Chocolate Truffles with Orange Essence

Actually, i'm being kinda cheeky here, this shouldn't be a separate blog, but i wanted to post the snap separately n' hence decided to make this a new post instead of adding it with my Chocolate Ganache recipe.

With an exotic name like "Chocolate Truffle" one would expect the recipe to be complicated, i know i did. But it's so easy n' simple. Simply put, chocolate truffles are made with a Chocolate Ganache center coated in chocolate or cocoa powder. Now that i'm putting up the recipe here, i'm thinking i should've tried some variations of this...maybe the next time i make it...i'll just do that. Like i had mentioned before, they say your truffles will be as good as the chocolate you are using. So get the best you can buy.

Ingredients:

1. Heavy Cream: 1/2 cup
2. Dark Chocolate: 1/2 cup (chopped)
3. Salt: a small pinch
4. Orange Essence : 2 drops
5. Soft Butter : 1tsp (unsalted)
6. Cocoa Powder: 3 tbsp
7. Chopped Nuts: 3tsp (i added crushed almonds)

Method:

Step 1: Put your chopped chocolate into a bowl.

Step 2: Add cream into a pan and heat it over medium fire and as soon as it comes to a simmer quickly pour it over your chopped chocolate. (Do not boil it, or it will spoil the cream) Make sure all of your chocolate is covered with the cream and just let it sit there for a minute.

Step 3: Add the soft butter and whisk it with the chocolate and cream together.Keep stirring, till you get a thick n' glossy chocolate sauce.

Step 4: Add a pinch of salt, orange essence and the chopped nuts. Give it a little stir. (minus the nuts your chocolate ganache is ready )

Step 5: Serve it into a dish and pop this into the fridge for 2hours to set.

Step 6: Take this out of the fridge (depending on the room temperature) keep it outside at least for 15-20mins before you are ready to make the truffles.

Step 7: In a pan (with slightly raised corners), add the cocoa powder. Scoop out the chocolate mixture using an ice cream scooper to get those perfect ball shapes or alternatively just use a spoon n' mould it into a round shape as best as you can. Keep them in the pan with the cocoa powder and lightly shake the pan from side to side allowing the balls to roll all over n' get a nice coat of cocoa powder n' it's ready.

You can even add a dash of Brandy (along with the orange essence) to get an extra kick. Roll the chocolate balls in a crushed biscuit mixture, or crushed mixture of nuts to get a different look instead of just cocoa...serve it immediately.