Eek! This is my late entry to this month’s We Should Cocoa Challenge, hosted this month by Choclette. She came up with the great idea of combining chocolate with chilli this month. I was up for the challenge but unfortunately time ran away with me. So at the very last hour I made these. They are very moreish. At first bite they taste like a normal chocolate but then it hits you with a great big spicy kick.
These particular truffles have a secret ingredient. Should I tell you? Oh, go on then.
My mum bought these for us when she was on holiday earlier this year. They are a little pod of espresso with added cocoa. You drink the contents with the attached straw and after that you whir around like the Tasmanian Devil for the next ten minutes. They are fab! Unfortunately they don’t seem to be available in the UK, so if you want to add the espresso element, which is there to boost the chocolate flavour of these truffles then just add 20ml of strong espresso.
I had various theories about how to get the chilli flavour – dried or fresh? Minced or sliced? Should there be a bite of actual chilli in there? In the end I decided that I should use fresh and infuse the cream with slices of said chilli, seeds et al, and then sieve these out. I thought it would need to infuse for an hour or so. Let me tell you here and now it doesn’t! Thankfully I checked after five minutes and that was enough to give the cream a sufficient chilli kick ( read definitely enough, any longer and it will blow your head off).
100g good quality 70% chocolate
200ml double cream
1 red chilli, sliced with seeds
20ml espresso
chocolate flakes for rolling ( I used chilli flavoured chocolate flakes)
Method
Place the sliced chilli and seeds with the cream into a pan and heat until just below boiling point. In the meantime chop the chocolate finely, you can do this by whizzing it in a food processor, should you have one. Remove the cream from the heat and let it infuse. Try it after a few minutes and if it seems to have enough of a chilli kick then sieve the cream over a basin to remove the chilli. Return the cream to the pan and briefly heat just to warm through. Add the chopped chocolate and the espresso and stir gently until smooth. Place this in a bowl in the fridge to firm up. Take teaspoonfuls and roll into chocolate flakes or cocoa powder.
The beauty of this ganache is that it also makes a mighty fine and warming hot chocolate for bedtime.
Just heat a cup of milk in a pan until warm. Add a tablespoon of the ganache or about three of the truffles and whisk until well combined. Heat to the desired temperature and enjoy.
Thank you Choclette, and I am sorry for being so rubbish at organising myself.
They look gorgeous and I’m sure there’s not THAT many calories in them, so I could just try one or three. I need something to inject some tasmanian devlishness at the moment, so they’d go down a treat.
Noooo, hardly any calories at all I would say ;). Pottery will never have been made so quickly.
This would give everyone a kick in the pants. Might have to infuse some truffles with spice this season…
Sometimes we all need a kick in the pants, especially when it is such a tasty one.
Nice looking truffles, is it just me or do they look big (in a good way?).
It Italy you can get a similar expresso shot thing at the football. But it also has booze in, ~20%! Perks you up no end for the second half when it’s nippy.
They were quite big, but there is no point in having a small truffle is there? Espresso with booze sounds good.
I love silky dark chocolate with a punch of chile. The espresso adds a kick, too.
These look delicious.
Thanks Michele, there is something very addictive about the chilli and then when it is combined with chocolate, well…..
ahh Kath, shouldn’t you have left those chillies infusing a little longer for the benefit of Mr OC? They do look good and sound very tasty too. I’m so glad you managed to make them or there would have been a big truffle hole in the round-up. Thanks for participating.
Well, maybe I should have considered Mr OC penchant for the hot chilli, but I must admit where chocolate is involved there is really only one person that matters and that is me! I am very grateful for you being so kind as to let me have an extension so I could fill that truffle shaped hole.
Chilli and coffee sound brilliant! I have some left over ganache in my fridge, I must roll a few!
Ooh I hope you do. Thanks Sarah.
Genius pairing with the coffee and in my book you can never go far wrong with truffles either. Love the idea of whirring around like the Tassie Devil after drinking the coffee … wonder what effect it would have on me already being a Tassie Devil … that would be fun to see lol.
Ha ha, you had better not try any of these just in case.
these must be fabulous. rich chocolate with a chili kick is ridiculously good. add a whirl of the tasmanian devil espresso, and look out!
MMMMMM,…How did I miss this tasty post? I just don’t know!
Your truffles look so tasty, apart & certainly are well flavoured!
I would tottaly savour 2 of these right now! Please????
Perfect. Just the recipe I was looking for. Don’t know why I missed this in the ‘We should Cocoa’ challenge. Have the ingredients and will be making them this weekend.
Brilliant Janice! I am racking my brains for a good chocolate and orange combo for this month. I can’t get away with chocolate orange truffles can I?
You used 200ml cream with only 100g chocolate? ‘Cause usually I read that people use about 50 – 100 ml cream only. Would that much cream make the truffle too soft?
Hi Alice, This recipe has always worked well for me. I hope you find it works well for you too. Best wishes Kath