Ingredients
- You can make these little bites entirely vegan and alcohol free as well. These are unevenly shaped and are more like rochers than truffles.
- Makes 8-9 truffles
- 1 cup golden raisins, pips and little stalks removed
- 1/4 cup cranberries or if unavailable use dark raisins, pips and little stalks removed
- 1/2 cup dark rum or apple juice
- 1 tbsp Cointreau or Grand Marnier or orange juice
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 2 tbspns brown sugar
- 1.5 cups apple juice
- 1/4 cup pecans or walnuts broken into small pieces, well toasted
- 2 tbsp graham crackers crumbs
- For the chocolate couverture
- 30 ozs dark chocolate no more than 70%
- 1/2 cup cream or use coconut milk for a vegan ganache
- 1 tbsp castor sugar
- 1 cup whole-milk or use soy milk
- 1 tbsp butter or vegetable oil
- extra 1/2 oz dark chocolate pieces
- Garnish
- 1 tbsp finely crushed almonds, pecans or walnuts or 8 pieces of candied orange
- You will need toothpicks, foil and parchment paper.
Instructions
- FOR TRUFFLES
- Combine both the raisins or cranberries, cinnamon stick, rum, apple juice and brown sugar in a saucepan and cook on a medium flame until most of the liquid has evaporated and you have a soft sticky mixture. Remove and discard cinnamon stick.
- Cool mixture completely. Stir in orange liqueur or juice until well incorporated.
- Stir in all remaining ingredients.
- Rub your hands with butter or margarine and roll the mixture into 8-9 balls. The balls will be uneven because they contains nuts and raisins.
- Lay the ball out on a tray covered with parchment paper. Stick a small toothpick into the centre of each one. Cover tightly and refrigerate 2 hours.
- FOR COUVERTURE/GANACHE
- Heat the sugar, milk and cream in a small saucepan. When it reaches a boil remove from the fire and quickly stir in all the chocolate. Keep stirring to agitate the chocolate about 1-2 minutes with a spatula. Add an extra 1/2 oz chocolate and stir till it melts- this will help temper the chocolate so you have a shiny coating. Stir in the oil or butter. You should have a shiny and smooth ganache. If it is too thick add in a little more milk and stir vigorously. Pour this into a small bowl with a depth of 3 inches.
- ASSEMBLY
- Hold the truffle by the toothpick and dip into the sauce. Coat it all over. Then hold it above the bowl and let it drip for a bit to get excess chocolate off. This is will take a minute or so.
- Return it to the wax paper with the toothpick still stuck inside. Repeat this for all the truffles.
- Slowly pull out the toothpicks. You can hold the truffle down with an extra toothpick as you pull the toothpick out. Drip a little ganache to cover the hole where the toothpick was using a teaspoon. Sprinkle with nuts. Cover the truffLes with foil and refrigerate 2 hours or until you are ready to eat them.
- Remove from fridge, place in small paper cases or if you prefer straight on to a small serving platter. Let sit 15 minutes before you serve them.
© 2024 All content copyright: Tara Deshpande