Chocolate Truffles

This is a really easy recipe that makes a great gift. The success of these truffles depends solely on the ingredients used.
First decide on the type of chocolate - milk or dark? sweet, semi sweet or white. Whatever your preference try and get the best quality possible.
Next is your choice of the alcohol you will be using. If you want a coffee flavour, tia Maria or Kahlua mixed with some strong coffee powder should do the trick. Grand Marnier and some orange zest should make great orange flavoured truffles....and so on....use your imagination!
A quick note, you don't have to use alcohol - you can also use jam or fruit puree instead.
The truffles will then be rolled in powdered chocolate/cocoa powder - again, choose a good quality chocolate.You can also re roll in chocolate sprinkles.

Ingredients
8 ounces (227 grams) chocolate, cut into small pieces. My preference is for semi-sweet
3/4 cup (180 ml) heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons (28 grams) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons alcohol (or jam)
Orange zest, coffee or whatever you have decided to use.
Powdered chocolate/chocolate sprinkles

Method
Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized stainless steel bowl. You could also sue a food processor but don't grind too finely.
Heat the cream and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil.
Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes.
Stir with a whisk until smooth.
If desired, add the alcohol or flavoring
Cover and place in the fridge until the truffle mixture is firm .This can take a couple of hours so I find its sometimes better to leave overnight and continue the next day.

Shape the Truffles.

Decide on your coating - chocolate powder, can also just be icing sugar, again, imagination comes in handy! Put the coating in a large flat plate.
Remove the truffle mixture from the fridge
Here is the fun part... form the chocolate into round bite-sized balls, using your fingers - the faster and less contact with warm hands the better!
Roll the truffle in the coating and place on a parchment lined baking sheet or tray.
Cover and place in the fridge until firm.
Truffles can be refrigerated for a couple of weeks or else frozen for a couple of months.
Bring to room temperature before serving.

You can also place them in paper cups for presentation. They look so professional and are so yummy that they make a great gift.

Chocolate Raspberry Tartlets

Decadent, rich and not so good for the waistline...but what the heck....they taste great! Makes 24.

For the pastry
1 1/4 cup flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 egg yolk
some cold water

Method
Use a food processor and pulse the 1st 3 ingredients
In a seperate bowl, whisk the yolk and 2tbs cold water
Add to the processor and mix till a ball forms. If necessary, add some more water.
Divide into 24 pieces
Heat oven to 375F
Shape the pieces of dough into balls and press into 1 3/4" muffin cups (use non stick muffin trays and do not grease) so the bottom and sides of the cups are covered.
Put aside.

For the filling:
Ingredients:
1 cup semi sweet chocolate (chopped)
2 tbs unsalted butter
1 egg (beaten)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbs strong raspberry liqueur
2 tsp vanilla sugar.

Method.
In a small saucepan, mealt the chocolate and butter on a medium low heat, stir until smooth
Remove from heat and add the egg, liqueur sugar and vanilla, mixing well.
Spoon about a tablespoon into the pastry shells.
Bake for about 15 mins untill the filling is puffed up.
Leave in pan for about 15 mins then gently remove and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Butter Cream
Ingredients:
1/4 cup softened unsalted butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar(sifted)
3 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder(sifted)
2 tbs raspberry jam. (dont use seedless jam - the real stuff is better)

Method
Beat well until a tickish consistency. If necessary, add more powdered sugar.
Spread on top of the cooled tarts.

Yum!

Quick and Easy Biscuits (Cookies)

I like having home-made  biscuits (cookies) at home and an easy way to ensure a constant supply is to make extra dough and freeze, then slice off what you need. The dough keeps well in the freezer for about a month - or around a week in the fridge.

Ingredients
4oz butter

4oz  sugar

Grated zest of one lemon or orange

(other options may include adding spices like cinnamon, ginger or nutmeg. This is a basic recipe so you can tweak it a bit! If you want chocolate flovoured biscuits, add  1 tbsp cocoa powder to the flour)
9oz  flour
1 egg
pinch of salt

Method
Beat the butter, sugar and zest together until light and fluffy.
Beat in the egg and salt.
Add the flour and using your hands work in  gently.
Shape the dough into a roll about 2" thick and wrap well in plastic wrap.
Put in the fridge for about an hour or if you are freezing, just put in the freezer

To bake, heat the oven to 350F.
Line a baking sheet with non-stick paper.
Cut the dough, straight from the fridge or freezer into ¼in slices and arrange, well spaced, on the baking sheet.

Bake for about 12 mins (the exact time will depend on the thickness of the biscuits) until very lightly coloured.
Put the biscuits onto a rack to cool .
These biscuits will be nice and crisp

Perfect Piecrust

It's that time of year again - pies are abundant and often the problem is making the crust. Some people find this difficult and resort to store bought crusts but there is nothing like the taste of a home made pie crust!
Here are some tips for the perfect crust.

1.Use a mixture of shortening and butter. Shortening makes the pastry flaky and butter adds the great taste.
2. Make sure all the ingredients are chilled - I keep flour in the fridge.
3.Add the water very carefully - too much will make the crust tough and stodgy but if you use too little the crust will fall apart.
4. Don't over mix the dough
5.Salt, vinegar or lemon juice will help the crust from becoming too crumbly.
6. Don't stretch the dough when you roll it. It may look like it's reached the right size but will shrink when you bake it.

