Quadruple Chocolate Cake Truffles

Wow, it has been a while. One of the biggest chocolate consumption holidays passed so for Valentine's Day I made the boyfriend something rather special. On Valentine's Day the first year the boyfriend went to college I made him a basket of goodies, including a jar of truffles. The truffles seemed to be a hit with him (and part of his dorm) so I've been looking for ideas to shake things up a big with truffles.

First and foremost bake a cake. Any cake you desire really. For this project I used Double Chocolate cake (chocolate cake with chocolate chips in it; be sure to toss the chips in some flour first so they don't all sink to the bottom). Once your cake is out of the oven and has cooled the fun can begin. Go against all your baking instincts and toss the cake into a bowl.


It feels wrong at first but you must remind yourself that the end result is worth it, so go a head and just tear that cake up.

Next you'll want to add about 3/4ths a can of your favorite frosting. You can of course make your own frosting and should you decide to you'll need about 12 oz. For this project I used Dark Chocolate frosting.


I used a cookie scoop to form the balls but you'll want to use your hands to form them and made them into round balls. Stick them in the fridge while you make the ganache.

I used Ganache for the coating on these truffles because the way the chocolate melts in your mouth is absolute heaven. It gives the truffles a beautiful coat but stays somewhat soft so once you pop those puppies in your mouth the chocolate has already begun to melt and you're getting that intense chocolate flavor.

You'll want to place the truffle in the ganache and roll it around a little bit. Place it on a fork and move the fork back a forth while spooning on more ganache to get a smoother coat.

I can't believe I didn't take a better picture of these before I gave them to the boyfriend. He ended up inhaling them, then on Valentine's day when I made him dinner (what? I can't make sweets all the time can I?) we put some of the last truffles on top of the ice cream we had for dessert.


Luckily for Valentine's Day the boyfriend bought me a mini photoshoot area so hopefully I can start taking better pictures of my stuff. You know, if he doesn't inhale them first.

Chocolate Caramel Puff

My earliest memory where I knew I loved chocolate was watching Death by Chocolate with Marcel Desaulnier with my mother. So imagine my surprise when I found out we had a cookie cookbook by Marcel for 20 years without me knowing it!

I ended up reading the whole cookbook in one night (am I the only one that reads cookbooks like regular books?)

Ingredients for the Chocolate Pate Au Choux (puff dough):

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup of water
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Sift flour and Cocoa powder together then set aside.
3. Heat the water, butter, and Sugar. Once the mixture is hot stir with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar and bring to a boil.
4. Remove from the heat and add the dry ingredients.
5. Stir with the Wooden Spoon to stir until the mixture comes together.
6. Once the mixture has come together add each egg one at a time after each on is incorporated.
   
7. Divide the dough into 24 portions and bake for 20 min.-when baking half way through the time switch and rotate your pans.

While those bake it's time to work on the Caramel Chocolate Ganache!

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate (chopped)
• 4 ounces of unsweetened chocolate (chopped)
  
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• Splash of coffee

1. Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl and set aside.
2. Heat the heavy cream and and butter over medium heat. You want to melt the butter and then allow the cream to simmer.
3. In a separate, saucepan combine the sugar and the lemon juice. Stir with a whisk to combine and caramelize for 7 to 8 minutes. This was especially exciting for me because I have never made caramel before, and at the 6 minute mark I was standing there thinking there's no way this is going to turn into caramel but lo and behold:
   
   
4. Pour 1/2 the hot cream into the sugar and stir with whisk until it stops bubbling. Then pour the rest and stir until smooth.
5. Pour over the chocolate and allow to sit for 5 minutes before stirring with whisk to stir. Here is where I add a splash of coffee because it really brings out the flavor of chocolate.
6. Allow to sit until the ganache gets thick.
7. Now that your puffs are out of the oven and your ganache is thick it's time to slice the puffs horizontally.
   
8. Pipe the ganache on the bottom half of a puff and top with the other half and then prepare yourself for heaven in your mouth.
   

I made these especially for my sweetie as an early valentines day sweet, and I was really happy with the outcome. These are perfect for the chocoholic in your life (or for yourself if you have a chocolate addiction like me.)

Cake Brownies

My mother brought home a brand new cook book which led to me making brownies.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 up sugar
• 3/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup milk
• Splash of coffee
• Fudge Frosting (recipe below)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease a 15 x 10 x 1 pan.
   
2. In a pan heat sugar, butter, and cocoa powder. Stir and combine until the butter is melted. Then remove from heat. Add Eggs and vanilla, with a wooden spoon combine. -Should you want to add the splash of coffee now would be the time. Coffee really brings out the chocolate flavor of the sauce.
3. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and baking soda.
   
4. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to the chocolate mixture, beating and combining each time. The mixture is going to be a bit thinner than normal brownie mix.
   
5. Bake for 20 minutes!When they come out they'll be nice and gooey and light. Like a cake but more dense.
   
   
6. Let cool for 2 hours (I know It sounds long but good things come to those that wait). Spread the chocolate fudge frosting on top. Cut and enjoy!

Ingredients for Frosting:

• 4 3/4 cups of sifted confectioners sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup of butter
• 1/3 cup of boiling water
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla

1. Combined powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Add butter, boiling water, and vanilla. Beat with an electric beater on low speed till combined. Beat for 1 minute on medium speed. Cool for 20 to 30 minutes or till the frosting looks spreadable.
2. Put on top of cake brownies and enjoy.

These brownies are light and chewier than Brownies but more dense than cake, either way they're absolutely addicting.