Chocoholics Unite! Newsletter Archive

Chocoholics Unite! Newsletter #3

Chocoholics Unite! Newsletter #3 (February 1999)

CONTENTS:
Intro
Featured Recipe: Mimosa Truffles
Requested Recipes: Sex In A Pan Death By Chocolate
Requests: American Chocoholics for NBC
Chocolate Making Classes
Sites of the Month: Valentine Goodies

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Hello everyone! I hope you all had good holidays and that you're all ready for every chocoholic's favourite holiday. V-Day countdown is in full swing over here and I've used it as an excuse to do a review of chocolates for my college paper. I can spend a day munching on chocolate and call it work, plus tell myself it's a favour for all those lovebirds trying to find the best chocolates for their sweeties. :)
I apologize for the missing January newsletter. Starting a new semester turned out to be a little more hectic than I'd expected. I'll try not to let real life interfere too much with sending out the newsletter, but I apologize in advance for missing issues. :) Well, enough of my babble. I'm sure you've all skipped ahead to the good stuff anyways. :) On with the show!

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FEATURED RECIPE:
This month's recipe can be found with a ton of others at the Godiva website, which I'm sure you're all very familiar with if you're dedicated chocoholics. :) (http://www.godiva.com)

MIMOSA TRUFFLES
Yield: about 40 truffles
Difficulty: ** (Intermediate)
Preparation: 1 1/2 hours plus freezing and softening times

MIMOSA GANACHE:
12 ounces Swiss white chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon orange zest, finely minced
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice, strained
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon high-quality extra dry champagne
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
COATING:
9 ounces Swiss white chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening
1-1/2 tablespoons finely grated orange zest (optional)

Make the ganache:
1. Place the chocolate in a medium bowl and place it over a pot of hot, not simmering water. Stir the chocolate until completely melted.
2. In a heavy, small saucepan, over medium heat, bring the cream to a gentle boil. Remove the pan from the heat and cool for 5 minutes. Add the cream to the melted chocolate and whisk until smooth. Add the orange zest, orange juice and champagne and whisk until blended.
3. Scrape the ganache onto the center of a clean baking sheet. Cover the surface of the ganache with plastic wrap. Freeze the ganache for 30 to 45 minutes, or until firm.
4. Remove the ganache from the freezer. Remove the plastic wrap from the surface of the ganache and let it stand at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes, or until it has softened to a spreadable consistency. Using a rubber spatula, work the ganache by spreading it back and forth or the baking sheet for 10 to 20 seconds, or just until it starts to thicken. (Do not over-work the white chocolate ganache, or the texture will be grainy.)
5. Quickly scrape the ganache into a pastry bag fitted with a l/2-inch plain tip (such as Ateco #6). Pipe 7/8-inch mounds with pointed peaks onto a clean baking sheet. Freeze the truffle centers for 10 to 20 minutes, or until just firm enough to roll.
6. Remove the baking sheet from the freezer. Sift a light dusting of confectioners' sugar over the chilled truffle centers. Lightly coat the palms and fingertips of your hands with confectioners' sugar. With your fingertips, pinch a truffle center into a round, then roll it gently between your palms into a 7/8-inch ball. Form the remaining truffle centers into rounds, dividing them equally between three 8 or 9-inch pie tins. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze 1 to 3 hours, until firm. (The amount of alcohol in this recipe keeps the mimosa truffles from freezing as firmly as the other truffles.)
Coat the mimosa truffles:
1. Melt the white chocolate with the vegetable shortening according to the instructions in the Chocolate Key. Scrape the white chocolate mixture into a small glass or stainless steel bowl. Place the bowl of white chocolate over a slightly smaller bowl of warm (90 degrees F) water.
2. Remove one of the pie tins of frozen truffle centers from the freezer. Arrange your work area so that the pie tin of frozen truffle centers is on the left side of the bowl of melted white chocolate and a baking sheet lined with foil is on the right side of the bowl. If you are left-handed, reverse the position of the frozen truffle centers and the baking sheet.
3. With your left hand, pick up a frozen truffle center and gently drop it on the surface of the melted white chocolate. With your forefinger and second finger of your right hand, dip the center into the white chocolate. (If you are left-handed, reverse the procedure.) Roll the center gently between your fingers on the surface of the white chocolate to get an even coating. Lift up the coated center; move your fingers in a scissor-type motion to release any drips and scrape any excess white chocolate from your fingertips onto the edge of the bowl. Place the coated truffle on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle the top of each truffle with a pinch of finely grated orange zest immediately after placing it on the baking sheet, if desired.
4. When all the mimosa truffles from the first pie tin are coated in white chocolate, refrigerate the baking sheet for 5 minutes to set the white chocolate coating. Coat the remaining pie tins of frozen truffle centers in the same manner.
5. Store the truffles in an airtight container, between layers of waxed paper, for up to five days in the refrigerator. (If desired, the truffles may be frozen for up to two months. Thaw the truffles in the refrigerator overnight before serving.) The mimosa truffles can be removed from the refrigerator 10 minutes before serving.