You can use a food processor on pulse to make pastry but I find that my hands work just as well (maybe because I have COLD hands!)

Quick Recipe
2/1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
(1 tbs sugar if this is for a sweet pasrty)
Sift together

Add 12tbs butter and 1/4 cup shortening cut into small pieces.
Using fingertips rub in  until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.

Mix 1/2 cup iced water with 1 tbs white wine vinegar
Drizzle on mixture and work untill dough is formed.
Wrap in cling film and chill for 1 hour.

You can pre-bake using pie weights or dry beans at about 375 for about 10-12 mins. Remove weights and bake for another 10-12 mins

Tip: When you transfer the rolled out dough to the dish you are baking it in, line with foil before using the weights, then when you remove the weights cook the 2nd half with no foil to get the crust nice and golden,

Banana Pecan Bread

Great at tea time - even breakfast. Easy to make and keeps nice and moist.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour (sifted)
1tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Method
Pre heat oven to 325F. Grease a loaf pan.
Mix flour, baking powder and salt.
In another bowl, beat egg, sugar, vanilla and oil until combined.
Add flour mixture stirring with a wooden spoon.
Add mashed bananas, mix then fold in the pecans.
Bake for 40-60 minutes till it passes the toothpick test!
Cool then eat!

Perfect Pan di Spagna - Sponge Cake

The 'secret' to a perfect result is in the beating of the eggs and the sugar. It is during this stage that air is incorporated to the mixture and that is essential for the cake to turn out really soft and sponge like without using any yeast.Eggs and sugar have to be beaten for quite a while, never less than 15 mins, with a good beater until the mixture is frothy and a pale yellow in colour. To test that it has been beaten enough, if you let some of the mixture fall from the beater back into the mixture, it remains 'sitting' on top for a while. If this doesn’t happen it means that the eggs have not been beaten enough and you need to beat them much more.


Don't forget the salt - often omitted - as this helps the eggs to become light and fluffy

Another  phase where you have to be careful is the addition of the flour. This has to be sifted extremely well and added to the egg mixture using a wooden spoon with a gentle but fast movement, stirring from bottom to top, folding in as much air as possible

While cooking, the oven must NEVER be opened as this will cause the cake to deflate. Before removing it from the oven, check that the sides have pulled inwards from the pan, check that the cake is ready using a skewer poked into the middle of the cake. If it comes out absolutely clean then the cake is ready

It is also a good idea that when the cake is ready, turn off the oven but leave the cake there for about 10 mins so that it can cool down slowly. After that, turn the cake out of the pan and put it on a cooling rack

Ingredients:
6 eggs
180gms sugar
75 gms flour
75 gms corn flour (corn starch for Americans)
Pinch of salt
(optional - grated rind of 1/2 lemon)

Method

Put eggs and sugar into a bowl and beat for about 15 mins until you have a frothy foamy mixture Add the flours by sifting them into the mixture and folding gently with a wooden spoon.
Put the mixture into a well greased cake tin, level out the mixture and cook in a pre heated over at 150C for about 40 mins

This can be used as a base for tiramisu or trifle and is also delicious on its own with just a dusting of powdered sugar

Swiss Fondue

Now that the weather is getting cooler, there is nothing more sociable than a pot of Swiss Fondue.( for the Swiss, fondue is ALWAYS made of cheese) There is a game assoicated with the dish : If someone loses their piece of bread of the fork they have to pay a penalty! What that will be is up to you!
The trick to a successful fondue  is to ensure that the cheese  sauce stays smooth. Cheese has a propensity to get stringy or to "seize up" into clumps, the fat separating from the proteins. Do not over heat as cheese tends to ball up at higher temperatures and if possible use a fondue pot. Don't let the cheese cool down too much before serving, as it tends to get stringier and tougher as it cools. Don't over stir the cheese, doing so will encourage stringiness.. so many don'ts!!
When we lived in the Ticino, we would use Grappa instead of kirsh.

Ingredients

1/2 pound (Real) Swiss cheese such as Jarlsberg or Emmenthaler, shredded  (or try Vacherin Fribourgeois)
1/2 pound Gruyere cheese, shredded ( aged about 8 months is best)
2 tablespoons cornstarch *
1 garlic clove, peeled, halved crosswise
1 cup dry white wine like a Sauvignon Blanc
1/4 cup kirsh
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Pinch nutmeg
*The cornstarch helps stabilize the sauce
Crusty bread, cubed, for dipping (can be a day old as it does not need to be super fresh - in fact a bit old is better!)When you cut the bread, try make sure that each piece had a bit of crust.

Method

1 Place the shredded cheese and cornstarch in a plastic bag. Seal, shake to coat the cheese with cornstarch. Set aside.

2 Rub the inside of a 4-quart pot with the garlic, then discard. Over medium heat, add the wine and lemon juice and bring to a gentle simmer. Gradually stir the cheese into the wine. Stir constantly in a zig-zag pattern to prevent the cheese from seizing and balling up. Cook until the cheese is just melted and creamy. Do not let boil. Once smooth, stir in the kirsh and  nutmeg.
3 Transfer the cheese to a fondue serving pot, set over a flame to keep warm.
4. Spear the bread cubes with a fondue fork, dip in mixture till coated in cheese, and EAT!!!

Serves 4.

NB: As the cheese gets less and less, scrape the sides with your bread.When almost all the cheese is gone, lower the flame under the fondue pot.The last bit of cheese will be all toasty and yummy!