CHINESE FIVE-SPICE TRUFFLES: Chinese New Year!

恭賀發財 Gung Hay Fat Choy! Chinese New Year! A few years ago I tasted fabulous Chinese 5-Spice Truffles at a special event. The chef wouldn't part with his recipe, so I did a bit of sleuthing. I found several recipes on the Internet and experimented. As always the final outcome depends on the quality of chocolate, and, additionally in this case, the spices. I found some locally produced Chinese Five-Spice, and I prefer it to the 'regular' Chinese 5-spice you can get at most local markets. Five-Spice encompasses all five flavors: sweet, sour, bitter, pungent, and salty. In case you want to make your own Chinese 5 Spice, scroll down for a recipe for Chinese Five Spice. It's easy to make, and you get to control the quality and freshness (and you can experiment to please your taste).

CHINESE FIVE-SPICE TRUFFLES

Ingredients
1 lb dark chocolate, preferably 70%
1 cup heavy cream
2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (you can mix in a bit of sparkling sugar if you want to be festive)

Directions
Melt chocolate in metal bowl over saucepan of simmering water (or in a double boiler).
Remove from stove and pour cream with spices over it.
Let stand 2-3 minutes and then whisk together until smooth.
Refrigerate for an hour.
Take out of refrigerator and scoop or spoon into balls and put on parchment-lined baking sheet.
Put baking sheets in refrigerator for a few hours to firm up.
When balls are cold and solid, roll in cocoa powder, shaking off excess.

Chinese Five Spice
Recipe from Food.com

Ingredients
3 Tbsp cinnamon (I use Vietnamese cinnamon)
6 star anise or 2 teaspoons anise seeds
1 1⁄2 teaspoons fennel seeds
1 1⁄2 teaspoons Szechuan peppercorns (If you don't have any, you can substitute black peppercorns)
3⁄4 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions
Combine all ingredients in blender or coffee grinder. Blend until finely ground. Store in airtight container. Keeps up to 2 months.

Tip: You can "roast" the whole spices a bit for more intense flavor -- in a dry frying pan, but watch closely, so spices don't burn. If they do, the spice will be bitter.

CHINESE FIVE-SPICE TRUFFLES: Chinese New Year!

恭賀發財 Gung Hay Fat Choy! Chinese New Year! A few years ago I tasted fabulous Chinese 5-Spice Truffles at a special event. The chef wouldn't part with his recipe, so I did a bit of sleuthing. I found several recipes on the Internet and experimented. As always the final outcome depends on the quality of chocolate, and, additionally in this case, the spices. I found some locally produced Chinese Five-Spice, and I prefer it to the 'regular' Chinese 5-spice you can get at the local market. Five-Spice encompasses all five flavors: sweet, sour, bitter, pungent, and salty. In case you want to make your own Chinese 5 Spice, scroll down for a recipe for Chinese Five Spice. It's easy to make, and you get to control the quality and freshness.

CHINESE FIVE-SPICE TRUFFLES

Ingredients
1 lb dark chocolate, preferably 70%
1 cup heavy cream
2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (you can mix in a bit of sparkling sugar if you want to be festive)

Directions
Melt chocolate in metal bowl over saucepan of simmering water (or in a double boiler).
Remove from stove and pour cream with spices over it.
Let stand 2-3 minutes and then whisk together until smooth.
Refrigerate for an hour.
Take out of refrigerator and scoop or spoon into balls and put on parchment-lined baking sheet.
Put baking sheets in refrigerator for a few hours to firm up.
When balls are cold and solid, roll in cocoa powder, shaking off excess.

Chinese Five Spice
Recipe from Food.com

Ingredients
3 Tbsp cinnamon (I use Vietnamese cinnamon)
6 star anise or 2 teaspoons anise seeds
1 1⁄2 teaspoons fennel seeds
1 1⁄2 teaspoons Szechuan peppercorns (If you don't have any, you can substitute black peppercorns)
3⁄4 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions
Combine all ingredients in blender or coffee grinder. Blend until finely ground. Store in airtight container. Keeps up to 2 months.

Tip: You can "roast" the whole spices a bit for more intense flavor -- in a dry frying pan, but watch closely, so spices don't burn. If they do, the spice will be bitter.

BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES ROLLED IN SPICES:: National Bittersweet Chocolate Day

Today is Bittersweet Chocolate Day! This is a great day to celebrate, with a few clarifications on terminology. Don't fear, the holiday will be sweet..and not bitter! Although I have purchased chocolate that is labeled bittersweet, I buy chocolate based on its origins, fair-trade, and amount of cacao. Bittersweet is just too vague a term for me.

According to Wikipedia, Bittersweet chocolate is chocolate liquor (unsweetened chocolate not liqueur) to which some sugar (typically a third), more cocoa butter, vanilla and sometimes lecithin has been added. It has less sugar and more liquor than semisweet chocolate, but the two are interchangeable in baking. Bittersweet and semisweet chocolates are sometimes referred to as 'couverture' (chocolate that contains at least 32 percent cocoa butter); many brands (the ones I like) print on the package the percentage of cocoa (as chocolate liquor and added cocoa butter) contained. The rule is that the higher the percentage of cocoa, the less sweet the chocolate will be. The U.S. classifies chocolate as either "bittersweet" or "semisweet" that contain at least 35% cacao (either cacao solids or butter from the cacao beans).

So for today's holiday, here's one of my favorite recipes for Bittersweet Chocolate Truffles from  from Joan Coukos that appeared in Food & Wine in 2005. It's an easy recipe for Bittersweet Chocolate Truffles Coated with a Blend of Chinese and Mexican Spices. Heaven!

BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES ROLLED IN SPICES!

Ingredients
1 cup heavy cream
3 Tablespoons light corn syrup
3/4 pound bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup finely shredded unsweetened coconut
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
Pinch of ground cloves
2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon plus 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground chipotle powder
1 teaspoon ancho powder
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder

Directions

In medium saucepan, bring cream and corn syrup to a boil. Put bittersweet chocolate in medium bowl and pour hot cream over it. Let stand for 2 to 3 minutes, then whisk until smooth. Whisk in  butter. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.

Meanwhile, in small dry skillet, toast coconut over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until just lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and let cool. Stir in cardamom, cloves, 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon. In another small bowl, whisk 1/3 cup of sugar with the remaining 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, allspice, and chipotle and ancho chile powders. In  third small bowl, whisk 1/4 cup of cocoa powder with five-spice powder and remaining 1/3 cup of sugar. Put remaining 1/4 cup of cocoa in another bowl.

Line  baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop up level tablespoons of ganache and drop them onto parchment. Place baking sheet in refrigerator for 10 minutes. Using hands, roll each mound of ganache into ball; you may have to cool your hands in ice water periodically while you work.

Roll 1 truffle at a time into 1 of coatings. Return truffles to tbaking sheet, cover loosely and refrigerate until chilled.