Truffles are ready for their closeup!

This is just a quick post to let you know how the second round of truffle making went. I made four different flavors and used the full Martha Stewart truffle recipe for each, so I had about 42 (small) truffles of each flavor. I finished them up on Sunday. and they are now packaged and ready to be hand-delivered to my family and friends for Christmas.

The Fourth Mystery Flavor
If you've been following the last three posts, you know I wasn't a huge fan of the plain truffle covered in cocoa. So, finding a fourth flavor was the major dilemma this round. I finally caved to D's preferences and made a Jack Daniels truffle coated in chopped pecans. Our tribute to the South is actually delicious (can you hear the banjo strummin')! I used 3 tablespoons of whiskey to cover a full recipe and it tastes potent but not rum ball icky. You can always add a tablespoon and then taste it to see how much whiskey flavor you like.

A Better Mint Truffle
The second issue was creating a better mint truffle. Since using mint leaves made the truffles taste too leafy and green, I opted for peppermint oil. Just a tablespoon flavored them very well. I put a few candy canes in the food processor and used this to roll them in. They taste like Andes to me, minty and lovely!

The Final Four Truffle Flavors 
Ancho chile and cinnamon coated in sugar crystals
Jack Daniels coated in pecans
Cardamom and coffee coated in almonds
Peppermint coated in crushed candy cane

I packaged them in these adorable mini-Chinese take-out boxes from the Container store and wrapped them in hot pink ribbon with cutie-pie white and green dots. The truffles plus D's ridiculously yummy take on Irish Cream (Jack Daniels, cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, heavy cream, and sweetened condensed milk), and some homemade granola are all getting placed in a neon green bag and wrapped in hot pink tissue (can you tell neon green and hot pink are this year's Christmas colors?) to finish off the homemade gift. Phew! Now to packing!

I couldn't resist taking a photo of the little truffle army. Er, marching band, it is Christmastime after all.

 Happy Holiday!

Truffle Experiment Results

A few notes on truffle rolling since I didn't exactly follow Martha's directions:

1) I heated the heavy cream in the microwave. About 45 seconds to 1 min brought it to a boil. I added the flavoring and then let the cream mixture sit for 10-20 mins before I reheated it in the microwave and strained it over the finely chopped chocolate. The chocolate mostly melted from the heat of the cream, but I just put in in the microwave for 10 seconds if it was a little chunky. Then I poured it into another clean container, covered it with saran wrap and put it in the fridge.

2) Let the chocolate chill for 30 mins. If you have to leave it in the fridge all day as I did, do not, I repeat, do not try and hurry it up by putting it in the microwave. Chocolate goes from hard to melty mess in seconds so this doesn't work so well. Just wait. Eventually it will become pliable if left out at room temperature.

3) No need to use a melon baller. Though I did go out and buy a melon baller for this express purpose, I found using a spoon to scrape the chocolate worked much better. For me, the chocolate just got stuck in the melon baller and then was hard to get out. I scraped, formed the chocolate into a ball with my fingers, rolled it around in my palm, and then dusted it all in one go, because I didn't see the point in the extra step of putting the balls in the fridge. If you're going to be a perfectionist and/or you mind having melty chocolate on your palms maybe this works best, but I was not so picky.

4) To keep the chocolate from getting super melty in your palms run them under ice cold water and then work on forming the balls. This works, believe me! I got the tip directly from Jacques Torres via Epicurious.

5) Some recipes call for a coating of tempered chocolate on the truffles. I didn't do this. It seems like an extra super fussy step that doesn't seem to add a lot. But hey, if you want to do it that's your business.

6) Roll the balls pretty small. By doubling the Martha recipe, I made about 72 balls. This is less than the 84 I should have gotten from doubling the recipe and I thought I rolled them pretty small. According to D the secret of a good truffle is having one small enough to pop in your mouth whole.

Now to the flavor results. The winner was definitely the ancho chile and cinnamon. Cardamom and coffee came in second, and mint came in third. D and I really didn't care for the plain truffle. It had two strikes against it: 1) it just tasted like the original chocolate, which is pretty good, but why not just eat the chocolate bar which requires no work? 2) I rolled it in cocoa powder (now, we're not talking Valrhona cocoa powder, I just used Toll House) which was bitter and powdery and detracted from the pretty good chocolate ganache. Two strikes and you're out. When I make these for Christmas, we'll try a new flavor.

