Chocolates seem to make me popular...

Haha... terrible blog title I know! Like all food bloggers or foodies would know, food unites. If there is something more I can add for chocolate, it's "Chocolate DELIGHTS".

It seems truffles have brought me some new friends, and have given me very good reasons to meet up with old ones. I enjoy packing things neatly, and adorning them with a simple ribbon; Nothing pleases me more when what's inside is edible. Sometimes I wonder if I have baked cookies and rolled truffles so I can package them and give away as presents? (and not really to eat them myself?) Nonetheless, the effects of my interests seem to have helped me break out of my sometimes-prolonged bouts of anti-social behavior, and I am happy I did. K. sent me a lovely test message telling how much the bag of truffles brighten her day. That text message brightens up mine too. :)



I met up with W. for coffee because he had long been a loyal guinea pig (well, I hope he no longer feels so...), and I wanted him to try this new recipe. Maybe W. (and E. and A.) didn't enjoy it, have not heard from him. It's okie! I think meeting up for coffee was the real deal.

Haha... silly post, I hope I'm the only one reading it! ^__^

Truffles Au Cocolat

Beautifully rich and austere, these truffles turned out lovely. I didn't quite know what to expect actually. Having made dozens of batches of truffles with cream, I found myself drawn to Alice's recipe (she has gotten the recipe from her landlady years back in 1973) in this book, which uses egg yolks and boiling water to emulsify with butter and chocolate. An "authentic and virually obsolete" recipe, I knew it was THE recipe to try (was my birthday actually, so I just had to try something different).

Pleasant pleasant surprise! The ganache turned out smooth and rich, definitely less creamy (but still as creamy? arrgghhh, I don't know how to describe that melting-on-the-tongue intense feeling). The best part was, the recipe didn't ask for a coating of tempered of chocolate! Woohoooo! Just the run-and-go kind of recipe I needed for that rushed afternoon in the kitchen. I came back 5 hours later to roll them out, half of them plain, and the other half with some Les Perles Croquantes (Valrhona chocolate pearls). I love some texture in the truffles but I find most nuts overpowering. These crunchies are a wonderful complement to the plain truffles. Not my first time making crunchy truffles actually!

As with all other batches, this is yet again too much for myself and S. to finish. I usually like to consume the truffles within 2 weeks, or it'll end up untouched beyond 14 days. I can't tell you how much chocolates ended up in the bin previously, and I feel horrible horrible throwing them away. (terribly wasteful, which eventually made me stop baking/chocolate making for a while). But now that I vowed to finish or give away everything I make or bake while they are still fresh before I start on another baking/chocolate projects, I have been conscientiously meeting up with friends and eating. Maybe I should vow to exercise too? (hahaa.... better not commit to something I have never really started doing...)



I made S. bring a whole tray full of truffles to his colleagues, I hope they enjoyed it! If not I'll be known as Miss Truffle-Shuffler-Into-Your-Face.

Some pictures from the process: