Dark chocolate and caramel truffles
I have always wondered why there aren’t more songs about food. If I were a songwriter, I wouldn’t have to look too far for inspiration with all the delicious food that surrounds us. Surely, someone should be moved to write about the gastronomic delights of a biryani, the heartiness of pumpkin chili, and delicate lightness of acacia honey. Yet, songs about food are far and few between.
Don Mclean’s American Pie isn’t really about pies, Jagger’s Brown Sugar is intentional in its lyrical ambiguity, and Beach Boys’ Wild Honey basically anthropomorphizes honey into a wild girl. My favorite song about about food is Savoy Truffle by the Beatles. The song is nothing if not a celebration of all kinds of goodies, albeit with the repeated reminder of how everything that is good is bad for you. We wanted to make these truffles for some months now, my fascination partly to do with the song. One you eat truffles, you realise that it is by far the best way to enjoy chocolates. But go easy on them, for “you know that what you eat you are; But what is sweet now, turns so sour.”
Dark chocolate and caramel truffles
Adapted from Love and Olive Oil
250g dark cooking chocolate
⅓ cup sugar
2 tbsp water
¼ tsp sea salt
200 ml cream
Unsweetened cocoa powder
1. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, or in bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat when the chocolate has melted completely.
2. Add sugar and water to a pan and heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves and turns amber in colour. Add the cream to the pan and let it start bubbling. Stir on low heat until the mixture is smooth
4. Pour the caramel mixture into the melted chocolate and add the sea salt. Stir gently using a fork or a whisk until the mixture is smooth.
5. Cover the vessel with a cling wrap and chill in the refrigerator till firm.
6. Remove from the refrigerator and using a spoon to remove the truffles, make small balls. Roll over cocoa powder or roughly ground nuts. Place the truffles in a plate and refrigerate. Store the truffles in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
