Day Twelve on the Advent Calendar, We Should Cocoa and Chocolate Orange Cake Truffles

Day Twelve on the Advent Calendar, 

We Should Cocoa 

and 

Chocolate Orange Cake Truffles

Chocolate Orange Cake Truffles

12th December

2011

Window number twelve is an

Orange Pomander

We Should Cocoa

December

Time is steaming along and I cannot believe that I am writing my twelfth Advent Calendar post……Christmas Eve is now only twelve days away and my time in the kitchen has increased over the last few days; I have invited friends over for a pre-Christmas luncheon this week and the invitations keep on rolling in for social events, meals and drinks…….so much potential fun and gastronomy and so little time! I wasn’t sure if I would have time to enter any cooking challenges this month, but with such an amazing ingredient marriage of chocolate AND orange, how could I resist the December challenge of We Should Cocoa over at Chocolate Log Blog, presided over by the temptress of all things chocolate, Choclette! 

Chocolate Orange Cake Truffles

This is my first entry ~ I am cooking up plans for more chocolate bakes with that seasonal of fruits, the Christmas orange……and, I know that we may all be suffering from an overload of truffles by the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas, but, I am sure that we can soldier on and manage as best we can. I made these yesterday as my after dinner chocolate offering for the Christmas lunch on Tuesday this week……they are all nestled in a plastic box in the fridge for now, but, I will be serving these on my good china for the actual event, with some tangerine oranges and freshly brewed coffee. 

Chocolate Orange Cake Truffles

These are a breeze to make and the recipe is an old-fashioned cake truffle recipe, which results in a lighter truffle and is not as rich as the pure chocolate and cream truffles. The addition of the cake with the chocolate (and the booze and butter!) results in a very well behaved truffle that stays in shape, oh that I could stay in shape after eating a few of these! They can be made up to 3 to 4 days ahead of serving them, and can also be frozen, again the cake crumbs stabilising the mixture for deep freeze conditions. You can use any booze that rocks your boozy boat, as the theme was orange, I splashed a goodly amount of Grand Marnier in mine…..but I bet cognac would be good, or even a dark and mysterious rum. 

Chocolate Orange Cake Truffles

So, here is my offering for Day Twelve and We Should Cocoa, it’s an excellent time of the year to ponder on combining chocolate and orange, and I am on to my next naughty idea already……more about that later. Tomorrow is a VERY special day, it is my daughter’s birthday and Saint Lucy’s Day (Santa Lucia) ~ I shall be posting something special as the occasion demands. See you later.

Karen.

Chocolate Orange Cake Truffles

(Makes approximately 24)

INGREDIENTS:

150g (5oz) dark chocolate (75% to 85% cocoa solids)

150ml (1/4 pint) double cream

50g (2oz) unsalted butter

grated zest of 1 orange, unwaxed

200g (7oz) cake crumbs, I used Madeira cake

3 tablespoons Grand Marnier or Orange Liqueur of our choice

Cocoa, for dusting

METHOD:

In a large saucepan, gently melt the chocolate with the cream and butter, stirring all the time. 

Process the cake until it is fine crumbs, it must be VERY fine, almost like sand.

Pour the cake crumbs into the saucepan with the chocolate mixture, then add the orange zest and mix THOROUGHLY. Then add the liqueur and mix again.

Leave to chill and firm up for at least 4 hours, or overnight.

When you are ready to make the truffles, take a walnut size amount of the truffle mixture and roll it in to a ball, then dust in the cocoa ~ continue until all of the mixture is used up and store them in an airtight container (in the fridge) until needed. They can also be frozen, defrost 6 hours before serving.

Chocolate Orange Cake Truffles