Flavor-of-the-Month . . . Chocolate Raspberry Truffles

Until I was in my 20's, I'd never eaten a truffle. Sure, I'd had chocolate from the box of Russell Stover's, but truffles, no.


Enter my brilliant Aunt Janice who treated me to my first truffle, a Chocolate Raspberry Truffle, at Godiva on a visit to New York City. It was pure heaven...the crisp outer shell, the dark, rich center, the slight tang of raspberry. I believe there were angels singing.

Since I had this raspberry sauce on hand, I decided to try making them myself. You know what? They are pretty delicious.



Chocolate Raspberry Truffles

8 oz. bittersweet chocolate
1/2 c. heavy cream
2 TBSP raspberry sauce
1 bag dark chocolate candy melts
sanding sugar (optional)


Chop the chocolate and place in a bowl. Bring the cream to a simmer on the stove and pour over the chocolate.



Let sit 5 minutes, then whisk until smooth. Stir in the raspberry sauce.

Let this mixture sit at room temperature for an hour or more until set. (I poured it into a shallow baking dish to help cool it down faster.)


Scoop into balls using a melon baller or a spoon and place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. (I watched Ina do this on TV and get perfectly round ball....that didn't happen for me. I got this: )

{not pretty.}

If that happens to you, pop them in the fridge, then remove after 15 minutes and shape into balls. (I had better luck pressing them together, rather than rolling them.)

{much better. }

Refrigerate the truffles until ready to coat.

(You can skip the next step entirely and roll the truffles in cocoa powder, or...)

In the microwave, melt the candy melts with 1 tsp shortening. Melt in 30 second intervals on 50% power, stirring after every cycle until melted.

Dip the truffles into the candy melts and place on the wax paper lined sheet. While the candy melts are still wet, sprinkle with sanding sugar.




Now, I know it is like a sacrilege to use candy melts to coat real chocolate, but I wanted that hard outer shell and haven't been brave enough to try my hand at tempering chocolate. Anyone tried it?



Do you have a chocolate post to link up? I can't wait to see! Link up a the the bottom of the post. Please remember to link to your POST, not the main page of you blog.

Thanks so much for playing along with Flavor-of-the-Month. I've heard from several of you that FOTM sneaks up on you and sends you into a mad panic at the end of each month. You know what, it does to me too, most months. I always meant it to be *fun* not stressful, SOOOOO...this is the last Flavor-of-the-Month. (I think chocolate is a good way to go out, don't you?)

It will be replaced with impromptu linky parties now and again. I might say..."What's the best thing you've baked this month?" and ask you link up. I'll be sure to announce those on twitter, too, so if you're not there, come join the fun!

Alright, ladies & gents....link away!!! {Linky will be open through March 2nd.}

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As promised . . . cheesecake

How about a little somethin' to go with that raspberry sauce?

How about Vanilla Bean Cheesecake with a Chocolate Cookie Crust? Oh, yeah.

One really nice part about finally living in the same city as my sister is that when it's her birthday, I get part of the cake. {I mean, that's not the only reason I like having her here.}

She wanted birthday cheesecake and I couldn't have been happier.

Let's start with the crust.

Chocolate Cookie Crust

1 & 3/4 c. crushed chocolate wafers
4 TBSP melted butter
4 tsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. coarse salt

Combine all ingredients. Press into the bottom of a 9" springform pan. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Let cool completely.


{I used (chocolate) Oreos...just the cookie part...for the wafers because, well, they're cheaper than chocolate wafers and I knew there would be extras. What you do with the creamy centers is your business.}


Vanilla Bean Cheesecake
{modified version of Classic Cheesecake from The King Arthur Flour Baking Companion}


3 (8 oz) pkgs. cream cheese, room temp.
1 & 1/2 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. coarse salt
4 eggs
3 TBSP freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 TBSP vanilla bean paste
1 c. sour cream, full fat
1/2 c. heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 325.

On low speed, beat the cream cheese until no lumps remain; scraping down the sides as needed. Add the sugar and salt and beat until combined. Add the eggs one at a time until the mixture is smooth before adding the next egg. Scrape the bottom of the bowl after each addition.

Stir in the lemon juice, vanilla bean paste, sour cream and heavy cream until smooth.

Pour onto the cooled crust and bake 50 minutes or so until the edges are set and the cheesecake is a light golden brown. The middle will still jiggle when the pan is shaken.

Turn off the oven, crack the door and let the cheesecake cool in the oven for 1 hour. (This helps prevent cracking.) The center will finish setting in the oven.

After 1 hour, remove the cheesecake from the oven and run a knife around the edge of the pan.

{Doing this allows the cheesecake to contract as it cools without pulling off the side and cracking.}


Refrigerate overnight and serve with raspberry sauce (or plain, or with chocolate sauce).


You might start spooning the raspberry sauce onto the cheesecake,


but I say....go for the pour!

Happy birthday to my beautiful sister, Molly! Thanks for sharing your cake with us! :)



Related posts:

• raspberry sauce
• no-bake cheesecake
• lucky

{Oh...and Flavor-of-the-Month *Chocolate Edition* linky will be up on Sunday!}

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Muttis, again

Brezel und Bier ($4 for the pretzel, $7.50 for the 'Mutti's milk' beer)

Muttis sells hot pretzels and beer. They also make fantastic Austrian food. They rock!

Muttis
118 Elgin Street
Carlton, 3053
Ph: (03) 9349 5008
Website

Muttis is one of my favourite restaurants at the moment. However, despite their total awesomeness, they don't seem to be that busy.

The first time we went (a Saturday night in June last year), the restaurant area at the back was about three quarters full, whilst the smaller area at the front was just bar space. This time, (again, a Saturday night) the back section was empty, and diners were seated in the smaller front section. From memory there were about 5 tables (including ours) all night. WTF!! Come on Melbournians!

I should say, us 5 tables weren't the only customers; there was a birthday party upstairs as well. Still, it seemed pretty quiet for a Saturday night! I really hope it was just a once off!

We went to Muttis a few weeks ago with our friends Wes & Amanda (or as I like to call them, "Wemanda"), who wanted to try out a nice new restaurant. We got there a bit earlier than them, so had some beer and savoury pretzel to start with.

The little tap with the wooden heart is Muttis Milk, the house brew!

The entrees always sound tempting, but knowing how big the mains are, I have yet to try any. They've also changed up the menu quite a bit since last time, so I have some new dishes to show y'all!

"Zwiebelroastbraten' - tender beef steak, pan seared and served with golden bratkartoffeln, garlic beans and finished in a crispy onion red wine jus - $28

Spicy Austrian beef goulash, home made spätzle and a warm Kaiser roll - $25.50

They seem to have changed their spätzle since last time - it had sliced spring onion rather than chives.

Amanda ordered the chicken dish. How good does it look!
Praprika chicken served on Schupfnudeln (Austrian pasta hand made from potato tossed in butter and poppyseeds) and finished with buttered spinach - $24

I was suffering some serious dish-envy, but couldn't go past the devilishly decadent triple duck.

Triple duck - glühwein poached duck breast, crispy leg of duck, and potato dumpling filled with duck crackling, served with speck and grüner veltliner braised savoy cabbage and lingonberry scented duck jus - $32

There is nothing on that plate that I don't like! The breast was tender and flavourful, the leg was crispy, and the jus was deeply savoury and delicious. And the potato dumpling! Let's look how soft and fluffy it was...

Inside crackly duck dumpling.

Although the dumpling looks small, I thought it was quite enough carby goodness to soak up the sauce. Not so much the gentleman diner at our next table - he ordered a hot pretzel to help him along. Great idea, huh?

No entrees means there is room for dessert! Sandra ordered another savoury pretzel for her 'dessert'. Muttis does, indeed, have a sweet pretzel on their dessert menu, but according to Germans, sweet pretzels are just a bit wrong.

Sadly, Omas Buchteln are no longer on the menu, but they did have some tempting new offerings. They had a version of bienenstich, which I just had to order! (Bienenstich is my favouritest German cake ever, as you may well remember.)

Bienenstich - Honey and whey custard between sweet puff pastry and fresh honeycomb - $13

Muttis' version was a gelatin-set vanilla custard between 2 sheets of puff pastry. Kinda like a mille feuille, I guess! This one, unfortunately, wasn't that great. Whilst the custard was smooth and creamy, the pastry was a bit stale and unpleasant. Oh well!

