Rosy rhubarb truffles

I'm excited. First it was coco-nutty prunes in white chocolate and the road towards salvation (read: knowing the perfect ways to make truffles from fruit and berries) started showing itself. I mean, there are actually a million possibilities.

Then rhubarbs came.

And then I realized how much I really love myself the concept.

Rosy rhubarb truffles

300 g rhubarb stalks (two bigger ones or three smaller ones)
2 dl sugar

2-3 tbsp rosewater

white chocolate

(chopped almonds or almond slices)

1. Peel the rhubarb stalks (if the stalks are young, you can just cut them without peeling) and cut to bite-size pieces. Place the pieces into a saucepan and add the sugar and rosewater on top.
2. Cover with lid and heat until syrup forms from the sugar and rhubarb juice. Boil at low heat until tender, but not broken (about ten minutes), occasionaly gently stirring or turning the pieces around.
3. Let the rhubarb cool down in the syrup, preferrably let it soak overnight.
4. Pat the pieces a bit dryer on paper towels and reserve the syrup for later use. Melt white chocolate over a waterbath and dip each piece into it (if you wish, also dip them into almond pieces after the chocolate), then place on foil for hardening. Keep in the fridge, but take out a bit before serving.
   

The rhubarbs are tender, with rosy cheeks and sweet white coats. The rose flavour is quite moderate and although the filling is sweet in itself, it really needs the extra sweetness from white chocolate, rhubarb being sour in its very essence. You could add more sugar or more rosewater if you want a more instense bite, I don't mind!:)

Last time I added almond bits to coat the chocolate and the sensation was even better with a crunchy addition, so I'd definitely do it next time too. The leftover syrup can be made into a very good drink by adding water.

Next I'm thinking pears poached in black tea with bitter chocolate and hazelnuts. And then from there...

This post will take part of the first round of the event Original Recipes, hosted by Lore of Culinarty.

Granny got twisted

Now, don't be afraid if you've never heard of mayo cookies before. They're perfectly alright, perfectly sweet and actually quite perfectly perfect.
(And if you're still afraid, consider the ingredients of mayonnaise for a second - they're actually all used in sweet cookies too, you see! yeaaah!)

My grandmother is an expert and no matter how many times I try, I'll never get them that right. Maybe that's why I decided to give her mayo cookies my own twist, adding white chocolate on top (the best of ideas - she'd be proud of me). The first time I made them, I accidentally made them according to her original quantities which resulted in the whole kitchen being filled with cookies. Oh, you know, grannies and their recipes...


The quantities are reduced here, you shouldn't be afraid of flooding your kitchen with cookies if you plan to make them. (not that that's a bad thing, it just came unexpectedly to me)


Mayonnaise cookies with white chocolate

100 g mayonnaise
100 g butter, at room temperature
4 dl flour
2 dl sugar
1 egg

White chocolate

1. Mix butter well with sugar, until the mixture becomes fluffier.
2. Whisk in mayonnaise and then the egg. Finally add the flour.
3. Place the dough into the fridge for 30 minutes.
4. Make small balls of the dough between your fingers, place them onto a buttered baking sheet and flatten with a fork.
5. Bake at 190C until slightly golden at the edges, about 9 minutes. Let cool.
6. Melt white chocolate over a waterbath and decorate the cookies with it. Spread it on top or make other decorations. Let them cool for the chocolate to harden.

I must admit it - the batter tastes funny. But that's okay, because the cookies end up being sweet in that good childhoody way. That's the best way to put it, actually, the flavour is difficult to describe. But they're utterly delicious and the white chocolate gives them another sweet kick, making the final result girly and - again - childhoody.

Lemon truffles with a pepper-warm coating

Sneaky truffles, I'd say. In a sense that their lemon-y filling and pepper-warm coating together create an almost healthy feeling in your mouth. Lemon-y and warm. Just like a cuppa hot tea, only that actually you eat a handful of truffles!;)

Lemon and black pepper are another great combination magnifico that I strongly advise to try in all variations that come to mind!

Lemon truffles with a pepper-warm coating
(makes about 30)

200 g white chocolate
½ dl double cream
at least 1 tbsp lemon juice

160 g white chocolate
¼ - ½ tsp black pepper

1. Chop the chocolate to little pieces.
   
2. Heat the double cream to boiling point and pour it onto the chocolate ight away. Mix well, until the mixture is smooth. Add lemon juice. Place the mixture into the fridge for about a half an hour.
3. Make little balls out of the mixture and then place them into teh fridge to harden for some more time.
4. Melt te remaining chocolate over a waterbath and add pepper to it. Coat the truffles with this chocolate and let them harden on foil or on parchment paper. Store in the fridge.

