Dark chocolate, cinnamon and hazelnut truffles

A quick look at my sweet recipe index and you'll notice that I don’t make truffles very often – I love working with chocolate, but mostly stick with cookies and cakes. To me, truffles are such a special treat they call for a special occasion as well – like that gorgeous pair of shoes you’ll only wear on your birthday or anniversary. :)

These were made for a special someone, a dear friend of mine who happens to be crazy about shoes, too – let’s just say that her last name could pretty much be Bradshaw. :)

Dark chocolate, cinnamon and hazelnut truffles
from DH mag #42

• 450g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), chopped
• 1 ¼ cups (300ml) heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 40 hazelnuts, roasted*
• 1 cup (90g) cocoa powder

Place the chocolate, cream and cinnamon in a saucepan over low heat and stir until melted and smooth. Pour into a lightly buttered 1 liter-capacity dish and set aside to cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours or until firm enough to roll.

Roll teaspoonfuls of the mixture into rough balls. Press a hazelnut into the middle and roll to enclose.

Place the cocoa on a baking tray, place the truffles on the tray and gently shake to coat.

* place the hazelnuts on a baking tray and roast in a preheated 180°C/350°F oven for 5 minutes or until lightly golden. Place the hot hazelnuts in the fold of a tea towel and rub back and forth to remove the skins.

Makes 40 – I halved the recipe and got 25 truffles

Eggnog brûlée

Last Saturday I tuned in for my weekly dose of Ms. Lawson and they aired one of her Christmas episodes – which I confess to have seen three times already, without an ounce of guilt; she got me into holiday spirit even more with her delicious food. My holiday recipe series continues and after the spiced brigadeiros I present you eggnog brûlée.

Don’t be surprised by the hard caramel crust on top of the dessert: I don’t own a torch and therefore tried Donna Hay’s hint of running a hot spoon over the sugar topping; that failed miserably, but I was decided to have a brûlée topping no matter what – even if I had to make some caramel on the side and pour over the custard. It was a matter of honor, after all. :)

Eggnog brûlée
DH mag #36

• 2 cups (480ml) heavy cream
• 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2 tablespoons brandy
• 5 egg yolks
• ¼ cup + ½ tablespoon (56g) caster sugar
• 1/3 cup (66g) caster sugar, extra

Preheat the oven to 150°C/330°F. Place the cream, vanilla seeds and bean, cinnamon and brandy in a saucepan over medium heat until it just comes to a boil.

Place the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and whisk until well combined. Discard the vanilla bean and cinnamon sticks and slowly pour the cream mixture over the egg mixture, whisking well to avoid cooking the eggs.

Return to the saucepan and stir over low heat for 6-8 minutes or until the custard thickens and coats the back of a spoon – do not let boil. Pour the custard into four ½ cup (120ml) capacity ovenproof dishes and place in a deep baking dish. Pour enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the dishes. Bake for 15-20 minutes or just until set. Remove from the oven, set aside to cool completely then refrigerate for 2 hours or until set.

Top each brûlée with the extra sugar and gently run a hot metal spoon* or brûlée blow torch over the top until sugar caramelizes – since I don’t own a torch and the spoon-technique failed, I prepared some caramel and poured over the set custard.

* the spoon might get permanently tarnished

Serves 4

Choc chip salted butter caramel ice cream

Today’s post is a short one: I almost sliced off the tip of my middle finger, so it’s pretty difficult to type. :(

All I’ll write is: make this ice cream. Right now, if possible.

Choc chip salted butter caramel ice cream
from the ice cream Wiz

• 2 cups (480ml) whole milk
• 1½ cups (300g) caster sugar
• 4 tablespoons (58g) salted butter
• scant ½ teaspoon sea salt (I used Maldon)
• 1 cups (240ml) heavy cream
• 5 large egg yolks
• ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 140g dark chocolate, finely chopped

Start by making an ice bath by filling a large bowl about a third full with ice cubes and adding a cup or so of water so they're floating. Nest a smaller metal bowl (at least 2 quarts/liters) over the ice, pour 1 cup (240 ml) of the milk into the inner bowl, and rest a mesh strainer on top of it.

