We are all sinners: Forgetting common sense and indulging in chocolate may be a minor sin but can give us major pleasure – forget about slim figures and everything and come to chocolate country with these truffles. (Just remember to stop before you transgress the limits your body can handle). My son – after having experienced some seriously sinful chocolate delicacies in Italy – insisted that I start to produce some of my own. Luckily, drugs as mentioned before, there is decent cooking chocolate available in India. Subsequently I searched some cookbooks, pills did some experiments, gained and lost maybe a pound or two and the result I present here: 3 different kinds of truffles, my variety of egg less chocolate sweets.
Coconut truffles
Ingredients (for 15 truffles):
- 1 packet (100 gram) desiccated coconut
- 6 tablespoons sweetened, condensed milk
- 1 tablespoon brandy
- 300 gram dark chocolate
Method:
Put the coconut, the condensed milk and the brandy into a bowl and mix everything well. Put the bowl into the fridge until the mixture is solid. Place the roughly chopped chocolate into a double boiler and melt it as described in the recipe of chocolate brownies. Roll spoonfuls of the coconut mix into balls. With the help of a thin fork dip them into the melted chocolate and let them rest on aluminum foil, until the chocolate has set. Store them in the fridge in a closed container.
White truffles
Ingredients (for 15 truffles):
- 300 gram white chocolate
- 3 tablespoons cream
- 5 tablespoons butter
- half a cup sugar
- 1 packet (100 grams) almonds
- 1 cup icing sugar
Method:
Bring 2 glasses of water to a boil. Immerse the almonds in the boiling water and simmer for a minute before switching off the fire. After 10 minutes, drain the almonds and let them cool down. Remove the skins and place the almonds on a cookie sheet. Toast them in the oven at lowest temperature until they are golden brown. Be careful: They need constant attention as they tend to burn really quickly. When your almonds are nicely toasted, chop them roughly. Place the sugar with 4 table spoons water in a saucepan. Cook the sugar over medium heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Then stop touching it and let the sugar boil until it has turned golden brown.
Place the almonds on a cookie sheet greased with 2 table spoons butter. Pour the caramel over and let the mixture cool down. Once it is set, break the caramel into big pieces and chop them roughly in a food processor or blender. Put the white chocolate with 3 table spoons butter and the cream in a double boiler, melt the chocolate (as described in the brownie recipe) and combine everything well. Stir the chopped caramel into the melted chocolate and place the mixture into the fridge until firm. Then form small balls and roll the truffles in icing sugar. Store them in a closed container in the fridge.
Whiskey truffles
Ingredients (for 15 truffles):
- 300 gram milk chocolate
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons cream
- 2 tablespoons whiskey
- 1 cup sifted cocoa powder
Method:
Put the chopped chocolate, the butter and the cream in a double boiler and melt everything (as described in the brownie recipe). Stir the mixture well, remove from the heat and incorporate the whiskey. Place the bowl in the fridge until the mixture has solidified. Now form it into small bowls and roll them in the sifted cocoa powder. Store them in a closed container in the fridge.
Kornelia is a German food writer living in Goa, India, with her Italian husband and her son. She has published two cookbooks, Kornelia’s Kitchen – Mediterranean Cooking for India and Kornelia’s Kitchen 2 – Cooking for Allergies. Both have won the Gourmand World Cookbook Award. All her recipes are easy, fast and delicious – the right kind of food to keep your family healthy and happy without spending too much time in the kitchen.