White chocolate, that often feels so cloy, gains freshness and vividness from the lemon juice. If white chocolate were a lady of respectable age then in these truffles she'd certainly be young again...:) At first the pepper is a balancing flavour but in the end it leaves the mouth sighing warmly in the most pleasant way possible. Contrasts and novelty. Freshness and warmth.

One thing's for sure. Black pepper declares itself as a true dessert spice. I recommend to remember that;)

This entry also participates in the most gorgeous food blogging event of all, Sugar High Friday. This time the host is the wonderful Helen of Tartelette and the theme (again!) CITRUS.

A cheesecake for the minority: Licorice!

Although I'm ill as in really ill right now and almost can't taste a thing, here's a treat I made a month ago. So I TOO could remember what good food tastes like:)

Ohh, licorice.

There's just too little variety in Estonia. Whenever I go to Finland, I know exactly what I'm going to buy. Always the same licorice candy mix from the ship's Tax Free. Then definitely a package of licorice chewing gum. And if I'm lucky - some licorice ice cream, a tube of licorice sauce to bring home or even a licorice flavoured Tupla chocolate.

Nevertheless I've come upon very few recipes using licorice (candies) as an ingredient. I made a licorice cheesecake with gelatin for a friend mad about the candy two years ago, but at last I made my first baked licorice cheesecake that had been developing itself in my head for too long a time.


I didn't tell my parents of the origin of the cake before they had eaten their first bites. The funny thing...they both liked it. Although neither of them belongs to the licorice-loving minority...very very weird indeed. But positively surprising.

Licorice cheesecake with chocolate and lingonberry jam

180 g chocolate cookies
50 g melted butter
100 g licorice candies (regular)
1 dl heavy cream
500 g cream cheese
3 eggs
1/2 dl sugar
vanilla
1 1/2 dl lingonberry jam
50 g grated dark chocolate

1. Crush the cookies into a fine powder and add the butter to make the crust. Grease a springform pan (mine was 27 cm), press the crust onto the bottom and up the sides. Bake at 175C for 10 minutes.
2. Chop the licorice candies into little pieces and combine with the heavy cream in a saucepan. Boil on low until the cream is quite dark (the candies don't have to be dissolved completely).
3. Pour the mixture into a food processor and process until quite smooth.
4. Add cream cheese, eggs, vanilla and sugar. Process until smooth and incorporated well.
5. Warm up the jam (on the stove/in a microwave) and spread on the pre-cooked crust.
6. Pour the filling over the jam and sprinkle the grated chocolate on top.
7. Bake for about 40 minutes more.

The overall impression of the cake is quite chocolate-y (I already hear you shouting 'haha chocolate again - and you said you weren't a chocoholic!'). The flavours of chocolate and licorice suit each other very well and a plus side of the melting-in-your-mouth chocolate coating is also that it covers the grey-ish cheesecake (you see? there's a reason for the chocolate!).

The licorice taste isn't overpowering or anything in the final result, but moderatlely present - that explains why my parents didn't spit their mouthfuls out, but rather asked for more.
I hoped the lingonberry jam would be seen more between the layers, but it kind of melted into the crust. Nevertheless it gives it's slightly bitter accent to the cake.


When in search for licorice recipes on the web, I did notice some of them: Licorice pudding from The Well-Seasoned Cook, Licorice ice cream published in the Courier Mail and Martha Stewart's Black Licorice Creme Brulee Tarts.

Maybe you've got your own to share?
Oh, well, I'm off to tea and napkins...

Domino cookie truffles: no messy business for Valentine's

Last year it was loaded-with-sugar-and-ready-to-kill pink marshmallows, this year I'm probably going to please my friends at school with these Domino cookie truffles on Valentine's Day. I just can't go empty-handed:)

Fazer's Domino cookies are a dream come true for many cookie lovers (not really for me...er...I'm not that much of a chocolate lover...well I can pretend; but their taste does kick ass for sure). And the taste of Domino cookies in a truffle...I guess I'll have more friends on Thursday than I ever imagined:D

Domino truffles
(inspiration from Bakerella's Oreo truffles; makes about 50)

350 g Domino cookies (2 small boxes)
175 g cream cheese
about 200 g dark chocolate

1. Crush the cookies into a fine powder in a food processor.
2. Add the cream cheese and process until the mixture is very creamy.
3. Place the mixture into the fridge to harden.
4. Form balls (or other shapes) from the mixture and place them into the fridge to harden for some more time.
5. Melt chocolate over a water bath, dip all truffles into the chocolate and place them onto a plate/cutting board covered with foil. Place into the fridge to harden.

