Monthly Archives: November 2011

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Chocolate truffles

Yesterday Hobby Victim invited me and Boyfriend over for a day of food, video games, and chocolate making. She had a godly supply of fine chocolate, truffle shells, and liquor. I arrived with a bag of equipment and flavouring oils. We quickly got started:

You can make truffles by rolling them by hand – which is difficult –  or by using truffle shells.  A truffle shell is a hollow chocolate sphere, with a hole in the top, which you can pipe a filling into.  It yields a more even and professional look.

Each truffle consists of a filling of rich dark chocolate ganache, a shell of white or dark chocolate, a coating of milk chocolate, and a lovely garnish. We made 4 flavours:

  • Triple Sec and orange cream
  • Baileys Irish cream
  • Peppermint
  • Crème de Cassis (black currant) and raspberry

To prepare the ganache for the fillings, Hobby Victim scalded the cream while I chopped the chocolate. She tempered the hot cream into the chocolate and whisked it up.

We divided the ganache into 4 bowls, and added the liquor and essential oils to taste.

An essential oil is a pure concentrated oil, whereas flavour extracts are a mixture of oil and alcohol. The oils are about 4 times stronger than extracts, yielding a much more intense flavour. You can find these oils in specialty shops or online.

The fillings were cooled in the fridge for awhile, then transferred into piping bags, and the ganache was squirted into the open hole in the top of the shells.  Back into the fridge for awhile to set.

We made second batch of ganache to use as a final coating.  Each truffle was dipped in the bowl and transferred to a cookie sheet, where various decorations were added while the coating was still soft, so when it hardened it would look like so:

peppermint truffles with candy canes

Aren’t they lovely? They remind me of little ornaments.

truffles with sprinkles, white chocolate, and sugar

I’m pleased to report they all tasted delicious.

truffles, truffles every where!

These took awhile to make, but I had a great time. Baileys shots makes any lengthy task worth doing. I will definitely make these again, and when I do, I’ll post some how-to pictures for you.

What type of chocolates do you want to see next?

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Skor blondies

Faithful follower: this is for you! I have emerged from my penuche-induced coma to make a batch of blondies. Actually this is the first thing I’ve baked since Thanksgiving, and it feels quite good!

I found this recipe on the back of a package of Chipits.

A blondie is similar to a brownie, however the major ingredient difference is using brown sugar instead of cocoa. These are made with Skor bits, and apparently skor is the Swedish word for shoes. Why a chocolate bar was named after shoes is a mystery right up there with getting the caramel inside the Caramilk. These are the matters I just do not understand.

Time required: 2 hr (30 min prep, 23 min bake, 1 hr cool)

Yields: 36 pieces

Total cost if you have none of the ingredients: $31.00

Cost per piece: $0.86 (hurrah for the most fiscally responsible thing I’ve ever baked!!)

Special kitchen implements I used:

  • baking pan: 9″ x 13″
  • tinfoil

Ingredients:

  • ½ C butter, softened
  • 1 C brown sugar, packed
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 C flour
  • 1 TSP baking powder
  • ½ TSP baking soda
  • ¼ TSP salt
  • 200g package of Skor Chipits (butter toffee pieces)
  • ¼ C semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 177°C / 350°F. Line baking pan with tinfoil and grease.

2. In a mixer beat butter, brown sugar, and eggs until combined.

So yeah, this is the first time I’ve given poor Nemo a whirl in over a month. That’s right, I am on first name terms with my KitchenAid. All things of beauty need a name!!

Back to our wet mixture: beat until smooth and combined.

3. In a medium-sized bowl, combine: flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

4. Add dry mixture to wet, one third at a time. Don’t overbeat or the mixture will become too hard.

5. Add 1 cup of Skor pieces, and the chocolate chips (the recipe suggested 1C of chocolate chips but I only had enough for ¼C).

6. Smoosh batter into prepared pan.

7. Bake for 23 min, top should be golden brown.

8. Remove from oven and immediately pour the remaining Skor pieces on top.

9. Cool on wire rack for at least 1 hour. Peel off tinfoil and serve.

Verdict:

“What is that delicious smell?” asked Boyfriend when he came home.

We ate some, and they were pretty good. I have a weakness for butter toffee, buying Skor Chipits may have been a grave mistake. I expect there are all sorts of recipes which would benefit from adding Skor bits. Stayed tuned and find out.

Playlist: Matthew Good Band – Giant