5 Layer Chocolate Birthday Truffle “Cake”
I thought I’d share my birthday “cake” with everyone. It is also my celebration of the completion of my new book The Splendid Indulgence of Chocolate Truffles. I hope you will see the delight and versatility of truffles; that the photos inspire you and provide eye candy to help you mentally taste the nutty slightly chewy hazelnut marzipan clinging to a depth of a dark cloud of chocolate softened by creamy white chocolate and tangy pie cherries bursting their flavor and melding with deep dark bittersweet chocolate…
This gluten free “cake” is really a giant truffle. It is a combination of 5 layers, most of which I gave you in previous recipes, but with a difference – different configuration and some different ingredients: The bottom first layer is dark chocolate ganache made with half Sharffen Berger 99% Cacao and half Ghirardelli 100% Cacao sweetened with blue agave nectar, a low glycemic natural sweetener. The two chocolates balance beautifully with a wonderful richness.
The second layer was a gel made from dried pie cherries soaked in some of my personal homemade Cherry wine (Cherry Pie Wine made with pie cherries and wild dark cherries) some Bing cherry juice and agar for the gelling agent. (See the recipe for Bing cherry gel for the technique)
The third layer is a creamy white chocolate ganache spiked with Frangelico Liqueur.
The fourth and top layer is a dark chocolate ganache made of Sharffen Berger 99% Cacao sweetened with blue agave nectar. The giant truffle is made in a spring pan lined with a circle of parchment paper on the bottom and a strip of parchment around the sides..
The entire truffle wrapped in a layer of blue agave nectar hazelnut marzipan (a double recipe) rolled out between sheets of plastic. The diameter of the marzipan should be at least the diameter of the spring pan plus twice the height of the side of the finished truffle. The top plastic is removed and the marzipan is slid onto a large plate with the bottom plastic on the plate.
The technique for wrapping the truffle in Marzipan
The truffle is removed from the spring pan and the side strip of parchment is removed. The truffle is inverted so that the top of the truffle is placed onto the center of the marzipan. The bottom circle of parchment is removed. The truffle is now upside-down on the marzipan which is on a plate. Gather the marzipan around the truffle sides. Using a dinner knife (don’t use a sharp knife), Cut the marzipan at the bottom edge of the truffle. I do this by holding the marzipan sheet (on the plastic) with my hand against the side and pressing the dull knife into the marzipan against my palm.
Then I peel the excess marzipan from the plastic wrap. Do a few inches at a time until the marzipan is neatly trimmed to the base of the truffle. Use any excess marzipan to repair any gaps. Peel back the plastic from the sides only. Place a serving plate onto the top of the truffle’s bottom and carefully invert the truffle onto the serving plate. Remove the plastic wrap from the top of the truffle. Leave plain or decorate with hazelnut halves.
Since I didn’t want to mar the look of the cake I did without traditional candles. Instead, I made an extra cake to share with my co-workers.
For information on the recipes, see Cherry Hazelnut Marzipan Layered Dark Chocolate Petit Fours Truffle. For the white chocolate layer: In a the top of a double boiler melt 12 ounces of good quality white chocolate with 1/4 cup of heavy cream. When melted, pour in 2 ounces of Frangelico Liqueur.
This truffle “cake” is so versatile You can make the truffle layers with your favorite chocolate truffle ganache, using traditional truffles, or diabetic safe sugar-free truffles sweetened with xylitol or blue agave nectar, low glycemic natural sweeteners.
There are plenty of recipes to choose from in my new book The Splendid Indulgence of Chocolate Truffles. There are also full directions and techniques for each of the types of truffles: Traditional, Blue Agave Nectar, Sugar-free Xylitol , White Chocolate and Double Chocolate Truffles. All the recipes in this book are gluten free and egg free. At least half of the recipes have a low glycemic index and approximately a quarter of the recipes are sugar free. With the exception of the white chocolate recipes, the recipes use only dark chocolate, as it is the healthiest, rich with anti-antioxidants so good for your health. There are vegan truffles and substitutes for making truffles vegan. There is something for anyone who loves chocolate truffles. I’ve done all the hard work to make it easier for you.