Ancho Chile and Cinnamon Results

Since I doubled the recipe but then quartered it so I could test out these three flavors (plus the plain control truffle), I was dealing with 1/4 c of heavy cream for each batch of chocolate (about 7 squares finely chopped). Now, anyone who has worked with dry chilies could have told me that if you add liquid to a dry chili, it will absorb all the liquid. So, I mistakenly pre-measured the 1/4 c of heavy cream and added it to the 1 cut up dried ancho chile and 4 cinnamon sticks and what did I get after heating them together (I just stuck the bowl in the microwave for 1 min) and letting it sit? About 1 tsp of cream. D had the brilliant idea that I need to measure the cream after mixing it with the chilies, instead of before, so I added another 1/4 c and then left it alone to soak. Then, I poured the cream through a sieve and measured out 1/4 c. In the end, the ancho gave off a nice sweet berrylike flavor, but not a lot of heat, so I added a 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper. I think next time I may save myself the trouble of the ancho chiles and just use 1/2 tsp cayenne and some ground cinnamon. I rolled this in some coarse sugar and a mix of cinnamon and chili powder. The sugar added a nice crunch to the yummy ganache. We love chilies and chocolate so it's not a surprise this was our favorite, but I have to admit it was very good!

Cardamom and Coffee Results

I used 20 cardamom pods ground with a mortar and pestle and 1 tbs instant Bustelo coffee (yes, we drink instant coffee occasionally, it's the only way to make cafe con leche with hot milk and sugar). This was so fragrant and delicious. D thought it could use even more cardamom so we'll try it with a bit more next time. I worry, though, because cardamom is not everyone's favorite and, like lavender, can start to taste soapy. I rolled these in ground almond.

Mint Results

I chopped up about a cup of fresh mint and put this in the hot heavy cream (again I just used the microwave to get the cream to a quick boil) and let it sit for about 10 mins. D didn't think it would work to flavor the cream but it really did! However, the flavor was one of mint leaves, not mint. So, this basically tasted like weed and chocolate. If you know what I'm talking about, then you know that this is not necessarily desirable. I think the green flavor is pretty interesting and eating them gave me the munchies, but next time I'm just going to use mint extract. I rolled these in powdered sugar. If I'm going to use mint extract, I'm inclined to roll the next batch in crushed candy canes for that extra crunch.

On Dasher, on Dancer, on Cardamom and Cinnamon, on Ancho, on Coffee, and Donner and Blitzen! You're the most favorite truffle of all!

Truffle Experiment Take 1

Why is it every recipe involving chocolate requires math skills? I am testing out Martha Stewart's truffle recipe, which came highly recommended, for a work holiday party and subsequent giving during Christmas. Shhhh, it's a secret.

Martha Stewart's Best Chocolate Truffle Recipe

8 oz best-quality bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

1/2 c heavy cream

1 T liqueur

Unsweetened cocoa powder for rolling

Put chocolate into a large heatproof bowl. Bring cream just to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat; pour over chocolate in bowl. Stir in liqueur, if desired. Cover with plastic wrap; let stand 10 minutes. Stir until smooth. Let stand until thick, about 15 minutes.Pour chocolate mixture into a shallow 8-inch dish or pie plate. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until mixture is very cold and set but still pliable, about 30 minutes.Using a teaspoon or a 1/2-inch melon baller, scoop balls of chocolate mixture, transferring them to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper as you work. Refrigerate truffles 10 minutes.Using hands dusted with cocoa powder, dip each truffle in cocoa powder to coat, then quickly shape truffle into a rough round. Refrigerate truffles in an airtight container until ready to serve, up to 2 weeks; before serving, reshape into rounds, and roll each truffle in cocoa powder, if desired.

I'm going to alter her recipe to fit my devilish desires of interestingly flavored chocolate. This is the part I'm not sure will come off. But first, the math test:

I went to Fairway and bought a few Maragda 70% cacao chocolate bars. There are two bars in each package. Each bar has 12 squares, so 24 squares in a package. The two bars combined (one package) weigh .88 lb. If I'm doubling the recipe and need a full pound (or 16 oz) of chocolate, how many squares should I be cutting up?

