12 Oct Caramelised White Chocolate Truffles

Chocolate purists will tell you that white chocolate is not true chocolate. It doesn’t even really taste like chocolate! This is because it contains no cocoa solids at all. As a result, it is much sweeter than milk or dark chocolate and lacks that dark, slightly bitter cocoa flavour.

Some years ago, the technique of caramelising or roasting white chocolate became a trend. For very good reason. By heating the sugars in the chocolate, the flavour changes from (some might say sickly) sweet to nutty, toasted and caramel-like. So delicious!
I find the best way to enjoy this unique flavour is in a rather simple form. Simply mix the roasted white chocolate with a little warm cream and roll into creamy, decadent Caramelised White Chocolate Truffles. The toasted nuts add a bit of crunch and complement the nutty, butterscotch flavour of the truffles so beautifully.

Dedicate a good 40 minutes to sitting close to your oven, as the more frequently you stir the chocolate, the creamier the result. Don’t fret if it starts to go crumbly – it eventually smooths out.

Ingredients:

250g White Chocolate
2 tbsp vegetable oil
A pinch of salt (preferably sea salt flakes)
65ml cream (¼ cup)
50g hazelnuts (⅓ cup)
50g pistachio nuts (½ cup)

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 120°C. Line a baking tray with a silicone mat or greaseproof paper.
• Break the chocolate into pieces and spread out onto the lined baking tray. Drizzle with the vegetable oil.
• Bake for 5 minutes, then use a spatula to stir the melted chocolate around well. Spread it out evenly again and return to the oven.
• Repeat this process, stirring and spreading the chocolate every 5 minutes, until it is golden brown. This takes about 30-40 minutes. It may look like it is starting to seize and go crumbly, but will eventually become smooth.
• Once you are happy with the colour, (the chocolate will go darker when the warm cream is added, so rather under-roast it slightly) remove the chocolate from the hot baking tray and set aside to cool completely. It will harden.
• In the meantime, toast your hazelnuts in a dry frying pan on high heat, shaking the pan regularly to avoid burning. Once the nuts start to smell toasted and go brown, remove the nuts from the pan and set aside to cool. Repeat with the pistachio nuts.
• Once cool, finely chop the nuts and place the hazelnuts in one bowl and the pistachio nuts in another bowl.
• When the chocolate has set, warm the cream and salt until almost boiling. Pour over the roasted white chocolate and stir until completely smooth.
• Pour into a dish and refrigerate for 2 hours, until it has set.
• Use a spoon to scrape heaped teaspoonfuls of the mixture and roll into balls. Roll the truffles into either the chopped pistachio nuts or hazelnuts.
• Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Note: It is important that you use a high quality white chocolate with minimum 30% cocoa solids.