Showing posts with label truffles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label truffles. Show all posts

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Gin Lime Coconut Truffles #GalentinesDay


Tart and sweet with the zip of a little gin, these white chocolate and lime truffles are rolled in coconut for a little trip down the islands.

Happy Galentine’s Day! Yep, you read that right. Galentine’s Day: The day women celebrate women, breakfast style, inspired by this scene in Parks and Recreation.


Our smart and lovely organizer, Nancy from gotta get baked, is in charge once more this year, along with her co-host, Courtney from Neighborfood. Their invitation to join the fun said we must also write about a woman who inspires us. I’d like to write about 43,990,000. Give or take a few.

Many years ago, when I was living in Brunei with my father, we had a sweet lady from the Philippines working for us. She cooked, she cleaned and she helped look after my little baby half sister. I was surprised to learn that she had been a schoolteacher in her home country but could make more working as a housekeeper in Bandar Seri Begawan than she could teaching school in her village. So she applied for a job through a maid service, left her own children behind with their grandparents and moved to a foreign country to raise other people’s children.

Lirio was one of an estimated 83 percent of 53 millions domestic workers worldwide, who are women. (Source: International Labor Organization) Millions of whom leave their own families behind, to make a better living elsewhere, so that their own children will have better lives. The sacrifices they make, living with strangers, in strange lands, caring for families other than their own, are deemed worthwhile, because the support money they send home each month is crucial to the wellbeing of their families.

Here in the UAE, it is common practice to hire maids from overseas. I see them in flocks at bus stops on Friday morning, often their only day off, headed to the malls or beaches, to spend time with friends. They are laughing and smiling, enjoying their freedom and a day of rest and recreation. But I know they must miss their children, all the day-to-day milestones of skinned knees and spelling tests, afterschool snacks and goodnight kisses. I admire their work ethic, their dedication and their sacrifice. It’s never an easy job but they are doing what mothers the world over want to do, care for their children, in the best way they know how.

To read about the women who inspire the rest of our Galentine’s Day group and to check out the other wonderful recipes, make sure to scroll down to the link list below.

Ingredients
For the truffles:
10 1/2 oz or 300g good quality white chocolate – I use Lindt bars.
6 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
2/3 cup or 150g butter
Zest 1 lime
2 tablespoons lime juice
5 tablespoons gin

For rolling the truffles:
1 cup or 85g desiccated coconut (Not sweetened coconut flakes)
Zest 1 lime

Method
Zest your limes and then juice them, keeping the zest and juice separate.



Add the cream and the white chocolate, broken up into squares, to a heat resistant mixing bowl. Place the bowl on top of a pot about one quarter filled with water. Bring the pot of water to a slow boil, stirring the chocolate and cream in the bowl above, until the chocolate is completely melted.



Add in the butter, cut into pieces and stir until it is melted.

Remove the bowl from the heat and add in the zest of one lime, 2 tablespoonf of lime juice and the gin. Stir until completely combined.

Leave the mixture to cool and then place it, covered, in the refrigerator until it turns solid.



Mix the zest from the second lime with the desiccated coconut.

Use a teaspoon to scoop out small amounts of the firm mixture and roll them into balls between your clean palms. Place the balls in the dry coconut and roll them around until they are well covered.



Place them directly on a serving plate or use little paper candy cups. If you are living in a warm climate, keep the truffles refrigerated until you are ready to serve. These also freeze beautifully!



This made 33 truffles but you would probably get more if you can control yourself and make them all as small as the first ones. Mine tend to get bigger and bigger as I go along.


Enjoy!

And now, as promised, the other Galentine's Day recipes with inspiring stories. Make one for a special woman in your life! 

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Thursday, December 18, 2014

Dark Chocolate Mint Truffle Mini Bundts #BundtBakers

Homemade dark chocolate mint truffles make these darling little Bundts special. Start at least one day ahead to make sure the truffles have time to set and freeze before baking your little cakes. 

Technically this is not part of the official Christmas Week posts but, seriously, what is more Christmassy than mint? I'm thinking candy canes, After Eights, York Peppermint Patties and all manner of candy bark with crushed mints. I submit to you, nothing is! That is why I was delighted when this month’s Bundt Baker host, Laura from The Spiced Life chose mint as our theme. And since my younger daughter is now home for the holidays, I went with one of her favorites, mint and chocolate. From the time she was tiny, her favorite candy has been those York peppermint patties. It’s a classic combination.

Make sure you scroll on down to the bottom of my recipe to see the mint delights that all the other Bundt Bakers have created for you today.

Ingredients
For the truffles:
1/3 cup + 5 teaspoons or 100ml whipping cream
7 oz or 200g dark chocolate, broken into pieces (I used one bar of plain dark and one bar of dark with mint to add more minty goodness.)
1 1/2 teaspoons mint extract
Cocoa and/or powdered sugar, for rolling

For the cake:
1 1/2 cups or 190g plain flour
1 cup or 200g sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup or 27g best-quality cocoa powder
3/4 cup or 170g unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2/3 cup or 150ml sour cream

For the mint glaze:
1 cup or 125g confectioner’s or icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon mint extract
1-2 tablespoons milk

Method
First we need to make the truffles. They are super easy but the chocolate/cream mixture needs time to set before rolling into balls. And then you want to freeze them before adding them to the batter to bake. So, as mentioned in the headnote, start a day early.