No kidding, these cookies have the distinctive Domino cookie taste that will hit you as a wonderful surprise. They're chocolate-y, very creamy. Very creamy. Sweet enough and silky when melting on your tongue. Very creamy. The chocolate coating will remain slightly softer than on a usual chocolate truffle and stick loyally onto it.

...and there's one more great thing. THE GREATEST, if you ask me. Usually forming truffles is a messy business, chocolate sticking to fingers when warming up and stuff and stuff like that. I hate it (I mean - I don't hate licking my fingers clean all the time, that's great, but, everything else there is to it - I hate).

This truffle mixture ISN'T ANNOYINGLY STICKY.
I'm amazed.

A rustic take on chocolate brownies

How much do you love chocolate?

(Don't shout! Don't shout! Come on...it was a rhetoric question!)

I've never been a champion at munching chocolate by chunks. Well, I'd like to nibble on some flavoured chocolate or have chocolate omelette for breakfast from time to time, but a cheesecake/apple cake/another good cake will always stand above chocolate cakes in my top 10.

Regular chocolate cakes don't really attract me that much, BUT I'm momentarily sold when I see something different. It has to be different different. It has to confuse my taste buds before I've even read through the recipe. This cake, my darlings, qualified enough to spend time at the back door of my mind for a long time.

It's a brownie recipe that uses barley flour as the only flour. I wouldn't have believed it could work out so well without all the fancy gluten. But it did. It's a cake that bloody could. Barley flour's got my soul now!

Chocolate brownies with barley flour
(Estonian magazine Oma maitse )

200 g butter
150 g dark chocolate
2 dl coarsely chopped walnuts
1 dl dried cranberries or cherries
3 eggs
2 dl sugar
2 dl barley flour

1. Melt butter in a saucepan and add chocolate chunks. Stir over low heat until incorporated well. Remove from heat.
2. Beat the eggs with sugar with an electric mixer until stiff.
3. Add the chocolate mixture, whisking, then add the flour and chopped walnuts and berries (if using cherries, cut them into two). Mix carefully.
4. Bake at once in a greased baking pan at 180 for 20-30 minutes (I used a 24 cm pan).
5. Let cool before serving.

The cake is, essentially, a brownie full of deep chocolate taste, but isn't as smooth as usually, but a bit grainy inside. Barley flour gives it a more crumbly texture and an intense, a bit rustic flavour that suits so well with walnuts. Dried cherries or cranberries add sweetness, but aren't very recognizable on the whole.

I found a most suitable way for completing the taste of the cake by adding some neat slightly flavoured cream.



Cinnamon-vanilla cream topping

1 dl heavy cream
100 g cream cheese
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp sugar
vanilla
pinch of salt

1. Combine cream cheese, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and salt in a bowl, beat with an electric mixer until fluffy.
2. Add heavy cream and beat some more until you reach your desired consistency.

The cream completes the strong flavour of the cake perfectly and creates a fluffy contrast with the dense chocolate brownie. The flavour itself is kind of a shadow of a flavour, but this is the aim here - to let all the rustic delight stand out.

Right now I'd say I love chocolate pretty much!:)

Spicy chocolate truffles, if you still miss Christmas

A part of my holiday gifts were these spicy chocolate truffles. They were a bit different from truffles I'd made before because the filling was softer, silkier. With 2007 and all the Christmas mumbojumbo gone, spicy desserts still make their appearances in our kitchen. All year round, actually, all year round...

So for me any time is right for writing about a truffle with a taste of Christmas.

Spiced chocolate truffles

125 g dark chocolate
125 g milk chocolate
1/2 dl light cream
juice of one orange
75 g sugar
50 g butter

flavouring options for 1/3 of the mixture
1/4 tsp ground aniseed
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon + 1/8 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp Cointreau

coating
about 250 g dark chocolate
50 g milk chocolate, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, cloves, aniseed, nuts...

