Chocolate Truffles

mmm...who would have thought that wanna-be fungus could taste this good?

Last weekend the bf and I made chocolate truffles and they were scrumptiously good.

I read so many mixed opinions about truffle-making that I was a bit intimidated to make these. Some recipes boast about truffles being one of the easiest fancy desserts, while others go on and on about all the trillions of ways your truffles can fail, miserably.
Here's my conclusion: the basic truffle is very easy to make and even easier to eat. These are the kinds that are soft and creamy all over. The shell covered truffles, however, are a bit trickier.

We made both, and I have to say, I prefer the shelled truffles -- the contrast in texture just does it for me -- but the creamy ones are so easy, but the shelled ones are so fancy, but the creamy ones are so creamy, but the shelled ones...never mind.

For the shelled truffles, the chocolate coating must be tempered, and cannot reach a temperature higher than 94 degrees F (but this number varies depending on the recipe). This was definitely challenging, and it did not really work for me. The chocolate temperature fluctuated about a bajillion times and even went over (gasp...94 degrees F!!), but somehow magically it still worked, sort of. The truffles still got that "snap" that everyone talks about, although I'm guessing if I actually did it correctly, they would have been more...snappy.

There are several ways to temper chocolate -- our method was to consistently add and remove new pieces of chocolate chunks to the warm chocolate to make sure it doesn't get too hot. A good thermometer is vital, and the ability (which apparently I don't have) to make sure the thermometer does not touch anything but the chocolate (ie. the sides of the bowl). So to summarize: I need more practice. But any sort of practice that involves chocolate is always good!

Chocolate Truffles (adapted from Robert Linxe via Smitten Kitchen and Joy of Cooking)

• 8 ounces good quality chocolate (at least 56% cacao), chopped
  
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 3 ounces good quality chocolate, plus a bit more for tempering (for chocolate shell), chopped
  

Truffle Coatings

• Good quality cocoa powder for dusting
• Bourbon Candied Nuts (Recipe Below)

1. Boil 2/3 cup heavy cream in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan.
2. Pour the hot heavy cream over the chopped chocolate, mashing any big pieces with a spoon.
3. Stir with this mixture together in concentric circles starting in the center and working your way to the edge with a whisk, being careful not to beat air into it and create bubbles.
4. Chill mixture for 1 hour.
5. Using a small spoon, scoop out about 1 tablespoon of mixture at a time, shape into balls, and place on a parchment-lined sheet pan.
6. Chill the balls for at least 2o minutes.
7. If you don't want to mess with the chocolate shell, then you are done! Enjoy. Otherwise...

For coating:
1. Temper 3 ounces of chocolate (here are some tips on tempering chocolate).
2. Using 2 spoons, or your hands, roll each chilled truffle in the melted chocolate.
3. While the coating is still wet, dunk the truffle in the chocolate powder or candied nuts.
4. Place each truffle back on the parchment paper. Chill for an additional 10 minutes (I didn't do this part, just ate them right after they were done. That's just me, I guess.)

Bourbon Candied Nuts (adapted loosely from Smitten Kitchen)

• 1/2 cup well-chopped mixed nuts (I used walnuts, pecans, and almonds)
• 1 egg white
• 1 Tb bourbon
• 2 Tb brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp salt.
  

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Combine sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl and set aside.
2. Mix bourbon and egg white in a separate bowl. Stir in the nuts, coating evenly.
3. Sprinkle sugar mixture over nuts, and stir again, coating evenly.
4. Spread mixture onto parchment lined sheet and bake for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Let the mixture cool completely. Break into small pieces.

Carrot Halwa

Every time I make an Indian dessert, I realize how different they are than most American desserts. For one thing, I don't know of any traditional Indian desserts that are baked -- most likely since back in the day, the typical Indian household didn't have an oven. This means almost all Indian desserts must be cooked on the stove, under a watchful eye, with a good deal of care and patience. Arrghh patience!! Patience -- or I guess impatience -- is the bane of my cooking life. But I will overcome. I will learn to be patient. Otherwise, I can say goodbye to homemade Indian desserts, and plenty of other culinary treats.

Carrot halwa is a sweet Indian dessert and a good recipe to test my patience. Although it does require a bit of stove top watching, it is a really easy recipe with only 6 ingredients.

I've only made it a few times and always following a recipe I found online. But I never achieved the tasty halwa I was wanting, UNTIL...last night -- when I decided to experiment with the recipe and try a few new things. The result was exactly what I was looking for -- a rich and creamy halwa that is not too sweet but very flavorful.