The Truffles
Bring the cream just to the boil in a pan or in a microwaveable bowl in the microwave oven. Remove from the stove or microwave and stir in the mint extract and chocolate.

You could eat this with a spoon. Try not to. 

Stir until melted. Cool, then chill in the refrigerator until the mixture is solid, about 2-3 hrs.

Scoop out teaspoons of the mixture and roll into tiny balls with your hands, then roll the balls in cocoa or powdered sugar.

You want at least 24 balls (two per mini Bundt) but will probably get many more since they have to be small to fit in and on the little Bundts. Not to worry. They are delicious and any extras will get eaten. Freeze the truffles till you are ready to bake.

I did half cocoa and half powdered sugar. And yes, there are three big ones. I got tired of rolling when I had enough little ones. 


Okay, so it’s the next day now, right? And your tiny truffles are frozen. On to the cake!

This recipe is from Nigella’s Feast and could not be easier. She chucks everything straight in the food processor but I like to sift my dry ingredients (except the sugar) since sometimes they have lumps. Feel free to follow her method. Original recipe can be found online here.

The Cake Batter
Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C. Grease and flour your mini Bundt pan or use that baking spray that has flour in it.

Measure your flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl and mix well.

Put the rest of the cake ingredients - sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla and sour cream - into a food processor. Sift the dry ingredients into the processor.



Process until you have a smooth, thick batter.

You could also eat this with a spoon. Try not to.


Put one scoop of batter into each cup. Press one mint truffle into the batter then top with the remaining batter. I put the powdered sugar ones in the cakes and saved the cocoa ones for on top.



Bake in your preheated oven for about 18-20 minutes or until the tops are springy to the touch. Clearly the toothpick-in-the-middle test won’t work here.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes then turn the Bundts out to cool on a wire rack. I trimmed the overhanging edges off of my mini Bundts to neaten them up but you can leave yours on if you want.



While the Bundts cool, mix up your glaze.

The Glaze
Put the powdered sugar into a small mixing bowl with the mint extract and one tablespoon of milk. Stir well.



Keep adding milk a 1/2 teaspoon at a time until you get the pouring consistency you desire. I like a thick glaze but some people prefer thinner so you have to be the judge.

When the little Bundts are cooled completely, pour or drizzle on the glaze. I like to use a piping bag because it’s less messy than actual drizzling and I have more control.



Top each mini Bundt with a little chocolate mint truffle.



Enjoy!

The truffle inside makes a nice minty,chocolate rich bite near the top of the mini Bundt.






Bundt Bakers Logo


Your Bundts with mint! We've got 'em!

What is Bundt Bakers? It's a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Bundt Bakers Pinterest board for incredible Bundt cake recipes and inspiration.  You can find information and links to the recipes for each month in our  #BundtBakers page.

How is the monthly theme determined? We take turns hosting each month and the host gets to choose the theme/ingredient.

Would you like to join in the fun? If you are a food blogger, send an email with your blog name and url to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.

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Sunday, November 30, 2014

Brandy Truffles

Deep, dark and chocolatey, these easy-to-make truffles are spiked with heady brandy and rolled in cocoa. The addition of digestive biscuit crumbs makes them less sticky so they are easier to roll. 

This week my Sunday Supper group is bringing you some great gifts from the kitchen and nothing says Have the Merriest of Christmases like a gift of chocolate and booze! These pretty little truffles have both in spades. Make sure to scroll down to the bottom of my recipe to see all the other great gifts from the kitchen. Many thanks to my friend, Renee from Magnolia Days for hosting this special event.

Ingredients
7oz or 200g semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup or 175ml whipping cream
5 tablespoons brandy
1 1/4 cups or 100g cocoa powder
 8 3/4 oz or 250g digestive biscuits (Graham crackers can be substituted but since they are drier, you might not need as many.)

To serve or gift: small paper muffin cups

Method
Tip the chocolate chips into a heatproof bowl.  Heat the cream in the microwave or in a pot on the stove until it is just about to boil.

Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir until all the chips are melted.



Add in the brandy and stir well.


Pop the mixture in the refrigerator to cool. Set a timer for 20 minutes and stir the mixture when it goes off and put the bowl back in the refrigerator. Keep doing this until the mixture is completely cool.

Meanwhile, put your digestive biscuits in a plastic bag and use a rolling pin to crush them to a fine powder.


When the chocolate/cream mixture is cool, stir in the digestive biscuits a few spoonfuls at a time, until you reach a consistency firm enough to roll into balls and hold their shape. I used all the biscuit crumbs in mine.



Put your cocoa in a bowl and use a teaspoon to scoop out some of the truffle mixture. Roll it between your palms to create a smooth ball and set it in the cocoa. Shake the bowl gently to move the truffle around so it gets coated with the cocoa.



Remove the cocoa-coated truffle from the bowl and place in a small paper muffin cup. Continue rolling and coating until all the truffles are made.

A friend was helping me so she insisted on using gloves.


These are a great gift to take along for a holiday party, especially if arranged on a pretty Christmas plate.


Enjoy!



Do you need inspiration for more gifts from the kitchen? We’ve got you covered!

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Bread
Appetizers and Snacks
Condiments and Sauces
Savory and Sweet Mixes
Desserts and Sweets

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