What went Boom in the Bust

The ‘you couldn’t meet nicer’ folks at Happy Endings Productions company are making a TV program called ‘What went Boom in the Bust’. It turns out that chocolate sales have increased in these recessionary times in Ireland. They asked if I had any thoughts on chocolate … I said, why yes I do.

Talk about being out of my comfort zone … a crew of four turned up on my door and squeezed into the kitchen. Lights, camera, action! And for the life of me I cannot remember what I said … it’s all a blur, but if I made any sense the I am sure to hear it over Christmas when the show airs :-0

The kitchen has never been so clean and decluttered in 2 1/2 years (and it’s no coincidence that HoneyB is 2 1/2 years old!).

Lots of lollies were made for the occasion, hot chocolate mix, truffles too, including these Crystalised Ginger Truffles which are now my favourite ginger concoction.

The truffle filling is made with:

• 200g dark chocolate, chopped
• 200ml single cream
• 3 tbsp butter at room temp
• 50g crystalised ginger, finely chopped

Dark Peppermint Truffles

I’ve never used edible glitter so I could not resist adding it to my Candyland Crafts order. Green glitter to top a mint truffle, green glitter to top Nigella’s mint cookies, green glitter to top a christmas tree shortbread, green glitter to top Rachel’s rosemary chocolate mousse … stop enough already!

For the mint truffle filling:

• 200g dark chocolate, chopped
• 200ml single cream
• 3 tsp butter at room temperature
• 3/4 tsp peppermint extract

1. Bring the cream to the boil then leave it cool to room temp.

2. Gently melt the chocolate then beat in the butter with electric mix.

3. Beat in the cream, then stir in the peppermint extract.

4. Allow to firm up before rolling the truffles. Dip in chocolate and decorate. Or roll in some cocoa powder mixed with edible glitter.

The glitter is surprisingly crunchy, super with the smooth filling.

Rocky Road Buns

HoneyB is getting very helpful in the kitchen and took her place at the worktop this weekend to ‘do cooking’. Her mixer in her hand, she made the ‘whoooooo’ noise and, without, any encouragement tucked into the raw bun mixture.

To make Rocky Road buns, just take any chocolate bun recipe, add 50g marshmallows, 25g flaked almonds (optional) to the mixture before spooning it into bun cases.  Once cooked, the marshmallows melt and leave gooey holes on top of the buns … a little concealer is called for!

I used Alice Medrich’s Glace A L’Eau from Bittersweet (changed it slightly). Alice does warn that “It naturally produces a very intense bittersweet flavour, even without using a high percentage chocolate”.

• 4 oz chocolate, chopped
• 4 oz butter, cubed
• 1/4 cup water or strong coffee

1. Add all the ingredients into a microwave bowl.
2. Melt in the microwave on medium heat stirring ever min until everything is nearly melted.
3. Remove and stir until smooth. Allow it to cool and spread over the buns … decorate at will.

Hmmm, sometimes I think yes I am a good mother spending quality time with Honeyb, this morning when she was eating buns before her porridge I think, hmmm maybe I am not :-|

Lime and Dark Chocolate Truffles

These Ts were inspired by our dinner Zingy Chicken Stirfry. Now when I say ‘inspired’ I really mean ‘made from the leftovers’ i.e. leftover limes.

• Place 200mls of cream with the zest of two limes into a pot.
• Make dinner, then tidy up.
• Do jigsaws.
• Play jumping on the bed.
• Read The Tiger who came to Tea, Bedtime for Spot and Lullabyhullabaloo books.
• Put a sleepyhead to bed.
• Bring the cream to the boil and strain over 200g dark chocolate (Belcolade 72% dark).
• Leave until the next evening before forming truffles, dipping and decorating (nuts, coconut).

Benoit Lorge’s Demo

I was wowed by this demo and now I know the sign of a real chocolatier: they can talk to a room full of chocoholics and temper at the same time! And kudos to the Temple Bar Cultural Trust for such a professional ticket design … I am keeping my ticket stub!

Benoit Lorge, originally from France now firmly installed in Kerry, had a bain marie on the go, huge marble slab, several 2.5kg bags of Valrhona chocolate, molds of all shapes and sizes and most importantly, a tilted mirror over the work area so everyone could see what was going on. Hmmm let me illustrate …

The demo was packed with loads of information presented in a easy-to-remember format. He ran thru cocoa bean types, the importance of tempering, cocoa origins all the while keeping bowls of chocolate stirred. He piped the molded sweets with a honey ganache and here’s the recipe. It will do approx 450 sweets ;-)

500ml cream

450g honey

500g Valrhona Jivara

500g Valrhona Carribe

Bring cream to the boil, stir in the honey, then pour over the chocolate.

Just like that :-) It tasted fabulous not least because of the excellent ingredients. Sur’ there was even a Valrhona sales rep present in case anyone need a few kgs.

The worktop after a very busy demo … I lost count of how many discs, truffles and bars he made. He made it look so easy and I know from messy experience that it isn’t. And there was no pretend tempering here … the finished truffles were shiny and crisp.

I thoroughly enjoyed this demo so much so that we went back today to watch again. HoneyB (after a good cry which was silenced by the chocolatier and some Valrhona!) sat watching too. She especially liked pouring all the chocolate onto the slab – I think it was the mess she liked.  She was probably thinking to herself ‘look, this guy making a mess and Mommie is not cross’ !

