Evolution of the truffle

At this time of year I often make truffles. Something luscious, vegan and packed full of kilojoules is the perfect way to celebrate the solstice.

Over the years the truffles have evolved from a coconut cream based chocolate ball, to an infused coconut oil one. 

The problem with truffles is they’re often frustrating and time consuming to make. The mix needs to be firm but not so cold it shatters, nor so warm it melts just looking at it. Let’s face it – late at night on the solstice eve, constantly walking between the workbench and fridge to rechill the mix between every half dozen truffles gets a tad tiresome. In humid December weather, sitting in a tepid bath with an icy drink (and smouldering companion) would be way more fun.

A couple of months ago I promised to take a sweet to a friends place for dinner. I dithered. I dathered. Until finally I only had a couple of hours to concoct something. The ‘something’ became a cubed version of truffles, simple cut into mouth-sized bites. 

If time permits you can still go down the sensory truffle path and infuse the oil with orange peel, spices or something else equally delicious (chilli anyone?). But the version I ended up creating with walnuts and liqueur worked fine. Lets put it this way; there were no complaints or leftovers.

Because how I conceptualised this recipe and what actually went into it are slightly different - I'm giving two different ingredients lists. I know some of you actually like qualities and others (like me) have a 'look and adapt' approach. Lets keep everyone happy!

The truffle that became a square

Freeform ingredients list

Base
2 parts good quality chocolate

1 part coconut oil (plain or infused)

Pinch of sea salt

Texture and flavour

A handful of walnuts, broken into smallish pieces - and/or nut paste

A generous handful of something fruity with an edge e.g. dried cherries, freeze dried raspberries or orange zest

OR a couple of tsp of a good quality liqueur such as Grand Marnier or Frangelico if you want to extend the nut thing use hazel instead of walnuts. (Note: too much grog might stop it from setting)

A quantified list of ingredients

200 gm 80% good quality chocolate
100 gm coconut oil
100 gm almond butter (make sure it's pure, check the ingredients especially if its a big brand)
3/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tsp Grand Marnier

Method

If you’re going to infuse the coconut oil, start this a day or two before. Otherwise the chocolate slice takes a few minutes to put together, plus another hour to chill.

Assemble your ingredients and find an appropriate tin or container. Ideally use a square or rectangular baking tin (nothing with sloping sides or alas, you’ll just have to eat all the trimmings!)  Aim for a size appropriate to the mass of ingredients so that the chocolate concoction comes up to about 3-5 cm high (depending on how small our large you want your squares). Metal is ideal, you don’t need to grease, though you can line with baking paper if desired.

Blitz or chop the chocolate so they’re in even sized pieces. In a double boiler gently heat until half the chocolate is melted.

If your coconut oil is solid, melt over a low heat – it takes a very short time so don’t take your eye off it. I usually let it half melt then turn the heat off.

Combine the chocolate, nut paste (optional) and oil (hopefully they’re still semi solid rather than a liquid but it still works, though the nuts or fruit might drop to the bottom). Mix through the nuts, fruit and/or flavouring of choice.

Refrigerate for about an hour until fully solid (use the freezer if in a hurry). It's a good idea to allow it to come up to room temperature before cutting, to avoid snaps and shards. If necessary, run a warm knife around the edges and cut into bite-sized cubes. Of course if you painstakingly lined the tin, you just have to pull the slab out and cut.

You can pretty up the cubes of chocolatey goodness with a sprinkling of cocoa, icing sugar or rose petals but really, these taste so good they don’t need they don’t need it.

MIA

It has been a while. I have indeed been missing in action, or more accurately missing action full stop.

Two months to the day after I had my idyllic birthday in Chiang Mai, I was whisked off on a hospital trolley into surgery. To say the last five month has been life changing (in not necessarily a positive way) is an understatement.

But this is a food blog.

What has lured me back?

Truffles!

Or rather to quietly bookmark a simple variation from Evan Kleinman.

For a vegan dark truffle base all you have to do is reduce a cup of stout on high heat until the volume has halved, then stir in 225g of dark glossy chocolate. Chill the mixture and roll in the usual way.

Forget the bacon!

(The laughing buddha may be speaking no evil but I think what he's really saying is life's too short to eat crap chocolate)

In other news, the Significant Eater and I have adopted an adorable Burmese cat.

And the cat and I will be decamping Melbourne mid-year to move to Sydney’s inner west.

Now, go back and talk amongst yourselves.

scented vegan truffles: a sensory experience

Scent: orange, vanilla, coconut, chocolate.

Texture: silky, melt in your mouth.

Flavour: see scent…all that and more.

Sound: can you hear the groans of pleasure, followed by, “holly f*ck give me more”?

For those who thought vegan food was all mung beans and healthy goodness, I give you the most luscious morsel to have graced my senses in living memory.