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REQUESTED RECIPES:
Looks like no one has the recipes for Mounds Cake or chocolate top cookies, but I did find a couple of recipes for some other requests I received. Here are recipes for Sex In A Pan and Death By Chocolate. Please send requests my way if you're looking for a particular recipe!

SEX IN A PAN
Serving Size : 1
Categories : Desserts
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ --------------------------------
1/2 c Margarine, melted
1 c Pecans, chopped
1 1/2 c Graham wafer crumbs
8 oz Cream cheese
4 c Cool whip, divided, thawed
3 oz Chocolate instant pudding
3 oz Vanilla instant pudding
3 c Milk
1 Unsweetened chocolate square
1 c Icing sugar

Mix well margarine, pecans and graham wafer crumbs and pat into 9x13 inch (22x33 cm) pan. Bake at 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) till lightly brown, about 20 minutes. Cool completely. Beat together cream cheese, icing sugar and 1 cup (250 ml) of Cool Whip. Spoon onto baked layer. Mix both puddings with milk and beat as per package directions. Let pudding almost thicken and pour over second layer. Put remainder of Cool Whip on top and swirl melted chocolate throughout topping. This freezes well if kept tightly covered. Just cut off what you would like and keep the rest frozen.

DEATH BY CHOCOLATE
Recipe By : Carmen Collins
Serving Size : 1
Categories : Cakes
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 Devils' Food Cake mix (baked in 13x9x2" pan & cut into cubes)
Kaluha liqueur
2 pkgs. Instant Chocolate Pudding (prepared as directed, cooled and thickened)
6 Heath Bars (or 2pkgs. of miniatures) (crush and divide in half, reserve some for topping)
8 oz Cool Whip, defrosted

Line the bottom of a large bowl with HALF the devils'food squares Douse the squares with Kalua liqueur Spread HALF the chocolate pudding over the squares Spread HALF the Heath bar shreds over the pudding Spread HALF the Cool Whip over the Heath Bars Repeat the five steps above and garnish top with reserved pieces of Heath Bars.
(Note from Absynthe: Heath bars are chocolate covered nut toffee. Canucks like me can use Skor bars instead, as Heath bars seem to be quite a rarity on this side of the border.)

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REQUESTS:
Wanna be a star? :) I've been contacted by Judy Artime from NBC who would like to speak to chocolate lovers for a piece on America's obsession with chocolate. That rules me out, being on the wrong side of the border, but all you Americans might want to get in touch with her. Here's the contact info:
E-mail: Judith.Artime@nbc.com
Phone: (212)664-7555

I've also gotten a request to pass on for classes in chocolate making, preferably in the US. Send the info to Anna Krupnik-Boudreau at pboud@escape.ca so she can send it to the interested person. Dontcha love the web? :)

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FEATURED RING SITES:
With Valentine's Day coming up, I've decided to feature the ring sites that make a business out of chocolatey goodies. If plan on buying something online for your sweetie, why not make it from a fellow ring member's site?

ChocoDERM - The Chocolate Patch: (http://www.chocoderm.com/)
The Chocolatestore: (http://www.thechocolatestore.com/)
Confection Perfection: (http://hobbyline.com/public/candy.htm)
The Fudge Lady: (http://users.ap.net/~tlking/)
Kristen's Gourmet Brownies: (https://www.angelfire.com/biz/kristensbrownies/)
Nutcracker Sweets of Saugatuck: (http://www.ncsweetsaugatuck.com/)
Paradise Sweets: (http://www.paradisesweets.com/)
The Sweet Touch: (http://www.thesweettouch.com/)
Virtual Chocolate: (http://www.virtualchocolate.com/)
Walnut Grove Candies: (http://www.wgcandies.com/)

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Well, that's it for this month, folks. The next newsletter will appear sometime in early March, unless I happen to get swamped with school and such again. :)

Absynthe
Chocoholics Unite! Ringmistress
https://members.tripod.com/~Absynthe/

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