1. Break chocolate to pieces
2. Bring cream, orange juice and sugar to a boil together and add to the chocolate, stirring until incorporated well.
3. Add butter and mix well.
4. Divide the mixture into 3 parts and choose a flavouring option for every one of them. Let the new mixtures stand in the fridge for some 30 minutes.
5. Make balls or other shapes (you might want to distinguish the different flavours) of the mixtures and let them harden in the fridge.
6. Melt dark chocolate over a waterbath and dip all the truffles into the chocolate, then let them harden on a non-stick surface like foil.
7. Decorate truffles with different flavour differently. You can roll them in powdered sugar or cocoa powder or decorate them with melted milk chocolate. Before hardening you can add cloves on top of clove truffles, aniseed on top of aniseed truffles or just different nuts.

I made truffles flavoured with aniseed, cloves and cardamom/cinnamon. Loved them all! The flavours came through very well and I just couldn't help but pick the aniseed ones.
I really liked the softer filling and it surprised me every time I bit into a truffle. All the superhigh gigaquality truffles that cost a lot of money are usually a lot harder to bite in, for whatever reason. Everyone needs a change, right?

But it was a bit hard to form the balls so I kept running between the stove and the freezer! I guess it's good to combine running with chocolate once in a while...

A tortilla that’s not a real tortilla and definitely not a tortilla that I’d call a tortilla

I love reading foreign food magazines. That I can read. But usually buying them aqcuires a thick wallet. When we went to Spain last autumn, I grabbed four food magazines when we were still at the airport. Well, I rushed a bit with that...as I acidentally grabbed one in Catalan...

But this year a friend gave me a three month subcription of the Spanish food magazine Comer Bien for birthday. Yay. That was sweet! Believe me, I’ve ticked a lot of recipes, but this far I’ve only got to making just one thing from all my Spanish magazines...

And in case you’re not fond of the word omelette in this context, well, you can call it a heated dessert or something:)

<Chocolate omelette
(adapted from Comer y Beber magazine, October/November 2006, serves 4)

4 eggs
100g sugar
100g dark chocolate
2 tsp cocoa powder

1. Break chocolate into squares.
2. Beat the eggs together with the sugar until slightly fluffy.
3. Sift in cocoa powder and add chocolate chunks.
4. Prepare an omelette from the mixture on a larger skillet (Do not overbake, or the chocolate inside won't be runny anymore). Cut into four.
5. Serve alone or with a sauce. I'd recommend vanilla sauce or some fruit sauce.

I used a small skillet for making the dessert for just two people and it was so easy to make. Warm chocolate desserts usually take time, but this one is ready in minutes. The flavour is eggy, yes, but it doesn't really taste like an omelette. Creme brulee tastes eggy too, remember?

It's definitely mainly a chocolate dessert, with the chocolate chunks inside pleasantly warm and slightly runny.

You hungry?

Coco-nutty prune candy

A few weeks ago I had cravings for ice cream with hot sauce. That's called a tooth-ache wish. I happened to have a bunch of prunes left over from my chocolate-y meat sauce and decided to boil them in some coconut milk. The coconut milk thickened and adopted the fruity sweetness of the prunes, which turned soft and velvety, being rich in creamy coconut milk.

I didn't eat it all, no matter how serious my cravings were.
I discovered the left-overs later when they had already cooled down. Instead of a sauce there were soft coconut-flavoured prunes. Ding! An idea! I would have walked..well...a mile to have got hold on to some white chocolate to dip these prunes into. It took me a week to get the chocolate, though...


Coco-nutty prune candy
(about 30)

2 dl prunes
2 dl coconut milk
about 120 g white chocolate
about 2 dl coconut flakes

1. Boil prunes with coconut milk for 10-15 minutes (don't cover).
   
2. Remove from heat and let the prunes cool. If there is too much coconut milk left, you can just pick the prunes out.
3. Melt chocolate over a waterbath. Prepare a small bowl with coconut flakes to roll the candy in and parchment paper/foil/silicone sheet to place the candy on for cooling.
4. Dip each prune into white chocolate, let excessive chocolate drip off, roll the candy in coconut flakes and place onto parchment paper/foil/silicone sheet to cool. (I used 2 teaspoons - one for dipping and one for covering so I didn't get a chocolate-coconut flake mess)

The candies can be stored in the fridge and taken out only some time before serving - that way it's better to eat them in several bites. If they're kept at room temperature, it's better to eat them in just one bite - or pieces might fall off them and...that's just not that comfortable.



How long should you boil the prunes? I have boiled them at quite a high temperature. The first time I made the candies, I used a small pot - the prunes didn't fit in one layer. I boiled them for 15 minutes and the coconut milk was still quite light-coloured. The second time I used a saucepan - the prunes didn't fill one layer. After 10 minutes I removed the saucepan from heat, because the coconut milk was quite brown already. So I recommend using a pot that just holds one layer of prunes and keeping an eye on it - don't let the coconut milk turn that brown, the taste will be better.

