heatproof bowl and melt over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring until creamy and smooth. Remove from the heat, add the orange zest and the Cointreau and mix to combine. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours or overnight. Using a small cookie-scoop or a spoon, make truffles with 1 slightly rounded teaspoon of ganache per truffle and roll into the chopped almonds. Place in fluted paper cases and serve.
Truffles can be refrigerated for up to 5 days.

Makes about 25 truffles

White chocolate passion fruit truffles

You may think that I’m on a passion fruit kick, but what really happened is that I got carried away, bought a load of passion fruit and therefore had to use them all. :)

These truffles are soft, delicious, and the zing of the passion fruit perfectly balances the sweetness of the white chocolate. You can follow Candace’s recipe and dip the truffles in melted chocolate, but I wasn’t bold enough to try that on a 32°C (89.6°F) day. :)

White chocolate passion fruit truffles
recipe from here; inspiration for making truffles from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

560g (20oz) good quality white chocolate, finely chopped
½ cup (120ml) heavy cream
¾ cup (180ml) passion fruit pulp – I kept the seeds
icing sugar, sifted, for dusting

Place the chocolate in a large bowl. Heat the cream and passion fruit pulp to a boil separately in small containers – it is important to heat the cream and pulp separately, as the acid in the pulp will likely curdle the cream.
Pour the hot cream and half of the passion fruit pulp over the chopped chocolate. Let sit for 1 minute and then gently stir with a rubber spatula. Once the mixture is creamy and combined, add the remaining passion fruit pulp and stir again until smooth. Refrigerate for a few hours until firm.
Using a very small cookie scoop or spoon, portion out 2.5cm (1in) balls of the firm white chocolate mixture onto a parchment lined sheet pan. If the truffle mixture gets too soft, place back into the refrigerator to firm up. Gently and quickly roll each into a well rounded ball. Refrigerate the balls until they are firm again, then gently roll them in the icing sugar. Refrigerate.

Makes about 100 truffles – I halved the recipe above, used 1 ½ rounded teaspoons of mixture per truffle and got 30

Chocolate, pistachio and orange-blossom truffles

I was watching some music videos with Joao last Sunday and told him that even though I’ve loved Queen for as long as I can remember not until when I was an adult I realized that the blond girl on this video was Roger Taylor. :)

What can I say? There are things we learn late in life. Like choosing dark chocolate over milk chocolate when making truffles. :)

Chocolate, pistachio and orange-blossom truffles
slightly changed from Australian Gourmet Traveller

300g dark chocolate (58% cocoa solids), coarsely chopped – I used 70%
200ml heavy cream
1 tablespoon orange-blossom water*, or to taste
½ cup (70g) pistachio kernels, lightly toasted and coarsely chopped
½ cup (45g) Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted

Combine chocolate and cream in a medium saucepan, stir over low heat until melted and smooth (4-5 minutes), stir through orange-blossom water and 50g pistachios. Pour into a shallow tray and set aside to cool. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm (2-3 hours). Finely chop remaining pistachios.

Mix remaining chopped pistachio and cocoa powder in a small bowl. Roll about ½ tablespoon of the mixture into rough balls. Roll the truffles on the cocoa/pistachio mixture and gently shake to coat. Truffles will keep refrigerated in an airtight container for 10 days.

* I could not feel the orange blossom water flavor – you might want to add a little bit more

Serves 15 – I made 2/3 of the recipe above and got 23 truffles

Dark chocolate, cinnamon and hazelnut truffles

A quick look at my sweet recipe index and you'll notice that I don’t make truffles very often – I love working with chocolate, but mostly stick with cookies and cakes. To me, truffles are such a special treat they call for a special occasion as well – like that gorgeous pair of shoes you’ll only wear on your birthday or anniversary. :)

These were made for a special someone, a dear friend of mine who happens to be crazy about shoes, too – let’s just say that her last name could pretty much be Bradshaw. :)

Dark chocolate, cinnamon and hazelnut truffles
from Donna Hay magazine

450g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), chopped
1 ¼ cups (300ml) heavy cream
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
40 hazelnuts, roasted*
1 cup (90g) cocoa powder

Place the chocolate, cream and cinnamon in a saucepan over low heat and stir until melted and smooth. Pour into a lightly buttered 1 liter-capacity dish and set aside to cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours or until firm enough to roll.
Roll teaspoonfuls of the mixture into rough balls. Press a hazelnut into the middle and roll to enclose.
Place the cocoa on a baking tray, place the truffles on the tray and gently shake to coat.

* place the hazelnuts on a baking tray and roast in a preheated 180°C/350°F oven for 5 minutes or until lightly golden. Place the hot hazelnuts in the fold of a tea towel and rub back and forth to remove the skins.

Makes 40 – I halved the recipe and got 25 truffles

White chocolate, cranberry and Cointreau truffles

Before I got married, people used to tell me that brides never eat during the wedding – they are too busy walking around, talking to guests, thanking for presents...

I might not have eaten tons of food during the wedding but not because I was terribly busy. I did talk to everyone and it was wonderful to see all those dear faces on such a magical day for me, but that was my day and I wanted it to be about things I like doing. That’s why I danced a lot – so much my shoes were off by the end of the night – and enjoyed the moment with Joao to the fullest, with a slice of cake and ice cream on the side.

The catering company we hired prepared a snack box for us to take to the hotel – that was so nice! There were a lot of sweets in the box and they were delicious – I could enjoy the ones I hadn’t eaten during the wedding. :)

I am telling you all that because my Brazilian buddy Fernanda is hosting an event about wedding sweets and candies, which is something absolutely traditional here in Brazil.
I’m taking part on the event with these truffles; the ones I had on my wedding were plain, with just a touch of brandy, but I wanted to add an unusual ingredient for Brazilians that goes so well with orange – cranberries.

White chocolate, cranberry and Cointreau truffles
adapted from here

300g good white chocolate
¼ cup (60ml) whipping cream
1 ½ tablespoons of Cointreau or other orange flavored liqueur
½ cup dried cranberries, finely chopped
1 teaspoon grated orange zest or rind
½ cup (70g) icing sugar

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler (bain-marie).
Warm the cream in a saucepan or microwave but be careful not to scald.
Add the warm cream to the chocolate (still in the double boiler) and mix together until evenly combined.
Remove from heat, add the Cointreau, cranberries and the grated zest and beat the mixture until smooth – chocolate will look curdled, don’t worry. Just beat well until glossy again.
Cover and refrigerate the mixture until it has set, 4 hours or overnight – remove mixture from fridge 10 minutes before rolling the truffles.
With a small spoon or cookie scoop roll small balls of the mixture.
Dust the truffles by rolling them in icing sugar and refrigerate again until hard.
Place into small paper or foil cases to serve if desired.

Makes 25-30