Amanda ordered the classic apple strudel.
Apple strudel, served with chantilly cream - $12

And Wes had the Black Forest trifle. Wes told me he doesn't normally like trifle, but I like to think that my passionfruit trifle has helped to change his mind, hehe.

Black forest trifle chocolate sponge with jelly, fresh cream, sour cherries, chocolate shavings and a drizzling of schnapps - $12

That tall white thing that looks like a marshmallow was actually a meringue. The whole dessert was a very cute idea, and I think the choc-cherry combination is a total winner.

Overall we had a great night, and despite the slight disappointment with my dessert, were full and happy. I really like Muttis, and I hope it stays around for a good long time. It definitely deserves to!

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Beautiful Bread . . . Works For Me Wednesday

I've had so much fun baking bread lately with my sourdough starter, but I was frustrated. Why wasn't my bread *pretty* like at Panera or the bakery?


It tasted good, but it was dull looking. None of the recipes I read said anything about getting a pretty, shiny, crackly crust. What was the secret?

Then I read in a magazine....brush with beaten egg! Now, why hadn't I thought of that?

{See that shiny crust?}

So, if you want a shiny, golden crust on your bread, just brush the top with beaten egg right before popping it in the oven!

Also, tonight I just came across this site with great ideas for glazing bread. I can't wait to try them all!

---

Be sure to scoot on over to Works For Me Wednesday for hundreds of "works for me" tips!


Related posts:

• sourdough starter
• cranberry-pecan rye bread
  

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My Latest Obsession

Have you ever eaten a Chocolate Raspberry Truffle from Godiva? OK, this doesn't taste as good as that, but I think it's as close as yogurt can get.


My latest obsession is raspberry sauce. Most days for lunch, I'm adding it to Greek Yogurt with some chocolate chips and convincing myself it's health food.

Raspberry Sauce

2 tsp cornstarch
3 TBSP sugar
1/3 c. water
12 ounces frozen raspberries, thawed (not thawed work, too...it just takes longer)

In a small saucepan, stir together the cornstarch, sugar and water. Add the raspberries and cook over medium heat. Stir constantly until the mixture boils. Continue stirring and boil one additional minute.


Pour the sauce into a mesh sieve placed over a bowl to remove seeds. The sauce can be served warm or cold. Store in the refrigerator.


Yogurt isn't the only thing made more delicious with this sauce. Coming later this week......

Oh, yeah.

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David Lebovitz's Israeli Couscous with Butternut Squash & Preserved Limes

A while ago, I received some pearl couscous to test - it's the blue box with Gabriel Gaté on the front. Even though it came with some Gabriel-designed recipes, none of them really caught my eye. Lucky then, that at about the same time, David Lebovitz posted a recipe for Israeli Couscous with Butternut Squash and Preserved Lemons on his blog. I love those hearty meal-in-a-bowl type salads - chickpeas, brown rice, some dried fruit, herbs, whatever.

David's salad contains the couscous (duh), cooked onions, golden raisins, roasted squash, preserved lemons, parsley and toasted pine nuts. How good does that sound?

As you can see, the pearl couscous is larger than regular couscous, but also smaller than mograbieh.

I didn't have any preserved lemons, that oh-so-2007 ingredient, but I did have a jar of preserved limes in the pantry.


I'd never cooked with them before, and was surprised to find that they smelled super-strong, like chlorox. *Cough cough*.

I was a little worried using them, so I halved the amount the recipe asked for, and chopped them up into teensy-weensy pieces.

Please note knife of awesomeness, bought at Kappabashi-Kitchen-Town.

You also have to chop up and roast the butternut squash.

Then it is just a matter of chopping and stirring everything together. I didn't have any golden raisins, so substituted currants and cranberries - still good.

The salad was a lot of work, what with all the separate chopping and roasting and toasting and everything, but it was worth it! It was very tasty and light, and lasted for lunches over a few days. The preserved limes, while strong, weren't overpowering. The couscous is bland, and soaks up strong flavours really well. As for the couscous itself, I thought it was great! I liked how it kept its shape and didn't go soggy or blurry at the edges. It's a great carrier for dressings and sauces. If I were to use it as an accompaniment for a stew, I'd make sure to dress it with lots of butter or olive oil, some salt and possibly some chopped chives.

