La Belle Cuisine - More Chocolate Treats

   Fine Cuisine with Art Infusion

"To cook is to create. And to create well...
is an act of integrity, and faith."

C'est si Bon Bons

Forget love - I'd rather fall in chocolate!

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Melted Chocolate Running from a Whisk
Photographic Print
Zogbaum, Armin
Buy at AllPosters.com

Chocolate 

Turner & Wainwright's
Cream Bon-Bons
Giclee Print
The National...
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Maida Heatter's
Book of Great
Chocolate Desserts

Chocolates
Photographic Print
Kamp, Eric
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La Belle Cuisine

Recipe Source:
The Chocolate Cookbook:
Simply Chocolate, Simply Irresistible
by Elizabeth Wolf Cohen, 1992, Crescent Books

Easy Chocolate Truffles

2/3 cup whipping cream
9 squares (9 ounces) bittersweet or
semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons brandy or other
liqueur (optional)
Cocoa powder for dusting

In a saucepan over low heat, bring cream to a boil. Remove pan from
heat. Add chocolate all at once, stirring frequently until smooth. Stir in
liqueur if using. Strain into a bowl and cool to room temperature.
Refrigerate 1 hour, until thickened and firm.
Line 2 small cookie sheets with foil. Using a melon baller, a 1-inch ice
cream scoop or teaspoon, form mixture into 1-inch balls and place on
cookie sheets. Refrigerate 1 to 2 hours, until balls are firm.
Place about 1/2 cup cocoa powder in a small bowl. Drop each chocolate
ball into cocoa and turn with fingers to coat with cocoa. Roll balls between
the palms of your hands, dusting with more cocoa if necessary. Do not try
to make them perfectly round; they should look slightly irregular. Place on cookie sheet. Add more cocoa to bowl if necessary.
Shake cocoa-coated truffles in a dry strainer to remove excess cocoa, then store, covered, in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks or freeze up to 2 months. Soften 10 minutes at room temperature before serving.

Chocolate-Coated Raspberry Truffles

10 squares (10 ounces) bittersweet
chocolate, chopped
6 tablespoons unsalted butter,
cut into pieces
1/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves
2 tablespoons raspberry-flavored liqueur
12 ounces (12 squares) bittersweet
chocolate, chopped (for coating)

In a saucepan over low heat melt 10 squares chocolate, butter and pre-
serves, stirring frequently until smooth and well blended. Remove from
heat and stir in liqueur. Strain into a bowl and cook. Refrigerate 2 to 3
hours, until firm.
Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper or foil. Using a melon baller, a
1-inch ice cream scoop or teaspoon, form mixture into balls. Place on
cookie sheet and freeze 1 hour, or until very firm.
In the top of a double boiler over low heat, melt remaining chocolate,
stirring frequently until smooth; the chocolate should be 115 - 120
degrees F. Remove from heat and pour into a clean bowl; cool to
about 88 degrees F.
Using a fork, dip truffles, 1 at a time, into chocolate, coating completely
and tapping fork on edge of bowl to shake off excess. Place on prepared
cookie sheet. Refrigerate until chocolate is set, about 1 hour. Store in an
airtight container with paper towels covering truffles to collect any
moisture up to 2 weeks or 1 month in freezer.

1/2 cup heavy or whipping cream
12 ounces fine-quality milk
chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon almond- or
hazelnut-flavor liqueur
12 squares (12 ounces) bittersweet
chocolate, chopped
1 cup shelled and unsalted pistachio
nuts, finely chopped

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring cream to a boil. Re-
move from heat. Add chocolate all at once, stirring until melted. Stir in
butter and liqueur. Strain into bowl. Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.
Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper or foil. Using a melon baller, a
1-inch ice cream scoop or teaspoon, form mixture into balls. Place on
cookie sheet and freeze 1 hour, or until very firm.
In the top of a double boiler over low heat, melt chocolate, stirring
frequently, until smooth; the chocolate should be about 115- 120
degrees F. Remove from heat and pour into a clean bowl; cool to
about 88 degrees F.
Place pistachios in a bowl. Using a fork, dip truffles, one at a time, into chocolate, coating completely and tapping fork on edge of bowl to shake
off excess. Immediately drop into bowl of pistachios and roll to coat
chocolate completely. Place on prepared cookie sheet. Refrigerate until
set, about 1 hour. Store in an airtight container with paper towels cover-
ing truffles to collect any moisture up to 2 weeks or 1 month in freezer.

Chocolate-Stuffed Figs and Prunes

Makes 24

12 large fresh figs
12 extra-large prunes, preferably
presoaked or softened
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup blanched almonds,
chopped and toasted
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon almond-flavor liqueur
3 squares (3 ounces) semisweet
chocolate, melted and cooled

Chocolate for Dipping:
8 squares (8 ounces) semisweet or
bittersweet chocolate, chopped
5 tablespoons unsalted butter,
cut into pieces

Using a small knife, remove any remains of the stem from the figs. If necessary, pit prunes the same way. Set aside.
Into a food processor fitted with the metal blade, process butter, almonds,
egg yolk and liqueur until creamy. With the machine running, slowly pour
in the melted chocolate and process until well blended. Scrape into a bowl
and refrigerate about 1 hour, until firm enough to pipe.
Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper. Spoon mixture into small pastry
bag fitted with a small plain tip, about 1/4 inch. Pipe mixture into figs and
prunes. Place filled fruits on cookie sheet and chill 30 minutes.
In a saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate and butter, stirring frequently until melted and smooth. Leave to cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Insert a toothpick into each filled fruit. Dip each into the melted chocolate
and allow excess to drip off. Using another toothpick, push fruit off the
inserted toothpick and onto the lined cookie sheet. Alternatively, holding
stem end, dip filled fruits about two-thirds of the way into the chocolate,
leaving one-third of the fruit exposed. Place on cookie sheet. Refrigerate
1 hour to set.
Using a thin-bladed knife, remove fruit from cookie sheet to candy cases. Remove from refrigerator about 30 minutes before serving.

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