Several years ago they were the darlings of the restaurant world. I finally got around to making some and I wonder why I didn’t sooner.  Some trends are worth it.

First you must make some chocolate truffles. Don’t be afraid this is SO easy…

Chocolate Truffles

• 1 cup of heavy cream
• 1 pound of best quality bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped- I use Callebaut Bittersweet- don’t use supermarket chocolate chips.
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons instant espresso (optional but it does enhance the chocolate flavour)
• 2 Tablespoons liqueur of your choice ( I use Amaretto but you could use Gran Marnier, Chambord, Cassis, Frangelico or whatever you choose.)

Heat the cream to scalding, pour over the chopped chocolate in a glass or metal bowl. Whisk until smooth, add the butter, liqueur and espresso if using. Whisk until all is smooth. Cover the top with plastic wrap and chill until firm. Scoop into Tablespoon sized balls. Set aside 6 of these on a tray and cover tightly with plastic wrap then place into the freezer until needed in the cake recipe to follow. You can roll the rest in powdered sugar and/ or cocoa powder or dip into tempered chocolate and store in a tightly covered container in the fridge indefinitely. You most certainly will eat them before they have a chance of going bad.

Molten Chocolate Truffle Soufflé Cakes  (makes 6 individual cakes)

•  1 cup granulated sugar (plus a bit more to coat ramekins)
• 1/2 cup whole or 2% milk
•  2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
• 1 tablespoon  AP flour
• 4 ounces (by weight) best quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 4 ounces (by weight) best quality unsweetened chocolate, chopped
•  1 Tablespoon unsalted butter (plus a bit more to coat ramekins)
•  4 large egg yolks
• 4 large egg whites
• 6 frozen chocolate truffles from above recipe
• slightly sweetened whipped cream for garnish
• powdered sugar for garnish

You’ll need (6) one-cup ramekins. Coat the insides of each with butter and place a parchment circle cut to fit the bottom diameter inside each ramekin. Butter the parchment too then sprinkle in some granulated sugar and turn to coat then entire interior surface of the ramekins with sugar. Tap out the excess. If you are going to bake the cakes immediately, preheat the oven to 425F.

Reserve two Tablespoons of the granulated sugar from the one cup measured. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, heat the milk, sugar (less the reserved 2 T) and espresso powder until it comes to a full boil. Whisk in the Tablespoon of flour  and reduce the heat to medium-low so that the mixture simmers for one minute. After the minute, remove the pan from the heat and add both chocolates. Whisk until smooth. Add the butter and the egg yolks one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Set aside whilst you whip the egg whites.  

 Tip:I find it works best to wipe my mixer bowl with a paper towel moistened with vodka to remove any grease that may be lurking there prior to whipping egg whites. I also wipe down the whip in this manner.

Place the four room-temperature egg whites in the bowl of the mixer fitted with the whip attachment. Beat on low until frothy. Add the two Tablespoons of reserved granulated sugar from above and beat on medium high until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Take a large spoonful of the whipped whites and add to the chocolate base to lighten it. Then add the chocolate base to the whites and fold in gently using gentle strokes through the center and up the sides until the mixture is fully incorporated but not deflated. Fill each of the six ramekins half full and then place a frozen truffle in the center of each. Top each ramekin off with the remainder of the batter. At this point they can be baked immediately in the 435F oven for 10- 12 minutes and served hot or they can be held in the fridge for a day or even up to three -although they lose some potential volume each day.

This cake was mixed on Tuesday and held in the fridge then baked on Friday with only a small amount of loss in volume.

From the fridge you must increase the baking time to about 17 minutes. They can also be wrapped tightly and  held in your freezer for up to a month.  When you need a quick and impromptu dessert just remove the plastic wrap and pop them frozen into the oven at 425F and increase the baking time to about 25 minutes.

 Serve hot from the oven inverted on an individual serving plate, parchment removed and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Top with slightly sweetened softly whipped cream for the perfect dessert.

Enjoy!

I admit I had never heard of a “Figolli” before Nanette of Gourmet Worrier invited me to participate in her “World Figolli Day” event. It turns out that they are a quite yummy traditional Easter treat from Malta.

Sort of a cross between a cookie and a hand pie, they are made from a citrus zest flecked,  egg yolk enriched, buttery short dough that sandwiches a delicious almond filling made fragrant with orange blossom water. You mix up the dough and chill it briefly, then roll it out very thinly, cut into shapes, spread the filling, then top with another cut out of the same shape. You bake them, cool them and then decorate them to your heart’s content.

