Valentines Day Chocolate & Baileys Cream Truffles

With Valentines Day just around the corner, I thought I would share with you something simple & special for that special person in your life! 

The days of buying a box of Dairy Milk at the last minute should be long gone by now and taking the time to make something yourself is a great way to show how much you really care! Beautifully balanced with a hint of bitter coffee and Baileys Cream, these rich little delicacies melt in your mouth and will be a very welcome way to your lover's heart.

These little home-made Chocolate Truffles are so easy to make, but they taste divine and the secret ingredient is simply a big dollop of Tender Loving Care! 

My Ingredients:

450g Dark chocolate broken in small pieces

75g   Cocoa Powder

35ml Cold Espresso or strong coffee

35ml Baileys Cream Liqueur

250ml Fresh Cream

Cocoa Powder, Dessicated coconut, ground Almonds or sponge-cake crumbs for coating.

My Method:

1. Melt chocolate together with the cream. You can do this in a bowl sitting over a pot of simmering water. Don't let any water get into your chocolate or it will go into a masse from which there is no return!

Make sure the bowl sits above the water level

2. Take the chocolate off the heat. Mix together the cocoa powder, cold coffee and Baileys and stir this liquid mixture into the melted chocolate.

3. You have just made what is known as a chocolate "ganache". If you were to let this cool a little at this stage it could be used for pouring over a cake as a covering.

4. Cover the bowl with cling film and put it in the fridge until cold. This will take 2 hours or so. You can leave it overnight if you wish as you long as everyone can avoid the temptation to steal little spoonfuls!

Dip the spoon in hot water and dry it, before scooping out the "ganache" 

5. Give the mix a good stir with a wooden spoon before you start to measure it out with a warm teaspoon. When you have them all done, roll them, with your hands, into little balls.

6. Finally roll your Truffles in the coatings of your choice. This is best done by having your crumbs, cocoa, almonds or whatever all sitting in separate soup bowls so you can literally 'roll' the ball around in the coating.

Yum! Chocolate & Baileys Cream Truffles

Don't forget to Feed the Fish at the bottom of this Post!

Zack

Cakebombs - A New Irish Gourmet Lollipop!

Last week, on Twitter, I noticed two tweets by a new Irish business @Cakebombs: "Truffle cake, ganache and lashings of Belgian chocolate on a lolly stick...what more could you want?" said one, and "We are now open for business! Check us out on www.CakeBombs.ie".

So I did. 

What I found was a simple but tasty wee idea that looks like it has the potential to be the next Irish Chocolate classic! 

Cakebombs are handmade artisan chocolate truffle & cake treats blended with butter-cream or ganache, placed on a lolly stick and dipped in chocolate with various toppings. They are made fresh to order using the best of ingredients including top quality Belgian chocolate.

The brains behind the business (based in Dublin) is Cake Designer Debbie Ross and she sent me a little box to sample during the week. 

"Eat Me!" it said on the box. "With Pleasure", said I.

"The devil is in the detail" they say and Debbie and her team really have put their all into the making of these tasty wee nibbles. The cardboard box arrived wrapped in brown paper & tied with string. Inside was another layer of tissue to protect the little Gourmet Pops that lay waiting to be devoured!

You can see that attention paid to the product

There are six signature Cakebombs in the collection so far, three are dark chocolate & three are white chocolate flavours. These are:

Chocolate Bomb - Dark Chocolate truffle cake, chocolate ganache, dressed in dark chocolate, decorated with a top hat of cocoa.

Lemon Bomb - White chocolate & lemon truffle cake, lemon buttercream, dressed in white chocolate, a top hat of toasted crumbs

Mocha Bomb - Dark chocolate & coffee truffle cake, chocolate ganache, dressed in dark chocolate, a top hat of sugar cane crystals.

Vanilla Bomb - White chocolate & vanilla truffle cake, vanilla buttercream, dressed in white chocolate, with a top hat of toasted coconut.

Orange Bomb - Dark Chocolate & orange truffle cake, chocolate ganache, dressed in dark chocolate, a top hat of toasted cake crumb.

Peanut Butter Bomb - White chocolate & peanut butter truffle cake, peanut buttercream, dressed in white chocolate, a top hat of crushed nuts.

Debbie has further plans to expand the range and take into account the various seasonal fruits and flavours.

All the Cakebombs are hand made to Order!

I have to admit that they tasted yummy, my favourite being the Lemon Bomb & the Peanut Butter Bomb. The are soft and very fresh, probably due to the fact that they are being baked to order. The chocolate truffle & ganache is light as a feather, lighter than I expected and if you like your coffee strong you will love the Mocha Bomb!

Mocha Bomb & Chocolate Bomb

Award winning baker and cook Debbie Ross set up Deb's Creative Cakes in 2011 and have created cakes that look like vintage typewriters, designer handbags, iPods, animals, cars and you can see more here. 

Dipping the Cakebombs

She makes, bakes and decorates all types of cakes, all handmade and tailored to each client. Her Wedding, Birthday & Christening cakes are "dedication to the art of beauty" says Debbie. You can see examples of her other work here.

I think these little CakeBombs are a perfect special little gift for Weddings, Celebrations, Special Occasions or Corporate events. They can be served as nibbles, dessert, favours or simply with coffee as a treat!

Competition!

Debbie has given us 2 boxes of Cakebombs to give away here as reader prizes and they will be delivered to your door in the New Year. To enter simply leave a Comment with your name & contact details Here at the bottom of this Blog post. Winners will be picked by random.

To see more about Debbie's Creative Cakes go to http://www.facebook.com/debscreativecakes

To Order & Buy your own Cakebombs go to

 http://www.cakebombs.ie/

Don't forget to Feed the Fish at the bottom of this Post!

zack