All Zest Up And Nowhere To Go? I Can Orange An Outing

September 23 , 2018 by: Amber Trudeau Candy, Cookies, Icing, Other Desserts, Pudding/ Mousse, Uncategorized

Or alternatively, “See My Zest? See My Zest? See My Zest?” Because who doesn’t love this Simpsons song? (I just couldn’t let that slide…although now that song is totally stuck in my head so possibly not worth it? No, that’s a lie, I always find that song awesome 😉 ). Technically though, I think this particular dessert is highly unlikely to ever show up in an episode of the Simpsons, seeing as their “high brow” food is:

So what is it that we’re looking at here you ask? (aside from what appears to be unicorn poo on top of some of these, I’m clearly not a very good swirly decorator). Red wine chocolate orange truffles! Some are made even more boozy by the addition of a little rum-soaked fruit which never hurt anyone (unless you’re allergic to alcohol, then you’re in for some serious hurt….actually, even if you’re not “allergic” to alcohol per se, everyone could be considered kind of allergic to it when they overindulge and weep boozy hangover tears the next morning. Stop crying!!! You’re already dehydrated enough! 😉 ).

Now it’s entirely possible that you’re remembering my last post which also included red wine because I’d had a partial bottle I’d wanted to use up. I can see you looking at me suspiciously now and wondering if perhaps that is the reason for red wine making an appearance in these truffles as well. If that’s what you’re thinking you crazy person you, you would be….absolutely correct and obviously a genius mind reader of epic proportions 😉 . Waste not, want not, am I right? Leftovers have never tasted so yummy in my tummy.

I always have this dream with truffles that I will actually temper the chocolate properly and I’ll have that beautiful chocolate shell that doesn’t get weepy (aka, with a sheen of condensation like in these pictures) and snaps deliciously when you bite into it. I try almost every time and am successful about 20% of the time (possibly less). Lesson most definitely not learned since there always seems to be no rhyme or reason for why it sometimes works for me and sometimes doesn’t. “CHOCOLATE!!!!” says I, shaking my fist at the sky, “Why hath though forsaken me??”. But then of course, chocolate is too awesome for me to stay upset for long, much like Homer while eating a rotting sandwich from the garbage:

Image result for homer sick sandwich garbage meme

(sorry, not sorry, for all the Simpsons references today 😉 ).

Mmmmm….see those chunks of boozy fruit? You know you want it.

Pro tip – if you’re ever feeling super lazy, but want truffles, with any truffle recipe really you could always just make the filling, say screw it to the dipping in chocolate and just eat it with a spoon. No judgement here 🙂 (Oooo…or mix chunks of filling into some vegan vanilla ice cream. Why didn’t I think of that???!!!!! Oh right, I just did 😉 )

When life throws you sub-par extra wine, don’t cause a ker-truffle, just consume it in edible form instead! 😉

Red Wine Chocolate Orange Truffles with Optional Boozy Fruit

Yield: 2 dozen truffles

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons vegan butter
  • 1 tablespoons melted chocolate
  • 1/4 teaspoon orange oil/extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 teaspoons orange zest (about 1/3 of an orange)
  • 2 teaspoons orange liqueur
  • 3 tablespoons honey (or agave or maple syrup)
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/3 cup icing sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 3 tablespoons booze soaked fruit (optional)
  • 1 tablespoons red wine (or more orange liqueur)
  • 1/2 cup chocolate, melted (for dipping)

Directions

  1. In a medium bowl, beat together butter, 1 tablespoon melted chocolate, orange and vanilla extracts, orange zest, orange liqueur, and honey.
  2. Slowly beat in cloves, cocoa powder and then icing sugar. If using, stir in boozy fruit. Beat (or stir) in wine until ganache-like consistency is a achieved (maybe slightly  softer than you’d need for it to be rollable since you’ll be refrigerating it for a bit).
  3. Place ganache in the refrigerator for about an hour (or up to overnight) until it’s firmed up slightly.
  4. Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Take heaping teaspoon amounts  of dough and roll into balls. Place i n the freezer for about an hour.
  5. Remove truffles from freezer and melt 1/2 cup of chocolate. Dip each truffle in chocolate and allow to firm up on your cookie sheet.
  6. Store in the refrigerator.

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About Amber

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Hi, I'm Amber Trudeau.  I bake.... a lot.

I'm also vegan, and found that whenever I went out to a restaurant my dessert choices were limited to sorbet, sorbet, and sorbet.  So I started making my own desserts. I wanted them to taste good though - so my ultimatum was to make delicious desserts that also happen to be dairy-free and egg-free. Every week or so, I challenge myself to try something new.  To recreate some kind of traditional dessert that tastes amazing without using animal products.

Have a challenge for me? Send me a note:

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