I made lambs, sunflowers, eggs, butterflies and chicks using chocolate, butter-cream, white chocolate ganache and sanding sugar to decorate.

Lots of springtime fun here! You can find the full recipe at Nanette’s post here. I did add a splash of vanilla and almond extract to the filling- just to put them over the top.

Easy, elegant and delicious- this tart has all the great qualities needed for a dessert in my book. Rick said he’d be happy to receive this at the end of any great meal out- high praise indeed.

Frangipane Pear Tart

Pate Sucree (Sweet tart crust)

• 1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 6 Tablespoons butter, cold
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• enough iced water to bring the dough together

Place the flour and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse a few times to combine them. Cut the butter into Tablespoon sized pieces and add to the flour and pulse until it resembles coarse sand with a few larger pieces. Mix the egg yolks and vanilla and pour through the feed tube whilst pulsing. Add just enough ice-cold water in the same manner to bring the dough together in a shaggy mass that begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Place some plastic wrap on the counter and turn the dough out onto it. Form into a disk and chill for at least an hour before proceeding.

Pear Almond Frangipane Filling

• three large pears cored, peeled, halved, sliced thinly crosswise and rubbed with lemon juice
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 5 Tablespoons butter, room temperature
• 1 egg plus one egg yolk
• 2/3 cup ground almonds
• 1 Tablespoon all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 Tablespoons  Kirsch liqueur
• 2 Tablespoons vanilla infused granulated sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Pear, Peach or Apricot jam, heated and strained

Roll out the pate sucree and line a 10 inch tart pan with a removable bottom with it. Trim the top evenly with the pan. Chill for a half of an hour before preparing the filling.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Cream the 1/3 cup sugar and butter in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the egg and egg yolk and blend well. Mix the ground almonds with the flour and add. Mix well. Add the Kirsch and almond extract and mix until blended. Spread in the chilled tart crust. Top with the pears. Lay the sliced pears in a spoke type arrangement trying to keep the shape of the pear half with the slim end towards the center and the bottoms towards the outer edges. Fill in the space with any stray pear bits. Sprinkle the pears with the 2 Tablespoons of vanilla sugar and place into the preheated oven. Bake for 50 minutes to an hour or until puffed and golden. Rotate from bottom to top and front to back midway through baking.

Cool and glaze with the strained jam.

Enjoy!

As you can probably tell by now I am an almond paste addict. I love to put it in all sorts of baked goods. The problem is that at $9.00 for 8 ounces and up it can be rather expensive to buy and sometimes it is a bit past its prime as well. But luckily it is so easy to make at home- it just takes a bit of time, some good quality ingredients and a food processor.

I made 2 pounds of it a couple of weeks ago. The cost without my labor was around $5.75 instead of $36.00- not a bad savings and may I say a rather superior product as I know exactly what went into it and just how fresh it is?It will keep for weeks  in the fridge or months in the freezer and can be used for marzipan candies and other baked goods during the upcoming holidays.

Almond Paste-
(to make two pounds total – can be halved)

• 1-1/2 pounds whole natural almonds (about 4 cups)
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cups water
• 1/4 cup Lyle’s Golden Syrup (cane syrup)
• 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract

Place the almonds in a large glass or metal bowl. Cover them with boiling water and let them sit for 2-3 minutes. Drain well and then pinch each almond on the fat end and they should pop right out of their skins. If they are resistant, drain and recover with more boiling water. This should be kind of fun and easy to do.

When you have removed all of the skins, blot the almonds on paper towels and place on to a rimmed baking sheet into a warm but not hot oven. You can preheat to 200F and then turn off the oven while skinning the almonds and it should be about right. Leave them in there while cooking the sugar syrup. They should be warm when you begin to grind them.

Place the sugar, water and golden syrup into a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium  heat and cook without stirring until the mixture reaches 235F* which is between a thread and soft ball stage. Remove from the heat and stir in the almond extract.

Grind the almonds in your food processor fitted with the metal blade. It may be necessary depending on the size of your bowl to do this in batches. Pulse them until the texture is fine and smooth- you can add a tiny bit of water if necessary to loosen the grind up a bit -but only a little and only if absolutely necessary. Once the almonds are ground finely, pour the sugar syrup in a slow steady stream while the processor is going. Process until all is uniform.

Place two sheets of plastic wrap flat on to your counter or work surface and remove the paste from the work bowl onto them. Wrap the paste tightly in the wrap and store in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.

The paste may be used in pastries,cookies, cakes, pies or made into marzipan with the addition of confectioner’s sugar, egg whites and vanilla. More on that later…

I put some in these cherry scones…yum…so terrific!

Have a grand day!