The candies have a mild coconut taste and are very velvety inside. White chocolate adds additional sweetness and makes the overall impression quite sweet. If you're an extreme sweettooth, try adding dark syrup when boiling the prunes. Using toasted coconut flakes would make the nutty accent yummily overwhelming.
Do try this at home!

A sweet mosaic of cookies

I just couldn't resist buying the Australian cookbook Sweet Food when I first browsed through it in a bookstore (actually it was the second time, but first sounds so much more poetical). For me a big deal of the recipes inside are exotic, using ingredients that are unusual in an Estonian kitchen - macadamia nuts for example, which are quite often in the ingredient lists. Ask an average Estonian what a macadamia nut is - you'll probalby hear the answer 'Misasi?' or - in English - 'A what?'

One of the first recipes that caught my eye was of cracked cookies (the name may differ in the English version, as I'm re-translating the recipe from Estonian). Their appearance is just so...wow that I was sure I'd be making them before I'd even read through the recipe. The cool look is achieved by rolling balls of cookie dough in powdered sugar before baking - that will leave a two-coloured cracked effect.

I substituted the allspice in the recipe with a double amount of cinnamon and pecan nuts with walnuts. I do have a budget, you know.


Cracked chocolate cookies
(adapted from Sweet Food)

125 g soft butter
370 g soft brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
60 g melted chocolate
80 ml milk
340 g flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
salt
85 g chopped walnuts
powdered sugar

1. Beat together butter, sugar and vanilla until the mixture is light and creamy.
2. Add eggs one by one
3. Add chocolate and milk (I was afraid that chocoalte would turn lumpy when added to the cool mixture and mixed it with warm milk first).
4. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, cinnamon and a pinch of salt onto the butter mixture and mix well.
   
5. Add chopped walnuts.
6. Cover the dough and place it in the fridge for at least 3 hours (you can also prepare the dough the evening before)
7. Preheat the oven to 180C and slightly grease 2 griddles.
8. Use a teaspoon for measuring and make balls out of the dough (the recipe said this technique would make about 60 cookies - I got over 80 though I scooped quite much dough every time)
9. Roll each ball in a small bowl with powdered sugar so that it's covered well and place the balls onto the griddles, leaving enough space between them
   
10. According to the recipe you should bake the cookies for 20-25 min. I baked my best batch only for 18 minutes - the edges shouldn't look very dark when you take the cookies out of the oven. Even if they don't get burnt - too much time mean rock cookies.
11. After removing from the oven, leave for about 3-4 minutes, then place on a rack and let cool.

I subconsciously tried to find the cookies I had baked for 18 minutes afterwards - they were softer inside and seemed to have more taste. The cookies were moderately sweet and had a charming scent of cinnamon. This is rather a cacao-holic cookie than a chocoholic one, if I'm allowed to say such a thing! And I do believe one can't refuse eating something that looks like a sweet mosaic. Even if he or she has accidentally used a too long baking time and it cracks under the tooth like a real one:)



I wouldn't say these were the best cookies ever, but they were good and looked like A-class celebrities. That's great enough for me!

TGRWT#5: Meat with chocolate - are you kidding?

To try and eat meat with chocolate – that’s no easy challenge. Like – no way. But the more I thought about it, the more tempted I felt. Not only to test myself but also to shock others to see what they’d say and if they’d have anything to say at all. Well, they had. Amrita’s challenge for this months TGRWT#5 – combining meat and chocolate – has been the most intriguing one this far.

A traditional mole would have been a safer choice, I guess, because it’s widely known that it has chocolate in it and people actually eat it and like it and they actually do. No mole this time, amigos. I used an Italian recipe (Cinghiale in agrodolce) that actually called for wild boar (not a good idea to spend a pile of money if you’re mixing meat with chocolate for the first time – trust me), but used pork, I also lessened the amount of red wine vinegar. Otherwise I followed the recipe, word for word. Quite a scary afternoon.