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New York, part 2 . . . and a *secret* about Kelly Ripa !

I wouldn't say I'm lucky, but I have won a few things in my life...

• When I was 6, I won a coloring contest at our local Baskin-Robbins. The prize? 31 FREE scoops of ice cream!!! Is there anything more exciting than free ice cream to a 6-year-old (or a 40-year-old, for that matter)?

• As a sophomore in high school, I won tickets from a radio station to the Cyndi Lauper concert. Second row from the top of the auditorium, total nosebleed seats, but I WON!!!
  
  {Unfortunately, I bought SHE BOP earrings at the concert and wore them....to school! Do you know that "she bop" doesn't have anything to do with dancing? Yeah, me neither...until the *dreamy* senior who sat behind me in Spanish class filled me in. I still wasn't *quite sure* what he was talking about, but I knew it was bad. Google it.}

• And, then, Foodbuzz sent out an email asking if any of its featured publishers would like to apply to go to Kelly's Cake Off. I applied hoping I'd get lucky (and not in the She Bop way) and be chosen. I was!!! Yay!

Thanks to you and Electrolux, these cakes have raised over $20,000 for the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. You know all about that, though. Let me show you a little bit more of the trip...

First, I got to meet 14 fabulous food bloggers!!! (You can see a list here.)


{Here I am with the brilliant Jessie of CakeSpy.}


Before the festivities even started, Jen of My Kitchen Addiction & I met with Gail of the ultra-amazing One Tough Cookie. (Go, see for yourself. She's a cookie genius!) Gail treated us to cappuccinos at Pastis and I felt very hip & New York.

Then, we all went to the Gastropub (I'm not sure what that means, but trust me, it's good) The Spotted Pig. We were ushered to a private kitchen and given a cooking demo (& dinner) by Chef April Bloomfield.


You guys...it was phenomenal.

{It was my very first time to eat duck and I'm looking at those duckies in the pond down the street in a whole new light.}


After that, we headed up to the rooftop bar at our hotel for a drink and a gift exchange with the other bloggers.

That morning, we were up at the crack of dawn to go to a taping of Live! with Regis & Kelly. Here's what I loved:

1. a car service....seriously, being picked up and driven around town is something I could get used to,
2. Kelly & Regis came over and talked to the audience between segments. I was most impressed by that.
3. Regis threw candy into the audience. I didn't get any, but I still love Regis for it.

Here's the secret about Kelly Ripa.....ready?

She....
....
....
....
....
....
EATS! Really! She does! Between segments, she ate right from a bag of All-Bran cereal...and joked that she might have to make a quick exit...AND before the cooking segment, she snacked on the nuts and chocolate. (I know you all are probably as shocked as I was.)


Oh, and she's tee-nine-y! (That's tiny.) I thought about sticking her in my purse and bringing her home to Texas. Look at me, y'all, in that picture. I'm freaking Julia Child towering over everyone. I'm even hunching.

Then, it was time for the Cake Off. You all know about that (or if you don't, click here).

I just have to add how nice everyone was to us...the people from Electrolux and Foodbuzz and the PR people handling the event. Kelly Ripa was beautiful and fun and really quick-witted!


{Did I mention the swag?!?!?}


Buddy, Frankie, Remy and the gang from Cake Boss were so fabulous! They were *the sweetest* guys and stayed as long as we needed to help with the cakes, sign autographs, take pictures...and then they had to CLEAN up all of the cake paraphernalia. Oh, and Buddy's cakes taste every bit as delicious as they look!

Overall, I was lucky! It was a fabulous trip, for a great cause, and I feel blessed to have been a part of it.

Today is the LAST DAY (2-19) to vote on a cake. Remember, for every vote, Electrolux donates $1 to the OCRF. What an easy way to make a difference. (And you can still send a virtual cake through March.)

Thank you, thank you for supporting this cause (and me)! ♥

My participation with Kelly's Cake Off for a Cause was sponsored by Electrolux and Foodbuzz who provided me with travel arrangements to and accommodations in New York to participate.

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