Look, I even showed my work: 24 squares = .88 lb

.88 lb x 16 oz = 14.08 oz

14.08 oz / 24 squares = .58 oz per square

16 oz in a lb / .58 oz per square = 27.58 squares to make up 16 oz of chocolate

Now, to further complicate things, I want to try out 3 flavors and leave one control truffle plain (minus the liqueur which I generally don't like). So, in order to get the right proportions, I'm going to cut up each batch of chocolate separately. 27.58 squares / 4 batches = 6.89 squares per batch. Phew!

I'm going to try and flavor the 1/4 c heavy cream in each of the four batches with something interesting (minus the control truffle) or a liqueur like creme de menthe. I even read one reviewer who melted down Andes and formed them into truffles.

Mint

I've gleaned that a bunch of mint leaves in the hot cream should do the trick. You could also use mint extract or creme de menthe. I read a comment on Cooking for Engineers that someone melted down Andes, which sounds great to me. D thinks the fresh mint won't be enough to make the chocolate minty, but that's why this is an experiment.

Ancho Chile and Cinnamon

I have dried ancho chiles and cinnamon sticks to heat in the cream.

Cardamom and Coffee

We love the cardamom coffee at Hampton Chutney Co. So, we thought a couple tsp of instant coffee plus cardamom pods would work well.

Now, on to the experiment!

Whole Wheat + Pumpkin = Yummy and moderately good for you

I didn't used to be a fan of pumpkin. I turned my nose up at pumpkin pie. I'm still not sure I love it. Maybe I was scarred by my 2nd grade teacher having a thing for pumpkin pie. She used to say "Do I smell puuuuummpkin piiiiieeeee?" as she sniffed the heads of her pupils. Bizarre.
I do, however, like pumpkin flavor. Like the Green Mountain pumpkin spice coffee D and I drank on our honeymoon in Vermont. Ahh, Vermont. But, I digress. I have also never used canned pumpkin mush and only come face to face with the gourd on Halloween. But, I decided to buy some canned pumpkin to try out this recipe. I was craving something like a banana bread and that's exactly the texture of this. I liked the middle pieces the best, didn't really like the somewhat spongy texture of the heel, so I wouldn't suggest these as muffins. I made an oat and butter crumble for the top, but you could also use E's Pinkberry Frosting on top.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin-Applesauce Bread
Adapted from All Recipes Whole Wheat Pumpkin-Applesauce Muffins

• Ingredients
  
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2-3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice depending on how spicy you like it
  
• 2/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1/3 cup white sugar (omit the white sugar if you want this to be healthier/less sweet)
  
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
  
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1/4 cup golden raisins (optional)
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)
• 
  
• Directions
• 
  
• Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease a loaf pan with butter or a spray like Pam.
  
• Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice; set aside. Combine the brown sugar, white sugar, applesauce, pumpkin, vanilla, buttermilk, and beaten eggs and mix until well blended. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in the raisins and pecans, if desired.
• Place the batter in the loaf pan, making sure it's even and smoothing the top. If you're adding a crumble, put it on top of the batter now. Bake in the preheated oven until the tops spring back when lightly pressed, about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. This took me about 30 mins in a loaf pan, but I'd start checking it at 20 mins. Cool the bread on a wire rack before removing from the pan. Top with frosting if you're using that instead.
  

Easy Oat Crumble
2 tablespoons soft butter
4 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
¼ cup rolled oats

Combine the ingredients and crumble over the top of the dough. Press it lightly into the dough so it sticks as it bakes.

Elana's Pinkberry Frosting

This is E's Pinkberry frosting because it is made out of Greek-style yogurt and is still very tangy, like Pinkberry and all those other crazy non-sweet frozen yogurts out there. She says it goes great on top of banana bread or pumpkin bread. The Sour Cream Frosting of Doom incident a few years ago makes me a little skeptical, but E knows food, so I trust her.

Elana's Pinkberry Frosting
1 cup Greek yogurt (Fage is best)
A good splash of vanilla extract (I used 1 t)
1/2 cup powered sugar

1. Whisk all ingredients until they become a bit thick.
2. Place in the fridge to thicken even more (at least 30 minutes -
ideally overnight).
3. Spread on cake or cupcakes.