Carrot Halwa (serves 4)

• 2 cups shredded carrot (about 5 medim-large carrots)
• 2 cups 2% milk
• 2 Tb ghee or butter (I made my own ghee: recipe here )
• 1/2 tsp finely ground cardamom
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 Tb paneer or ricotta (I used ricotta, but I think paneer would be even better)
• handful of chopped, roasted cashews (optional, but so good)

1. In a heavy bottom sauce pan, cook the carrots, milk, ghee (or butter), and cardamom, stirring occasionally, until the carrots have soaked up all the milk. This will take at least 30 minutes. Be very careful not to let the milk burn, stirring the mixture will help.
2. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar, paneer (or ricotta), and cashews.
3. Serve warm or when cooled.

Jasmines are very popular in India and fortunately they also grow in California. I picked these flowers from the jasmine bush in my garden.

Indian Sandesh

Spring is here.
These cherry blossoms were blooming right outside of the building where my lab is.



And in another part of town (aka my kitchen) something else was blooming (sort of).

Ok, so they may not be as pretty as those cherry blossoms but they sure taste better.
These little blossoms are called sandesh, a really simple Indian dessert made from paneer. Paneer is an Indian cheese that's made by boiling milk, adding lemon juice, and then straining the curds that are produced. I made these desserts with homemade paneer, which is actually really simple to make. No paneer tutorial this time, but I promise there will be one here soon.

I sprinkled a bit of sugar on them and took this picture -- oh, and I also ate two of them.

You can usually buy blocks of paneer from Indian grocery stores. If you use this kind, just use your hands to crumble it up first.

Sandesh

• 1 cup paneer, crumbled
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp freshly ground cardamom
• 1 Tb almond pieces

Using a potato masher or your hands, mash the paneer and sugar together. Shape into rounds. Sprinkle with cardamom, almond, and extra sugar. Chill for 1 hour.

NYT CCC

Since the title of this blog is Chocolate Chip Trips, I think it's only fitting to have a Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. So, here it is.

This is the chocolate chip cookie recipe published in the New York Times last July (2008). I have been meaning to try it for the longest time, but something else always got in the way -- that something else being brownies, blondies, muffins, and the like.

The recipe is not particularly difficult to make (actually the BF made this batch, so that means it can't be hard, don't tell him I said that), but it does require some ingredients that I don't normally have off hand. Cake flour, bread flour, and chocolate disks.

Before I say more about these cookies, here's my disclaimer: the BF did not follow this recipe exactly. Unfortunately, we couldn't. Let me explain. The recipe asks you to use "a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment" to cream the butter and sugar. When I read this, I was mad! Why must a recipe just assume that you have a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment? How come recipes don't think of us poor (literally -- broke graduate student here) folks who haven't yet found the courage to spend $300 on a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment? Oh, don't get me wrong. I will love the day I have a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, but unfortunately, living on my university stipend won't get me there too soon. But no fretting -- that's what marriage is for, right? So your family and friends can buy you Kitchen Aid mixers and Le Creuset pots and all those other kitchen gadgets you've been drooling over for your whole broke graduate student life? I can't wait for that special day.

Anyway, we didn't have a KA, so we just used our standard hand held mixer to cream the butter and sugar. And we didn't have chocolate disks, so we used high quality bittersweet chocolate chips. And no, I'm not going to list a bunch of other changes I made and then complain about the recipe. Apart from the two I mentioned, we followed this recipe exactly. The verdict? Oh, they were definitely good, rich and flavorful, but still not the perfect cookie I was hoping for. They were a bit too crunchy for my taste.

I'm sorry NYT!! This has to be probably the ONLY semi-negative review of this recipe anywhere. I searched the internet to see if any other poor souls had the same fate as we did, but it seemed that it worked out perfectly for everyone else. I so envy all the KA owners.

Here is a link to the recipe, but I think I prefer this one.

If anyone else had a similar experience with this recipe, I would love to hear! Let's start a club and exclude all the cool kids (aka KA owners)! :P

Chocolate Chip Banana Crumb Muffins

I like to make these muffins when I am craving a wholesome dessert, as opposed to the brownies, cupcakes, and chocolate chip cookies, which, although very satisfying taste-wise, often leave my belly grumbling for some more. These muffins are pretty wholesome and filling -- made with bananas, a bit of applesauce, whole wheat (pastry) flour, and walnuts. Of course, I add chocolate chips (did you see the title of this blog?) to make sure no cravings are left unsatisfied.

The original recipe is actually the most popular recipe on allrecipes. Here is my wholesome, chocolate-craving satisfying rendition:

UPDATE: I initially forgot to list one of the most important ingredients: the Chocolate Chips (duh)!! Forgive me, this is my first posting. Clearly, I need practice.

Chocolate Chip Banana Crumb Muffins (adapted from allrecipes)
(Makes 12 muffins)

• 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
  
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/6 cup canola oil
• 1/6 cup applesauce
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  

Crumb Topping

• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
  
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• pinch of ginger
• 1 tablespoon cold butter

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 12 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 3/4 cups all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg, oil, and applesauce. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Stir in walnuts and chocolate chips. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3. Crumb Topping: In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.