Spread the sugar in a medium saucepan in an even layer. Cook over moderate heat, until the edges begin to melt. Use a heatproof utensil to gently stir the liquefied sugar from the bottom and edges towards the center, stirring, until all the sugar is dissolved. (Or most of it—there may be some lumps, which will melt later.)

Continue to cook stirring infrequently until the caramel starts smoking and begins to smell like it's just about to burn. It won't take long. Once caramelized, remove from heat and stir in the butter and salt, until butter is melted, then gradually whisk in the cream, stirring as you go – be extremely careful, for the caramel will bubble like crazy once the cream is added; you might want to step away from the pan.

The caramel may harden and seize, but return it to the heat and continue to stir over low heat until any hard caramel is melted. Stir in 1 cup (240ml) of the milk.

Whisk the yolks in a small bowl and gradually pour some of the warm caramel mixture over the yolks, stirring constantly. Scrape the warmed yolks back into the saucepan and cook the custard using a heatproof utensil, stirring constantly (scraping the bottom as you stir) until the mixture thickens. If using an instant-read thermometer, it should read 71-77°C (160-170°F).

Pour the custard through the strainer into the milk set over the ice bath, add the vanilla, then stir frequently until the mixture is cooled down. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or until thoroughly chilled.

Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

While ice cream is freezing, melt chocolate in clean metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring frequently, then transfer to a 1-cup glass measure. When ice cream has finished churning, carefully pour chocolate in a slow stream directly onto ice cream as it churns and continue to churn 30 seconds (chocolate will harden in streaks). Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.

Because of the caramel in this ice cream, once churned and frozen, it'll remain nice & creamy (as shown in David’s photo.) To make it firmer, crank up your freezer a bit or store it in a shallow pan.

Makes 1 generous liter (quart)

Raspberry swirl ice cream

In one of my many visits to Gourmet Traveller’s website – don’t you love their wonderful recipes and gorgeous photos? - I saw this ice cream and thought it would be the perfect way to (re)start ice cream season at home.

I bought the raspberries but forgot the liquid glucose – luckily, David’s fabulous book came to the rescue; I tweaked the recipe just a bit and used a vanilla bean, to get a deeper vanilla flavor.

Raspberry swirl ice cream

Ice cream:

• 1 cup (240ml) whole milk
• 2/3 cup (133g) caster sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 ½ cups (360ml) heavy cream
• 1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
• 5 large egg yolks
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Raspberry swirl:

• 1 ½ cups (160g) raspberries, fresh or frozen (I used frozen)
• 4 tablespoons (48g) caster sugar
• 1 tablespoon vodka (I used white rum)

To make the ice cream, combine milk, sugar, salt and 1 cup (240ml) cream in a medium saucepan. With the back of a knife, scrape seeds from vanilla bean into mixture, then add pod. Bring mixture just to a boil, whisking until sugar has dissolved, then remove from heat. Cover and let stand 30 minutes.

Reheat cream mixture over medium heat, stirring, until hot. Whisk yolks in a medium bowl, then add half of hot cream mixture in a slow stream, whisking constantly, then pour yolk mixture into remaining cream mixture in saucepan, whisking. Cook custard over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until custard is thick enough to coat back of spoon and registers 76 to 79ºC/170 to 175ºF on an instant-read thermometer (do not let boil).

Strain custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a metal bowl. Stir in vanilla and remaining ½ cup (120ml) cream, then return vanilla pod to mixture. Chill, uncovered, until cool, then chill, covered, at least 6 hours.

Ah hour or so before churning the ice cream, make the raspberry swirl by mashing the raspberries together with the sugar and vodka with a fork (if using frozen raspberries, let them thaw a bit first) until they’re juicy but with nice-sized chunks remaining. Chill until ready to use.

Remove the vanilla bean and freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. As you remove it from the machine, layer it in the container with spoonfuls of the chilled raspberry mixture.

Makes about 1 ½ liters (1 ½ quarts)