Common Sense Living

Posts Tagged ‘chocolate truffle recipe’

 

With just one taste of this “Food of the Gods”, entire civilizations have fallen under it’s spell. Legend has it that one of the Aztec Gods was kicked out of the heavens for letting mere humans have this food which should have only been partaken of by the Gods.

 

It has been used for currency.

 

People have been enslaved just to produce this food.

 

For thousands of years only the ultra wealthy were able to partake in its wonders.

 

What is this Food of the Gods? Chocolate of course!

 

In the Mayan culture, the chocolate drink was consumed at weddings.

 

Casanova ate chocolate to improve his love-making.

 

 

Valentines day is the biggest chocolate giving time of the year. The act of eating chocolate, if done correctly, is sensual in itself.

 

The proper way to eat chocolate -

 

Get one piece of exquisite chocolate. Not the grocery store garbage. A good piece.

 

Take a good look at it. Anticipate taking that first lucious bite.

 

Slowly, take a bite. (do not shove the whole thing in your mouth!)

 

Close your eyes.

 

Let the chocolate melt over your tastebuds.

 

Slowly relish the creamy sweetness until it dissolves.

 

Repeat with the other half of the piece.

 

Take a deep breath.

 

Experience the release of the ‘feel good’ hormones as they bring total pleasure to your consciousness.

 

Take another deep breath.

 

Try this exercise with your lover and see what happens next!

 

No rushing allowed.

 

Ahhhh. Is it any wonder that this ‘Food of the Gods’ is such an important part of Valentine’s Day?

 

Chocolate should never be shoveled in by the truckload. That is for commoners. Do not disgrace this food of the gods. Eat it with full reverence.

 

You don’t have to pay $2 or more per piece to get truly delectible chocolate. You can make your own.

 

 

 

 

Belgian Chocolate Truffles

 

2 pounds of Belgian chocolate (or any brand of good quality chocolate)

 

One quart of heavy cream

 

1/4 lb. unsalted butter

 

1/3 C liqueur of choice

 

cocoa powder

 

Melt chocolate and cream over a double boiler.

 

Whisk in butter and liqueur.

 

Continue to whisk as the mixture cools and thickens.

 

Pour into quart containers and refrigerate.

 

Scoop out with melon baller, roll in powdered cocoa.

 

 

 

Get hundreds of wonderful chocolate recipes >>>

 

 

 

When you think of the holidays, what is one of the first things you think about?

Food, right?

You might think that gifts of homemade food is corny or cheap. But think about it – Don’t you love getting delectable goodies?

My niece is going to be in from Florida this week – and she wants to do a cookie baking extravaganza.

All kinds of memories are made along with the food.

There’s a lot of reasons you should consider giving homemade food as gifts -

Yes, its less expensive than the store bought counterparts

Homemade tastes better

Homemade food is better for you. There’s no chemicals or preservatives. Yes, even a homemade sweet treat is better for you than a commercially made treat.

But I think the biggest thing about homemade is the love that goes into it. There’s just something heartwarming about homemade food. You know that someone went to the trouble to make that for you.

Take a basic truffle. You can make your own truffles. They are surprisingly easy. OK, messy too, but consider that the average good truffle costs about $2 per piece…

In Dubai, luxury truffles go for $270 per piece.

You can add a little luxury to your gifts for a lot less!

Basic Truffle Recipe

½ Cup unsalted butter

2 1/3 C confectioner’s sugar

½ C cocoa

1/4 cup heavy or whipping cream

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Centers: pecan, walnuts, whole almonds or after-dinner mints

Coatings: coconut, crushed nuts, confectioners sugar

Makes about 3 dozen truffles

Cream butter in large mixer bowl.

Combine 2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar and the cocoa;

add alternately with cream and vanilla to butter. Blend well.

Chill until firm.

Shape small amount of mixture around desired center; roll into 1 inch balls.

Drop into desired coating and turn until well covered.

Chill until firm.

Take truffles out about 30 minutes before serving.

You can find over 500 chocolate recipes here >>>  Make your own towers!

(or if you are a member at Rebel With a Fork you can find it in the member library)

More gift ideas – Gifts from the Hearth

Christmas Carols

Christmas Quiz

Related articles

• Poll: Homemade Holiday Gifts – Tacky Or Tactful? (blisstree.com)
• Advent {Day 4}: Homemade Gifts (asjulesisgoing.wordpress.com)

Here’s a really simple recipe that will wow ‘em!

Chocolate Cheesecake Truffles

2 ½ packages Baker’s Semi Sweet Chocolate (20 squares, broken apart)
1 8 oz. Package cream cheese, softened

Melt 8 squares of the chocolate

Beat cream cheese until creamy. Add melted chocolate. Refrigerate until firm.

Later, shape the cheese-chocolate mix into 36 balls. Place on wax paper covered cookie sheet.

Melt the rest of the chocolate.

Using a fork, dip each of the balls into the melted chocolate.

Top with some sprinkles, or finely chopped nuts.

Refrigerate for an hour before trying to handle.

Makes 36.

You can get little paper or foil cups like you would use for cupcakes and make a pretty, festive, mouthwatering gift!

You can make some incredible gift packages with cookies, truffles, and the ever-popular People Chow. Grab the chocolate recipe book today! There’s not a lot of time left….

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Are you wracking your brain trying to come up with gifts you can afford this year? It’s Carole to the rescue!

We just finished brainstorming gift basket ideas. I think we’ve come up with some good ones!

It’s too long to post here. I made it into a pdf that you can download free. Just right click on the link and save target as.

Free Download – Creative Gift Basket Ideas Here