Truffles

I decided to make truffles for Christmas gifts this year. They turned out quite well but took much more effort and time than I've expected.

Coffee Truffles (makes 25-30 pieces)
120ml heavy cream
1 tbsp light corn syrup
1.5 tbsp instant coffee granules
1 tbsp (15g) butter, soft
200g dark chocolate (manjari) chopped
1.5 tbsp whiskey
Valrhona cocoa powder for garnish

Combine cream and corn syrup in saucepan and bring to a boil.
Add coffee and stir well to dissolve.

Add cream to chocolate and butter. Start stirring after about 2 minutes and stir until smooth and homogenous. Use a whisk if necc and whisk in the whiskey slowly.

Pour ganache into a bowl/baking pan and cover with plastic wrap.
Refrigerate for 1hour or more till the ganache is firm.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Scope out balls of ganache using #100 scope and place on sheet pan. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 15 minutes. Roll each portion into round ball. Dust with cocoa powder.
Serve

**yum yum yum. dark and smooth with essence of coffee.


Salted caramel truffles (makes 30-40 pieces) - adapted from epicurious

8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (caribe), finely chopped, divided
2/3 cup sugar
4 tablespoons water
2/3 cup whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel

Place 8 ounces chocolate in metal bowl over saucepan of barely simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl to touch water); stir until chocolate is smooth. Remove chocolate from over water.

Combine sugar and water in small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves, occasionally brushing sides of pan with wet pastry brush. Increase heat; boil until syrup is deep amber color, brushing down sides and swirling pan occasionally, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and add cream slowly. (mixture will bubble!!). Stir over very low heat until caramel is smooth. Mix caramel and 1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel into melted chocolate. Chill until truffle filling is firm, at least 3 hours.

Pipe into candy cups and chill till firm. Sprinkle some fleur de sel just before serving.

**my favourite truffle thus far. nuff said.

Rum & raisin truffles (makes 40-50 truffles)

125 g heavy cream
350 g dark & milk chocolate, chopped
15 g butter
40 g raisins soaked in 60g dark rum overnight

Heat the cream until hot to the touch and turn off the heat. Add the chocolate and butter to the hot cream, and stir until the chocolate melts.

Place the raisins & rum in blender and process until the raisins are finely minced. Stir the raisin mixture into the chocolate mixture and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight to cool.

Scoop balls of the rum raisin mixture and place them on sheet pans lined with parchment paper. Dip in tempered dark chocolate. Chill and serve.

**the taste of rum may be a bit strong for some people. And a little too sweet for my taste. May try with dark chocolate and less rum next time.

Learning points: If ganache splits, whisk. If it still doesn't work, add 1tbsp of liqueur slowly while whisking. You can feel the ganache coming together as it gets slightly harder to whisk as the mixture emulsifies. The well mixed ganache looks glossy and not oily.

Garlic mash potatoes

Modified recipe from Ad Hoc by Thomas Keller.

To feed 12 people comfortably:
10 Russet potatoes
125g salted butter - cut into 8 pieces
4 bulbs roasted garlic (brush with canola oil and cover with foil, roast at 200C for 35mins)
2 cups half & half (1 cup of whipping cream + 1 cup of milk) warmed

Wash and quarter the potatoes. Cook the potatoes at low simmer, starting with cold salted water. Make sure that the potatoes are cooked thoroughly. Drain the water and dry out the potatoes in the same pot by heating it for 1-2 minutes.

Peel the potatoes and push them through the ricer.
Mix in some garlic and butter while "mincing" the potatoes.
This can be prepared up to 3 hours prior to serving.

Just before serving, heat the mashed potatoes in the pot at medium heat. Whip in the heated half-and-half.

Serve warm

Learning points & tasting notes: Make sure the potatoes are cooked thoroughly. I had a hard time putting them through the ricer as they were slightly undercooked.