Pork in chocolate and prune sauce
(adapted from Hans Joachim Döbbelin’s ’Italy’)

100 g prunes
75 g big raisins
600 g pork chops
75 g bacon
3 tbsp olive oil
salt
50 g bitter chocolate
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 dl red wine vinegar
3 laurel leaves
cinnamon

1. Soak prunes and raisins in lukewarm water
2. Cut the meat into slices
3. Chop bacon and heat it with olive oil until transparent
4. Add pork chops and fry them on both sides, then add salt and fry for additional 10 minutes on lower heat.
5. Drain prunes and raisins and grate chocolate (for me it was easier to just chop it into little pieces)
6. Heat sugar, laurel leaves and red wine vinegar on a pan until sugar dissolves, then add the mixture to the meat
7. Also add raisins, prunes, chocolate and some cinnamon, then heat almost until boiling point (don’t let it boil!)
8. Mix meat and sauce well and heat everything for another 15 minutes, not letting it boil.
9. Serve with pasta or be a traitor like me and serve with rice instead.

I don’t imagine eating something like this with pasta. Really really really. Pasta with sweet and sour chocolate sauce? No. Rice was definitely much better.

Cooking this dish filled the kitchen with overwhelming vinegar smell – that was a bit alarming, especially for my mother. ’If I had known you were going to use it for meat, I wouldn’t have bought you this bottle of vinegar,’ she said when she came home. And also – ’If you asked me to buy meat I thought you’d be making something really good, but you made something sour.’ Okay, not a very bad start.

The dish is best described as sweet and sour chocolate meat. The taste of chocolate, most of all, is strange. It may be strangely good, but it’s still strange, strangely chocolate-y. What I actually like the most, are the prunes – delicate, soft, somehow maintaining a good balance between tastes. I’d rather eat the meat and pick out the prunes (into my mouth, of course), adding some yoghurt to my rice instead of chocolate sauce! The meat has an interesting accent to it, but isn’t flavoured by the sauce in a taste-killing way.

When my parents came home, I kept repeating, ’Really-really, you don’t have to eat this, you can just have rice with smoked chicken, really. Really.’ But strangely this time they wouldn’t listen, although I refused to reveal the components of the dish and hid myself in my room, doing all kinds of, you know, important stuff. After they’d called me for several times to go and explain the mystery, I heard the words ’this meat was good’.

I’m in awe. I’m confused. Something’s wrong in the world.
My parents liked meat in chocolate sauce.

Is it...is it really ICE CREAM inside there? Chocolate truffles full of surprise.

I discovered this idea a lot of time ago on Epicurious and was stunned. Ice cream? Like in chocolate? At my very house? Back then I was s-t-u-n-n-e-d. I did try it once and failed completely. Completely. But the thing with people is that they're given a lot of second chances. So I decided to use mine wisely.

Bad news - making ice cream truffles wasn't easy-peasy (although there were some comments on Epicurious claming that - are these guys proffessionals or something?) Good news - people have shared tips and so will I. So here's a list of tips I collected from comments and remember from my own experience.

1. Use ice cream with dense structure, some brands have a lot of air whipped into them.
2. All the utensils you use should be really cold, i.e. consider keeping your spoons and baking sheet (or whatever you plan to place the truffles on - I love our silicon mat) in the freezer.
3. If the truffles aren't coated well, dip them for a second time - coverings will also stick better.
4. You can work practically in your freezer, taking every ice cream ball out individually. More running, but less melting - your choice.
5. Don't touch the ice cream with your hands in order to prevent melting.
6. Ice cream with higher fat content won't melt as fast as light ice cream - this is NOT the moment to be scared of a bit more fat in your dessert.
7. White chocolate may be easier to work with as it doesn't harden as quickly as dark chocolate
8. Melt chocolate in small batches because melting ice cream will make it less effective for coating. You don't want a bowlful of ice cream mixed chocolate (maybe you do, but I assure you - this is not the moment!).

Be sure to remember these tricks if you plan to try these truffles out. This is the overall idea. Find ice cream brands and chocolate that go together well, coat the truffles with chopped nuts, coconut flakes...or leave them without coating.


Ice cream truffles

Ice cream of your choice (preferrably high fat content and dense structure)
Chocolate
Vegetable oil (about 1 tsp for 125 g of chocolate)
(Chopped nuts/coconut flakes)

1. Scoop out little balls (about 1 1/2 - 2 cm) of ice cream and place them onto prepared baking sheet, foil or whatever dish you plan to place the truffles on and put it in the freezer. According to your speed - prepare several and then - into the freezer! New ones and again - into the freezer! That's to maintain the shape of the balls.
2. Let the ice cream balls stay in the freezer for several hours or even overnight to continue on the next day.
3. Melt chocolate over a waterbath (the first batch of it, not all of it) and add vegetable oil to it.
4. Dip ice cream balls into chocolate (using a fork is a good way to do so) and place them onto baking sheet or foil, then put them back into the freezer.
5. To coat the truffles with chopped nuts or coconut flakes, place these into little bowls and roll chocolate covered ice cream balls in them before letting them cool. Another way is to cover frozen truffles. Melt a new batch of chocolate and dip the truffles into it, rolling them in chopped nuts or coconut flakes afterwards, then freeze again.

