Sunday, January 14, 2007

Chocolate Nut Truffle



Another one of my 13-courses posts! This was a small dessert, that I decided to make since no one else was making anything chocolatey, and in my opinion, a fancy dinner needs chocolate. (Any dinner, pretty much.) This recipe is really nice - it's easy to prepare well in advance, and it will keep in the freezer for quite a while. I have leftovers that are over one week old now, and they still taste just fine.

Chocolate Nut Truffle
Suitable for a dish of approx. 23*33 cm

For the nut bottom:
125 g pecan nuts
125 g hazelnuts
50 g pistachio nuts
150 ml sugar
75 g melted butter

Crush the nuts coarsely in a food processor. Mix with sugar and melted butter. Press out into a large dish (23*33 cm) that you have lined with foil or paper. Let cool completely.

For the truffle:
300 g dark chocolate
300 ml cream (heavy, whipping, double - 35-40% fat content is what you want)
125 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 egg yolks

Chop the chocolate and place in a large bowl. Bring the cream to a boil and pour it over the chocolate. Stir until smooth. Add the butter and the egg yolks, and stir until everything is completely mixed.

Pour this on top of the nut bottom, cover with plastic and place in the freezer.



Thaw before serving, but not completely - it should still be cold and firm. The truffle will be *very* melty if you leave it out for too long. Also, you need to thaw it a little before you cut it. I used a small (but high!) cookie cutter to make the flower shapes.

You can use anything to top it really - I used finely crushed freeze-dried berries, but a little pinch of chilli flakes would be nice, sea salt is always good, a sprinkling of finely ground nuts wouldn't hurt, or by all means just leave it plain. We've had leftover pieces with coffee, or for a slightly more fancy dessert, with a side of a simple raspberry sauce. (Mash raspberries with some powdered sugar.) All good. Very good.


Recipe in Swedish:
Nötkaka med chokladtryffel

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness, those look so good!

Anonymous said...

Forget 13 courses, lets just eat those for dinner...

Anonymous said...

I have only just found your blog over the past few days and I can see that I am going to have to be careful. It all looks too good!

Anonymous said...

I have yet to see pecans here in Tartu, so I might try this & substitute walnuts for pecans. They look scrumptious!

Anonymous said...

mmmm...What a great blog you have!!! :)

Anonymous said...

The truffles look crunchy and so good.
I'm ready for a chocolate fix!

Anonymous said...

Lovely Recipe! looks scrumptious!
I was just wondering about "Bring the cream to a bowl" I assume you mean boil? otherwise it will take some time before the chocolate will melt.

Anne said...

Emma, thanks for finding that! I've changed it now!