Vegan truffle redux
(Quantities for an experimental batch of about 20 truffles)

300 gm organic coconut oil
The rind of one organic orange
1 –2 vanilla pods
600 gm good quality dark chocolate (I used an organic 70% block of couverture)

Add coconut oil to a small pot. In this part of the world, it’ll be solid rather than free flowing. Wash and dry your orange. I used a Valencia as it was the freshest around at this end of the citrus season. As you’re using the skin of a highly sprayed crop, it’s worth buying organic. Carefully peel or zest the orange, avoiding the pith. Split your vanilla pod(s) open. Add the peel and vanilla to the coconut oil and melt over a low heat. Once melted cover with a lid, turn off the heat and leave to infuse in a warm place for about 24 hours. You should have a heavenly scented oil that after some time solidifies again.

The next day, or whenever the mood takes you (you can store the infused oil in the fridge for a couple of weeks if need be), chop your chocolate finely then whiz in the food processor. After a few blitzes if should be the consistency of breadcrumbs. Now heat the oil til it melts, strain through a sieve and pour onto the chocolate in the food processor bowl. A couple more whizzes and you’ll have a divine smelling, melted chocolate mixture. Poor into a tub, cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours, til solid.

Now comes the fun part. The melon-baller method is a lot less messy than rolling with your hands (read my previous effort if you’d prefer the rustic version). Set out some good quality cocoa powder in a bowl, grab the melon-baller and a couple of teaspoons and get ready to go. On a warm day you may need to do this in batches if the mixture starts sticking to the baller. Just pop the truffle mix back in the fridge for 15 minutes.



Scoop some truffle mix, dunk it in the cocoa and toss it around with a couple of teaspoons, til coated. Repeat…again and again and again…

Sight:


a real food photographer would dust them with more cocoa to cover the teaspoon marks and arrange them on a pretty plate…but hell, life is too short to play with chocolate on such a hot day

Cook's notes

While my previous vegan truffles were moreish, the infused coconut oil version took them to a whole new level.

Obviously you can have fun infusing the coconut oil with your favourite flavour combinations. I’d originally chosen cardamom instead of vanilla but they were old and had lost too much of their essential oils.

Go easy. These are so rich. Savour the flavour, aroma and texture. More than one or two in a sitting could leave you feeling a little queasy.

making stuff is fun!

'Tis the season to be jolly, so they say. I reckon you don't need an excuse to have fun in the kitchen and make stuff.

For a change I'm remembering to keep some of the bounty for myself. The batches are small, no massive all day assembly line productions, just exploring some new (and old) recipes and making sure there's a spare or two to share.

It began sedately in November with preserved lemons, spiced prunes (organic Australian prunes bathed in cointreau and spices) and homemade vanilla essence.

This weekend I stepped up the challenge, playing with some ideas that I've had for a while. Here are a couple of recipes to add to the collection.

Lemon cordial

Equal quantities of fresh lemon juice and sugar syrup (sugar syrup = equal quantities of sugar and water, bought to a simmer til the sugar melts).

Yes, it is as simple as that! A touch of citric acid will extend the shelf life, you only need 1/2 tsp per 500 mls of cordial.

Update: Cindy was spot on wither her comment - a dash of rose water really lifts this cordial and all subsequent batches have had a generous capful of rose water.

Serve with chilled mineral water (and a dash of clear spirits if you desire).


Vegan chocolate Truffles

2 parts good quality, dairy-free dark chocolate
1 part coconut cream
a dash of your favourite liqueur (optional)

cocoa powder for dusting

Roughly chop your chocolate then blitz in a food processor until granular (I borrowed this method from Delia Smith who uses the description "granular like sugar"). I then measured my ground chocolate to determine how much coconut cream I needed. I used 2 cups of ground chocolate and 1 cup of coconut cream. Heat your coconut cream til it starts to bubbles. It's quite thick so it tends to boil like a Rotorua mud pool - fortunately it doesn't smell like that. Pour half of the hot coconut cream into the chocolate that you have returned to the food processor and blitz. Add the rest of the hot coconut cream and give it another blast. The resulting ganache is glossy and inviting. I've read a good tip, if the mixture splits just add some cold coconut cream.

You can leave the mixture as is or fortify it with your favourite booze. I used about 3 tablespoons of my spiced cointreau that the prunes had been marinating in - as the cardamons, cinnamon and cloves combined with the orange flavour of the liqueur was delightfully festive. It's best to add a small amount, mix, taste and add more as needed rather than pour the lot in at once.

Pour the ganache into a tray or tub to firm up in the fridge or the freezer. It only needs an hour or two in the latter. Once it is firm but not too hard to roll get ready for the fun.

Remove your rings, scrub your hands, have a bowl of ice water and an old hand towel ready. If your hands are warm dunk them into the chilled water and then dry them. Use a spoon or a melon-baller to scoop up a small amount of the firm ganache and roll into a ball. Set aside. Repeat the process, dunking your hands to cool them off as need be.

Once you've finished rolling your balls, place some cocoa powder in a bowl or cup and using two forks to handle them, drop the balls in the cocoa and toss 'til they are covered. Place on a rack so any excess cocoa can fall off. I must admit my balls were far from perfectly shaped but after a dunk in cocoa they didn't look so bad. Keep the truffles cool and consume within a week.

The truffles are rich and luscious, with that melt in the mouth feel that makes you crave more.


Enjoy the season!