Serving these to guests would be wonderful. Or rather seeing the first one of them biting a truffle, then squeaking in surprise. Excuse me for being an amateur cook, but I surely would squeak! Ice cream and chocolate melting into each other...just make a dish into just one bite and it will taste so much better!

Fruit stuffed fruit

...stuffed marzipan stuffed chocolate.
Ooh. Today I'm proud of myself. Just like for the first time in my life I had prepared something...elegant. If that's the word. I wasn't sure what I was going to make or how I was going to make it, but I took out a can of apricot halves, some chocolate, marzipan and dried apricots. And then I stared at them, just stared at them for a little while before my mind cleared up.
Ding!
And that's what I got.


Chocolate balls filled with apricots and marzipan
(yields six balls)

12 canned apricot halves
6 dried apricots
120 g marzipan
100 g dark chocolate

1. Drain the apricot halves on paper towels so that they're quite dry.
2. Place dried apricots between two apricot halves.


3. Roll marzipan into a thin sheet and divide it into 6, then wrap each 'apricot' into marzipan. Be sure there are no holes in it.
4. Melt chocolate over a waterbath and dip the marzipan covered apricots into it to be wholly covered with chocolate (I found the best way to do so was to use a tablespoon to roll them around in chocolate). Place them onto baking paper or foil and then into the freezer at first so that the chocolate would quickly harden.
5. After about 5 minutes you can put them into the fridge to keep them there.



The inside of the treats is flavoured by marzipan that has turned soft due to apricot juice. When broken, marzipan flavoured juice flows out just like a sweet sauce. And chocolate melting into marzipan when bitten...could it get any better? I believe it's possible to add even more twists to the dessert. What about adding a bit apricot jam between the dried apricots and apricot halves? Or what about adding almond slices instead? Adding them would enrich the treat with yet another different texture.

With this post I'm also joining the fabulous event Waiter, there's something in my... stuffed fruit/vegetables! hosted by Jeanne of Cook Sister

Head isu!

Saffron-hearted truffle eggs in white chocolate

Another Easter-spirited event? A fab excuse for my second try on a not-so-much-of-an-egg dessert. Only this time they're bite size - just like tiny quail eggs.

I think I've been afraid of saffron. Its reputation, all the fizz around it - just as if it was gold or a bag full of edible diamonds. So, for the first time, I bought a thin package full of these deep red threads. Oh and the fizz was there. And the slightly floral smell that filled the kitchen as I was crushing the threads in a mortar. It was something! And it was the moment when my fear left me. With the knowledge that kitchen is the last place for being afraid. Saffron's got a little something for everybody.


Saffron-hearted truffle eggs in white chocolate
(from Maria Öhrn's Godis)

1/4 g saffron
1/4 tsp cognac/rum
200 g + 175 g white chocolate
3/4 dl heavy cream
1 tsp honey

1. Crush saffron in a mortar, add cognac or rum to make it smoother (it will blend better with the chocolate)
2. Chop 200 g of chocolate. Bring cream and honey to a boil and pour the mixture over chocolate. Blend well until chocolate melts.
3. Pour 1/3 of the mixture into a smaller bowl and mix it well with saffron. Let both mixtures harden in the fridge.
4. Roll small yolks out of the yellow mixture and place them in the freezer so that they turn really hard.
5. Cover the yolks with a bit of white chocolate mixture and form an egg. Let the eggs harden in the fridge (You might want to do this in several batches in case it's warm in your kitchen. Or you will be licking and washing your hands...all the time).
6. Break the remaining chocolate into pieces and melt over a waterbath. Then dip the eggs into it and let them harden.
7. Keep the eggs in the fridge, but let them stand a while at room temperature before serving.




You can really taste the saffron in these. The truffles are tender, sweet and look fun. Forming eggs was quite a mess as both my hands and the kitchen were very warm, but it was worth the effort.A clean and honest flavour.


Weekend Cookbook Challenge #15, themed Easter/Spring is hosted by Marta from An Italian in the US this month.

