John's chocolate truffles
It's never too early for chocolate.
John Whaite delivers a sweet treat to Lorraine's live studio audience - his chocolate caramel truffles and white chocolate and coconut truffles.
Chocolate caramel truffles
Ingredients:
For chocolate and caramel truffles:
375g good quality 70% dark chocolate50g unsalted butter250ml double cream200g caster sugar, to make the caramel
For white chocolate and coconut truffles:
500g white chocolate175ml double cream40g unsalted butterDesiccated coconut, for dusting
Method for both:
Chop the chocolate finely and set it into a heatproof bowl with the butter
Put the cream into a saucepan and heat until it just starts to simmer at the edge. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate/butter mixture, leave for about 30 seconds, then whisk into a smooth, glossy ganache. Pour into a bowl, allow to cool to room temperature, then cover with clingfilm and chill for four hours.
For the caramel, heat a frying pan over a high heat and once fairly hot add the sugar. Allow to melt and turn dark, swirl the pan around every now and again – you can also stir the sugar as it starts to melt. Once you have a dark caramel, quickly remove the pan from the heat then tip out onto a sheet of baking paper and allow to cool and set.
Once the caramel has set, put it into a food processor and pulse into small shards; take care not to reduce to a fine powder
Toast the coconut by tossing it in a dry frying pan over a high heat, for just a minute or so until it lightly browns
Put the coconut and caramel onto separate plates, ready for rolling the truffles
To shape the truffles, grease your hands with a little flavourless oil and roll the chocolate ganache into walnut sized balls. Roll the truffles in their respective coatings (coconut for white chocolate, caramel for dark chocolate).
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. Enjoy!