We’ve got a special two-for-all going right now - If you pre-purchase the spiral bound copy of The Splendid Indulgence of Chocolate Truffles, you will get a free copy of the E-book. We expect the printed copies to be ready to go by 1 December this year . Just in time for Christmas! These will make awesome gifts. Don’t forget to get one for yourself, too. As Julia would say, Bon Appetite!
Coconut Chocolate Bliss Cream – A Cool Summer Treat
Congratulations to all of you who are graduating. You made it through! Today is the first day of the rest of your life!
I am so lucky to have my son visiting me for a few weeks. He is an amazing cook with the ability to blend flavors in his mind and imagine what they’ll taste like. We bought some ingredients and he whipped up the best “iced cream” I have ever tasted. Totally dairy-free, gluten free, egg-free, low glycemic raw if you have access to the Thai coconuts, the white ones, not the coconuts in the standard brown shell.
The healthiest “iced cream” I’ve ever eaten. It is so good; I had to share the recipe with you. No – It’s not truffles, but it is rich healthy chocolate. Cool, complex, and not too sweet. Just in time for relief for the summer heat.
Father’s Day is in two weeks is just two weeks from now. You might want to get the ingredients and whip up a batch in his honor. It’s a treat that will bring a smile to everyone’s face.
Coconut Bliss Cream
This tastes amazing! The complexity of flavors dancing on the taste buds delights the senses.
20 fluid ounces natural coconut cream (for raw foods, use fresh Thai coconut cream)
2 tablespoons virgin coconut oil
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons raw cacao powder
6 tablespoons SunFire Chocolate BlissTM*
1 cup of blue agave nectar (If using SunFire Vanilla Agave*, omit the vanilla extract and paste.)
real vanilla extract
½ teaspoon of Trader Joe’s vanilla paste
¼ teaspoon Celtic sea salt or SunFire Himalayan Salt*
¾ walnuts, medium chop
Mix all the ingredients except the chopped walnuts up in a blender. Pour the mixture into an ice cream freezer canister and add the nuts on both sides of the mixing paddle. Freeze in the ice cream maker, following manufacturer’s directions. The one I have took about an hour to freeze. The Bliss Cream will be a soft consistency.
Try it and let me know what you think.
* For product information: http://www.rawfooddiet-holistichealth.com
Don’t Burn the Chocolate! Use a double boiler
Double boilers ensure slow, even heating for foods like chocolate, custards or sauces that could easily be overcooked or burned when cooked in a saucepan over direct heat.
A double boiler consists of a lower saucepan filled with approximately an inch of boiling water. It has another pot which sits inside of it, over but not in direct contact with the boiling water. The steam from the simmering water heats the upper pan and indirectly warms the contents of the pan.
If you don’t have a double boiler, one can be improvised with a regular saucepan and a tempered glass or stainless steel bowl that sits only partially in the saucepan and has at least ¾ inch of air space between the water and the bowl.
Example of Double Boiler
To Use a Double boiler
Fill the bottom saucepan with approximately an inch of water. Place the top pan or bowl portion of your double boiler inside the pan to make sure it will not touch the water.
Remove the bowl, and heat the water to boiling. Lower the burner until the water is just barely simmering.
Add the bowl portion of the double boiler, and follow cooking instructions.
When using a double boiler to melt chocolate, it is a good idea to pay attention and watch to make sure that the chocolate is not overheated. Raw or minimally processed chocolates or cacao must not be heated above 118° F. or 48° C, to protect their nutritive value. Raw blue agave nectars, have extra nutritional benefits and they should also not be heated above 118° F. or 48° C. Agave nectar changes when heated above these temperatures. After that change, it is metabolized differently in the body
Note, that even though there is less danger of over-heating, over-cooking or scorching foods in a double boiler, it can be done. (And has been, by those of us who are tangentially inclined.) Remember to check your water level in the bottom pan if you are using the double boiler for longer heating periods, such as more than an hour.