Chocolate slices that taste expensive

However shameful it might be, I'm not really a huge chocolate lover (yes, this is the place you can go 'nooooo, that can't be true!'). Well I mean drooling because of a chocolate bar or spying on a random chocolate cake to get my hands on it - I don't do things like that (although I'm a woman. weird, huh?). But what I do love is expensive interestingly flavoured chocolate. And what I love even more is when I manage to turn some cheap chocolate into a sweet that tastes the same.

There's nothing crazy nor difficult about it. The simplest way to add a wow-effect to chocolate is to melt it and flavour it. Thin pieces also give their effort - when it doesn't look just like another ordinary chocolate bar, it couldn't be one, right? One brand I used had pieces of nuts in it too, the crunchy effect was like a bonus in the chocolate. So you can add bits of nuts too if you like.


Chocolate slices with pinches of cinnamon and salt

100 g milk chocolate
100 g dark chocolate
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/5 tsp salt

1. Melt the chocolate in a waterbath.
2. Add cinnamon and salt, blend well. Spread the chocolate onto parchment paper or aluminum foil (I have a silicone baking sheet that's probably the best choice).
3. Cool it to some stage so you can cut shapes out of the chocolate with a cookie cutter or cool it completely and just break it to pieces for serving (that's what I did and it looks nice. Plus some small pieces may break and you can lie to yourself you have to eat them to get rid of the mess).

If you're afraid of adding salt, just add less. You really won't regret. I wouldn't add notably more, too much salt wouldn't complete the taste anymore, it would overpower it. This amount, to me, seems to be just about right to tease your senses. Though I haven't tried, I believe this chocolate could make an excellent sauce to a sweet chocolate cake. In the future I'd also like to try adding herbs to flavour chocolate. The opportunities are endless.
And, of course, I have to try this recipe using an expensive chocolate. Consider it done.

A sweet surprise of carrot truffles

Carrots do go with anything. Either slightly crunchy or attractively creamy, it's possible to smuggle them into most dishes. I smuggled them into chocolate. And no, I don't feel guilty.
I remember eating carrots in the garden when I was little. I pulled some out of the ground, threw the leaves just over my shoulder behind some bushes, rinsed the vegetables in some rainwater (gathered into an old bath) and champed them happily, possibly together with some soil. It's time for carrot eating to become elegant.


Carrot truffles

500 g carrots
200 g raisins
1 dl sugar
50 g butter
150 g sliced almonds
1/2 tsp ground cardamum
chocolate for coating

1. Shred the carrots and and put them together with the raisins into a pot, add water to only cover them.
2. Boil the mixture, uncovered, until the water has evaporated and remove from heat.
3. Add sugar, butter, almonds and cardamum to the mixture and puree it until almost smooth
4. Return to heat for some more time to reduce liquid content
5. Let the mixture cool, shape into balls and cover with chocolate


I actually wanted to use white chocolate but didn't have the chance, so I substituted it with a mixture of dark and milk chocolate. It worked as well, but I believe that the version with white chocolate could be much different. Some lime or orange peel could also be added for an extra twist. The original inspirational recipe actually called for figs instead of raisins (I do have a budget, you know).

No-one I offered the truffles to actually understood what was in them at the first place. Nifty, isn't it? The filling was soft and silky, the raisins somehow deepened the taste. Definitely a make-again.

Christmas coming - time for candies!

This weekend I got to cook a lot. The main event was making gingerbread dough (of course following granny's magic recipe) together with family, but that I'm going to discuss later.

Christmas is no time for diet, so our kitchen table is already loaded with sweets. Although I went to sauna this evening, I believe I can still smell the scent of flowing dark chocolate on my fingers. Or perhaps it's the air. Christmasy. I prepared the filling for these candies yesterday and dipped them into chocolate this morning. I'm afraid this will lead to making my own better-than-ever (and chemistry-free) Bounty bars.


Coconut candies

150 g shredded coconut
50 g almonds (ground or chopped)
40 g butter
1 dl sugar
2 dl double cream
200 g chocolate

1. roast the coconut until golden
2. mix together butter, sugar and cream in a pot and boil the mixture for 5 minutes
3. add the coconut and almonds, blend well and spread the mixture onto foil, let cool
4. melt the chocolate (I used 100 g dark and 100 g milk chocolate, but I'm sure white chocolate would be wonderful here too), dip squares or balls of coconut mixture into it using a fork (I hid peeled whole almonds in some of the candies - makes me think of Rafaello) and let them cool on foil or parchment paper.