But it felt really good to actually cook today. I made some cold sesame noodles using carrots and a low-fat sesame sauce for lunch tomorrow. I'd love to post about that later, but I also want to tweak the sauce and my carrot-cooking method. In the mean time, I also made some really amazing chocolate truffles, the first confection of this holiday season.
I'd love to try Ina Garten's rum raisin truffle recipe, but I need to get comfortable with the basic process first. These are some pretty basic truffles that are creamy and amazing. They are at their most awesome when brought to room temperature, and they last in the refrigerator for a couple weeks.
Chocolate Truffles
4 oz Bitter-sweet chocolate
4 oz Semi-sweet chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp coffee liqueur
Almonds, cocoa nibs, cocoa powder, etc...
Finely chop the chocolates and place in a heatproof metal bowl. Heat the cream until it just boils and strain over the chocolate. Let sit for a couple minutes, then stir. All (or certainly most) of the chocolate should be melted. Let sit and stir occasionally until the resulting ganache is creamy and smooth.
Add the vanilla extract and coffee liqueur to the ganache, whisking until well blended. Let the mixture sit at room temperature for about an hour. If necessary, place in the refrigerator and allow the mixture to firm up.
Scoop mixture by teaspoonfuls onto parchment paper. Chill in the refrigerator and prepare your toppings. I chopped some cocoa nibs and toasted some chopped, sliced almonds for this recipe. Once the balls of ganache have chilled, roll in the toppings. Serve at room temperature but keep in the refrigerator to maintain freshness and firmness.
These will make some delightful work gifts and a nice dessert later this week. I can't wait to try out those rum raisin truffles. I'd also like to try some strawberry balsamic truffles, but we'll have to see how things go...
