I always make chocolate truffles at Christmas time. Apparently though, I don’t always get time to post those photos for you at Christmas time – despite the clearly Christmas-themed photos that I took of them. Please forgive me? Err…can we call these Valentine’s Day truffles instead? hehe :) You can find more chocolate truffles here, here oh and here (I really do love making truffles) If you’re a first time truffle maker, find all of my tips and tricks to truffle making here. ‘Cup of Tea’ Truffles Infused with Rooibos Tea These dark chocolate truffles are infused with rooibos tea which makes them taste just like a cup of tea. Ingredients – Makes approximately 24 truffles ⅓ cup of cream 125g of milk chocolate, roughly chopped 125g of dark chocolate, roughly chopped 5 rooibos tea bags Cocoa powder to decorate Directions Heat the cream over a medium to low heat on the stovetop. Once it starts to simmer, remove from the heat and add the tea bags. Let it infuse, uncovered for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the tea bags, squeezing them to ensure any extra infused cream goes back into the saucepan. Reheat the now infused cream back up until it starts to simmer. Remove from the heat and add the dark and milk chocolate. Stir well until it is completely melted. Return to the heat for short periods of time to melt completely if necessary. Pour into a bowl and let it cool on the bench for at least 30 minutes, then cover with kitchen wrap or a lid and let it set completely in the fridge, preferably overnight. Once the ganache has set, take heaped teaspoon amounts and using your hands, roll them into balls. Immediately roll them in the cocoa powder and then place onto a plate or chopping board that’s been lined with baking paper. Let set in the fridge again overnight. Truffles will keep well in the fridge for at least a week. Salted Popcorn Praline with Milk Chocolate Truffles These were probably my favourite truffles this year. A salted popcorn praline is not only mixed through the chocolate truffle, but also makes for a sweet / salty, soft and crunchy truffle coating. Nom! The amount of salt you add to these is up to you. I used a salted, butter flavoured popcorn and was still quite generous with the sea salt, but I do LOVE my sweet / salty stuff to be quite well salted. Ingredients – Makes approximately 24 truffles ½ cup of caster sugar 1½ cups of salted, butter flavoured, popped popcorn Sea salt flakes to taste ⅓ cup of cream 250g of milk chocolate, roughly chopped Directions To make the praline, prepare a baking tray by lining it with baking paper. Scatter the popped popcorn over the tray and sprinkle with sea salt. Add the sugar and 2 tbs of cold water to a heavy based, medium saucepan and cook over low heat for 5 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved. You can swirl the pan occasionally to help the sugar dissolve, but do not stir it. Once the sugar has dissolved, increase the heat to high and bring up to a boil. Continue boiling, without stirring, for 5 to 7 minutes or until the mixture turns a deep golden colour. Remove from heat and pour over the popcorn. It doesn’t matter if not all of the popcorn is covered, but try to get most of the popcorn to touch at least some of the toffee. Allow the toffee to cool completely at room temp. This should only take about 30 minutes and once it’s ready, it will become very hard and will break into shards. Break the toffee into shards and add to a food processor along with any remaining popcorn. Process until a breadcrumb-like crumb forms. Set aside for use in the truffles. To make the truffles, heat the cream over a medium to low heat on the stovetop. Once it starts to simmer, remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Stir well until it is completely melted. Return to the heat for short periods of time to melt completely if necessary. Add ¾ of the praline crumb to the ganache and mix well. Pour into a bowl and let it cool on the bench for at least 30 minutes, then cover with kitchen wrap or a lid and let it set completely in the fridge, preferably overnight. Once the ganache has set, take heaped teaspoon amounts and using your hands, roll them into balls. Immediately roll them in the remaining praline crumb and then place onto a plate or chopping board that’s been lined with baking paper. Let set in the fridge again overnight. Truffles will keep well in the fridge for at least a week. Raspberry, Dark Chocolate and Coconut Oil Cups These raspberry, dark chocolate and coconut oil cups are probably the easiest of the bunch. They would also work well for anyone who does not eat dairy, or follows a paleo diet. The freeze dried raspberry packs an intense raspberry flavour that pairs so perfectly with the dark chocolate. I set these in foil patty cases, which easily peel off after the chocolate has set. Ingredients – Makes approximately 15 chocolate cups 1 tbs of coconut oil 250g of dark chocolate, roughly chopped small pinch of sea salt flakes ¼ cup of freeze dried raspberries, crushed into small pieces Directions Heat the chocolate, coconut oil and sea salt over a low heat on the stovetop. Stir often until completely melted and combined. Pour into mini patty cases and sprinkle each one with the dried raspberries. Let cool on the bench for at least 30 minutes, then let them set completely in the fridge, preferably overnight. Peel the patty cases away to serve if you wish. Truffles will keep well in the fridge for at least a week. Gingerbread Truffles These truffles taste like the classic Christmas treat of warmly spiced gingerbread. I also added some chunks of glace […]
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