Crunchie Truffles

So I took some of the honeycomb bits and pieces, stirred them into a milk chocolate ganache and what happened? (she says in her best HoneyB voice). The honeycomb dissolved very gradually leaving a very soft sticky mixture :-( I had somehow hoped (now I know Himself was right) that I could preserve the crunchie texture in the truffle. Anyway, we live and learn. However the flavor was good and the ‘toffee’ flavor was subtle.

I suppose the right thing to do would be to chocolate coat the crunchie … then mix in. Anyway, I cut them into squares, tossed in cocoa and served with a warning: very soft truffles.

Honeycomb and the Three Bears

I’ve been telling HoneyB the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears at breakfast for the past few weeks and she is quite taken by it. She suggests that Mommie Bear make Baby Bear some more porridge straight away :-)

Anyway, inspired by Gordon Ramsay’s dessert topping (and that is not something that happens often), I made some honeycomb. But how could something so simple to make be so difficult to clean up after. I had to boil my utensils in the pot to clean them. Ah but it was worth it. Now I have my own crunchie stuff to mix with milk chocolate ganache and create a Crunchie truffle :-)

• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup glucose syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tbsp baking soda (bicarb)

1. Oil and then line a baking tin with parchment paper, then oil the parchment paper. I used veg oil.

2. Put everything except the baking soda in a deep pot and bring to the boil but do not bother to stir it. The ingredients will combine as they boil.

3. Keep the sides of the pot clean using a pastry brush dipped in water.

4. Allow the sugar mixture to come to 149C. And now the fun part: whisk in the baking soda which will cause a volcanic thickening golden brown bubbling liquid.

5. Once it starts to thicken and take on that honeycomb color, pour it into the tin.

6. Allow to cool before cutting/breaking/smashing it up. Then store in an airtight container.

There was no way I could find to cut this into nice neat slices. I got chunks, crumbs, shards and one or two good bars. Maybe it needs to be scored while warm …

Dark Chocolate Ginger Truffles

Hmmm is there such a thing as too much ginger? Here is a recipe for Triple Ginger Truffles … there is nothing subtle about the ginger here:

First off the ganache (makes 50):

• 200g dark chocolate (Belcolade Costa Rica 64%)
• 215ml single cream
• 3 tbsp cocoa
• 2″ root ginger, grated *
• 50g crystalised ginger, finely chopped *
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger *

* optional, vary up or down depending on your ginger tooth

1. Bring the cream and grated root ginger to just below boiling, remove from the heat and allow it to sit for 10 mins.
2. Put the chocolate in whatever bowl/container you are going to store the truffle mixture in. Then bring the cream back to simmer.
3. Strain the cream over the chocolate making sure no root ginger gets into the ganache.
4. Let the cream melt the chocolate, then gently stir until smooth. If the chocolate does not melt completely, heat if for 10sec bursts in the microwave on Medium until completely smooth.
5. Now stir in the crystalised ginger. Leave to rest at room temp overnight, or for a 4 hours in the fridge.
6. Combine the cocoa powder and ground ginger into a shallow bowl.
7. Scoop the truffles and roll them the cocoa.
8. These need to be stored in the fridge, taking them out around 20 mins before serving to allow them come to room temp. They can also be frozen; but once defrosted they will need to be spruced up so just roll them in some cocoa powder.

The result … triple ginger truffle. For me the ground ginger was just too much. It added to much heat and spice to the truffle and masked the lovely dark chocolate. But the root and crystalised ginger is a good combination … 2 outta 3 ain’t bad :-) Actually the crystalised ginger gives a nice zingy bite and texture too.

Oh I miss being able to take photos. The light is just not good in the morning and evening these days … I must try to master the light box.

White Chocolate Lemon Truffles

Yes, yes another white chocolate and lemon truffle recipe but for this one I used creme fraiche and a milky bar!

• 200g white chocolate (Milky bar), finely chopped
• 100ml creme fraiche
• 2 tsp grated lemon zest (nearly 2 lemons)
• 1tbsp cocoa powder

1. Bring the creme fraiche and zest to the boil and then let it sit for 10 mins, then bring the creme back to simmer.
2. Put the chopped chocolate in to bowl and strain the creme over it.
3. Allow the creme to melt the chocolate for 1-2 mins, then stir. If the chocolate is not fully melted then pop the mixture in the microwave for 10sec bursts at MED, stirring in between.
4. Once cool, cover the ganache and either leave to rest overnight at room temp or for 4 hours in the fridge.
5. Then form the truffles, roll in cocoa and do what you must ;-)

The result … a lovely light truffle, you can still taste the white chocolate but that very sweet Milky Bar taste is toned down by the creme fraiche. They taste like the topping to a lemon cheesecake which in my house is not a bad think at all. The only teeny tiny down side it that it is easier to work with cream as the creme fraiche has a thicker consistency.

Celebrating Guinness

Happy Authur’s Day … yes indeed I am talking about Guinness. Major celebrations are underway to mark 250 years of brewing the finest black stuff. And what better way to enjoy a Guinness than with a nibble on some dark chocolate. If you fancy something more then maybe Chocolate Guinness Cake or CheapEat’s Guinness Mousse. Enjoy!