White Chocolate Lemon Truffles

Some brilliant people at work organised a fundraiser lunch in aid of Dean’s Fight for Sight and the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind. For my part, I chipped in with some pasta and kudos to HoneyB for letting me cook all that pasta in her drum (aka my big pot!). But I couldn’t not bring some chocolate treats: truffles and hot chocolate sachets.

Here is the recipe for White Chocolate Lemon Truffles which, even for a 70% girl, is very moreish!

Makes approx 40 depending on the size.

zest of 2 small unwaxed lemons
229ml double cream (the unusual amount is because Avonmore double cream comes in this size carton)
250g white chocolate, finely chopped
200g roasted chopped hazelnuts (to coat)

1. Add cream and zest into a pot and heat gently until just simmering. Remove from heat and leave for 20 minutes.
2. Reheat the cream mixture to just simmering. Strain through a sieve to remove the zesty bits.
3. Add the chocolate and stir until melted. (In my case, the mixture cooled before all the chocolate had melted so I zapped it in the microwave at MED power for 10 sec intervals, stirring in between zaps until the mixture was smooth.)
4. Pour into a shallow bowl and leave to cool at room temp. Once cool, cover and refrigerate for 4 hrs or leave at room temp overnight. If you do refrigerate, take the mixture out at least 20 mins before forming the truffles otherwise it will be too hard.
5. Once the mixture is firm, form the truffles. Pour the hazelnuts in to a shallow bowl.
6. Take a tsp of the mixture and roll into a ball between your palms. Then drop the truffle in the nuts and roll it around until coated.

Store for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container in the fridge. But do allow them come to room temp before eating.

Variations: As with all truffles you can vary them in any way, adding different amounts of zest, changing the coating. Toasted coconut would work well here too.

Tip: When forming the truffles, drop 5 or 6 into the bowl containing the coating. Then take the bowl and shake it gently rolling all the truffles until coated.