Pistachio Covered Lemon-Lavender Truffles And Chocolate-Chilli Truffles And A Valentine’s Day Giveaway!
I’m back as promised, with the remaining two truffles that I mentioned in my previous post. You know what they say about keeping the best for the last? Well, these two are my personal favourites out of all five kinds of truffles I made this time, and a bit little different from the others flavour-wi
Ingredients
For Pistachio Covered Lavender & Lemon Truffles :
- 1 cup chocolate chopped white
- 50 ml cream (25%)
- 60 gm butter
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 tsps lemon zest
- 1 tbsp lavender dried flowers , crushed
- 2/3 cup pistachios finely chopped toasted
For Cardamom & Chilli Chocolate Truffles :
- 50 gm butter
- 125 ml cream (25% fat)
- 1 1/2 cups chocolate chopped semi sweet
- 3/4 tsp cardamom powdered
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp chilli powder (according to taste)
- Cocoa truffles powder for shaping
Instructions
- Pistachio Covered Lavender & Lemon Truffles - Heat the cream, butter, zest and lavender in a saucepan over hot water, until hot but not boiling. Add the chopped white chocolate and stir until it has melted completely and is smooth.
- Pour into a container and freeze for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight. This makes the truffle mixture easier to shape and also allows the flavours to develop. When set hard, use a melon baller or scoop to scoop out 1 1/2u201d balls. Roll them in chopped pistachios and refrigerate (or freeze) till ready to serve. This recipe makes about 15 truffles.
- Cardamom & Chilli Chocolate Truffles - 1/4 tsp chilli powder will give a barely discernible warmth whereas 1/2 tsp chilli powder will provide a marked warmth and aftertaste. This would also depend on the type of chilli powder so go with your intuition as to the amount required.
- Heat the cream and butter in a saucepan, over hot water, until it is hot but not boiling. Take the pan off the heat and add the chocolate, cardamom and chilli powder. Stir everything till it is smooth.
- Pour the truffle mixture into a box and refrigerate till set well. Using a melon baller or scoop, scoop out 1 1/2" balls and roll them in cocoa powder. Refrigerate till ready to serve. This recipe makes about 25 truffles.
Notes
Some useful truffle making tips: :
A basic chocolate truffle is a ball of ganache (chocolate-cream mixture) which is refrigerated to set. The better the quality of chocolate you use, the better your truffle will be.
If your ganache splits or looks curdled/ separated, just add a few tsps. Of cream and mix till smooth. If your ganache is too hard from refrigeration, keep it at room temperature for a little while till it softens a bit.
Always heat the cream or chocolate using a double boiler method. This means melting the cream or/ and chopped chocolate in a heat-safe bowl (or saucepan) over a barely simmering pot of hot water without the bowl touching the water.
Use a shallow dish to refrigerate the truffle mixture as it will set quickly and uniformly this way.
Having a small melon baller (or scoop) is very helpful to shape truffles. They would be uniform in size. All truffle mixtures are not easy to roll by hand as the heat of your palm can melt them and make them sticky and unmanageable.
The best way to flavour truffles is to infuse the cream with it. Add the flavour to the warm cream and let it stay at room temperature for a couple of hours. Strain, then heat the cream again and melt the chocolate in it.
You can decorate your truffles in many ways, depending on the flavour in them. Roll them in cocoa powder, finely chopped buts, flaked coconut, crushed cookies, chocolate or sugar sprinkles. You can also coat them in melted chocolate and then pipe or drizzle chocolate to make patterns. Another way is to garnish them with something that echoes the filling or flavour in your truffle, like using candied orange on a chocolate and orange truffle.
THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED!