Mexican Food Made Simple

Chilli chocolate truffles

A wonderful end to dinner with a plate of cheese, or a lovely take-home gift for visiting friends.

Chilli chocolate truffles
by Thomasina Miers

Also featured in Episode 7

I would recommend doubling or tripling this recipe and storing them in the freezer to pull out in times of need.  They make a wonderful end to dinner with a plate of cheese, or a lovely take-home gift for visiting friends.

Cooking time: 10 minutes + 1 hour freezing

Ingredients

500g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
200g chocolate (at least 40% cocoa solids)
A good pinch of ground cinnamon
2 allspice berries
10 cloves
½ teaspoon chilli flakes  
425ml double cream
30g butter
50g cocoa powder

Method

  1. Grease a baking tin (approx. 30cm by 12cm) with a little vegetable oil and line with cling film. 
  2. Break the chocolate into smaller chunks to make it melt more easily.
  3. Grind the spices and chillies with a pestle and mortar, and heat with the double cream in a heavy-bottomed pan.  Add to the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl and stir in.  If you melt the chocolate with cream that is too hot, the chocolate will split, in which case you will need to stir a few tablespoons of cold cream into the melted chocolate.  If the chocolate does not melt completely, suspend the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water to warm the chocolate gently.
  4. Stir in the butter.
  5. Pour the mixture into the tin, ensuring it is flat and has filled the corners, and freeze for 1 hour. 
  6. Sieve half the cocoa powder into a large bowl.  Turn out the chocolate mixture onto a chopping board and cut into cubes.
  7. Toss the cubes in the cocoa powder, sieving more over the truffles as you cut them, and transfer them to a plastic bag. 
  8. Store in the fridge or freezer.

Recipes from Mexican Food Made Simple by Thomasina Miers © Thomasina Miers 2010, published by Hodder & Stoughton

Photographer Claire Wilks © Blink Films 2011

Comments (12)

  • sue

    9 months ago

    sue

    I really, really wanted to reach into the TV. Looks fabulous cannot wait to cook them myself.

  • Lizzie

    9 months ago

    Lizzie

    Absolutely agree...and I can't believe that they freeze successfully. How wonderful is that ! Making them today. Thanks Tommi !

  • Maureen

    9 months ago

    Maureen

    why cant you print the recipes?

  • This comment was removed by a moderator

  • Lynne

    9 months ago

    Lynne

    Made some very similar last Saturday without the spices and chillies. Will be making this week-end for bar-b-que lokking forward to tasting them!

  • Nick

    9 months ago

    Nick

    Three tips: If the chocolate does split & you've run out of cream you can fix it with an electric whisk. I had trouble getting the frozen chocolate out of the tray even after letting it thaw but found that pulling on the cling film released it - suggest that not oiling it would make it easier because cold oil is very viscous. If you're slow like me, put half the chocolate back in the freezer while you're chopping & dusting the first batch because it gets everywhere once it's started melting. Good recipe.

  • Led

    9 months ago

    Led

    can we have calorific table plz??

  • This comment was removed by a moderator

  • Emma Coates

    6 months ago

    Emma Coates

    Hi - if not kept frozen how long will these last? Thanks.

  • Rachel

    5 months ago

    Rachel

    Absolutely amazing. I've made two batches of these to give as Christmas gifts (swapping out the chilli for ginger in one of the batches, which works incredibly well too). They've been very popular. Really easy to make as well.

  • Bob

    3 months ago

    Bob

    Hi Rachel, What kind of Ginger did you use? Fresh? Powder? Crystalised? :)

  • jinkybhoy07

    3 days ago

    jinkybhoy07

    really lookin forward to making this.....

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