Les truffes au chocolat les plus décadentes

Aha!

Today I had exactly the same thing for lunch that I did yesterday. Except the weather was better, so I could take a better photo:

Marinating while pasta cooks

Done!

After that, I had dessert:

There were 10 originally, but I forgot to take a photo of them all together. Hence this rather shoddy example.

I know the photo's awful, but OH MY FREAKING GOODNESS these were the MOST AMAZING chocolate truffles I have ev-ahhhh eaten. I mentioned yesterday that I would try out a truffle recipe I've been working on and I was so excited with the result and the INFINITE number of variations that I had to drag myself to my desk and start typing out the recipe. It is so divinely lusciously scrumptiously intensely chocolatey! The above is variation b (Almond and Coconut), but I shall test out the other variations too. Except maybe the peppermint, because I hate mint chocolate (except for Crazy Rumors mint chocolate lip balm).


Luscious Dark Chocolate Ganache Truffles - à mon avis, ces sont les truffes au chocolat les plus décadentes du monde and why does everything sound better in French?

• 100g chopped dark chocolate, minimum 70% cocoa (I used Whittaker's 72%)
• 50g + extra non-dairy milk (I used a creamy soymik)
• 30g liquid sweetener (I used 15g maple syrup + 15g dark agave nectar. You could use all maple/golden syrup/sugar syrup if you don't have agave)

Heat milk in a saucepan. Measure heated milk out into a small 250ml glass measuring jug and add more milk to bring it to 50g again. Add chopped dark chocolate and whisk briskly until melted and smooth (you shouldn't have to heat it again to melt it all, whisking seems to be enough). Add liquid sweetener, whisk again, cover jug with cling and leave in the fridge to set. Then half an hour later or so, use a spoon and your hands (a melon baller would work beautifully; mine is flimsy so I use a teaspoon) and make little balls. Mine are obviously not perfectly spherical, because I don't have a melon baller. 


Now for variations!

a)       Classic: Roll in cocoa powder.

b)      Almond-Coconut: Add 1g almond essence and roll in desiccated coconut

c)       Coconut: Roll in desiccated coconut.

d)      Orange-Pistachio: Add 2g orange essence and 20g chopped toasted pistachios.

e)       Almond: Add 1g almond essence and 20g chopped toasted almonds.

f)       Espresso: Add 1/2 tsp instant coffee dissolved in the milk.

g)      Nut: Add 20g chopped roasted peanuts/cashews/walnuts/macadamias/hazelnuts.

h)      Orange-Rose: Add 1g rosewater essence and 1g orange essence. Add 20g chopped toasted pistachios for Orange-Rose-Pistachio! I shall probably try this variation next. 

i)        Peppermint: Add 1g peppermint essence.

j)        Vanilla: Add 2g vanilla bean paste.

k)   Stuffed nut: Stuff a whole nut in the centre.

My goodness! This may be one of my most brilliant inventions yet. I shall take better photos next time and post them, to do the beauty of this sublime chocolate truffle true justice.

By the way, you could also use the melted ganache to cover a chocolate cake. It would be seeemply divine.

Try this out and let me know how you go! I ate mes truffes while watching Spellbound with Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman. I love Alfred Hitchcock movies! And they go so wonderfully with truffles!