As a pre-Valentine's Day celebration, last week David and I took a chocolate truffle making class. We were provided with a simple and customizable recipe and learned how to add our flavors and even infuse the cream we would put in the chocolate (think lavender!).
Our mixing bowls were pre-filled and melted and all we had to do was stir. I'd really like to do this kind of cooking at home. So, if someone would please come by and set everything up and measure everything out for me, that would be great. We added the flavoring oursevles. I used ground cinnamon and vanilla. David used a TON of peppermint (he even sprinkled peppermint on top). They tasted like peppermint patties.
Then we freezed and scooped our our truffles with a tiny cookie scoop. It made very nice round truffles, better than the melon baller. After another stint in the freezer, we were ready to decorate our truffles. We coated them in powder sugar, cocoa powder and melted chocolate. The melted chocolate allowed for sprinkles, peppermint bits and shimmery pearls. Then at the end of the night, we filled our little Chinese take-out boxes full of truffles. Does anyone want any truffles? I have 42...
If you want to make your own chocolate truffles Fine Cooking has an excellent recipe very similar to what we made. They have great technique photos and a variety of ideas for toppings and flavors. And if you're near Evanston, Illinois, we took our class at Now We're Cookin'. Very fun class and a great teacher. We even got some bubbly, which is always important when you're cooking.
I saw this in Bon Appetit magazine. I'll admit, I'm not much of a cook. This is the first time I've ever even picked up this magazine (and we even subscribe to it at work). Work is a little light right now and I was desperate. I feel I'm unworthy to pick up this magazine because I can't cook. But, I try...Last night I cooked my first spaghetti squash. I roasted it for 40 minutes. It looked beautiful, I was so proud of myself. I added the lemon and olive oil that the recipe called for...and it tasted like a big bowl of lemons.
But, this...this is something I must try, regardless of my skill. Because I literally wanted to lick the page and I hope you want to lick the screen. On thing I am, is passionate about chocolate cake. If anyone ever tries this, I want to know about it! It looks incredibly complicated, but for the holidays it may be worth an entire Saturday of mistakes to make it. Get the recipe for Chocolate Hazelnut Cake with Chocolate Praline Crunch. If all else fails, maybe I can at least eat the Praline.
