Chocolate Truffles: No-bake and Sugar-free

I was staring at my refrigerator, figuring out what to do to the prized cocoa roll I got from my Ongpin visit on Earth Day.  It wasn’t just any roll either.  It was 10 tablets of 100% unsweetened cocoa from La Resureccion and Sun Teck.

(Travel tip: traipse along Ongpin Street until you’re near Binondo Church, then follow your nose.  You’ll be able to spot the sales lady selling these goodies from just outside a narrow staircase.)

To be honest, though I love the native cocoa drink, I usually just buy the thing, not make it.  Why?  Because I’m a slow-poke, and 2 minutes of drinking something I labored over for more than 20 minutes just doesn’t seem fair.

But going all the way to Ongpin for a cocoa roll behooved me to produce a ritual of respect to that roll when I got home.  And a cocoa cup–even 10 cocoa cups!–didn’t seem appropriate.  Good thing that S, my walking buddy that time, suggested doing chocolate truffles instead.

There are many no-bake varieties on Google, but I like Joy of Baking’s recipe best.  It was detailed and gave further ideas for those who want to take the basic chocolate further by mixing fancy liqueur and fruit combinations.

They say that baking is an exact science.  But I think I was absent when it was taught in school. *cough*  Moving on, I made some adjustments to my ingredients, because 1 roll was equal to only 180 grams (not 220, which the recipe stated).  I put it in anyway, figuring that the lack will be compensated when I added (about 4 spoonfuls) of coconut sugar.

The result was delicious!  And seriously high-octane.  It was super-easy to do, and gave me more than 60 bite-sized morsels.  I rolled these over a choice of veggie bacon bits, crushed mixed-nuts or white chocolate shavings (I made this for non-diabetic eaters).  I also created a few that were plain outside but filled with almonds or raisins.

I’m excited to do this again! I want to  improve on my spoon-shaping skills for one. Heh.  I also haven’t completed my taste-testing survey.  So far people like it, but there were some great suggestions and mention of adding a bit more cream to make it smoother.

Ladies and gents, if you ever buy one of these from its dubious-looking location, don’t be fooled.  What you are holding is a Philippine food icon; a heavyweight in its own right.  Something that I did not truly appreciate until after I made this dish.

So was I thrown out of my tower of Indifference ?  Heck yeah.

 

M’s Dinner: What’s on the Menu

In my opinion, good food and great company can only be rivaled by a deluge of good food with great company.

Which is why M’s Christmas feast last night is something I really enjoyed, and would like to tell you about.

M is one of those blessed people who likes, and even more importantly, can combine entertainment, graciousness, cooking and interesting guests under one roof.   And I’m not necessarily talking about elegant affairs–this can happen over grassy university grounds, while eating street food or what-have-you.  Since she’s based in another part of the world, these gatherings are more of an annual or a bi-annual affair.

Dress code was, as usual, liberal.  That meant that one could come in PJs and still be confident of a warm welcome.  I haven’t actually seen anybody do that but the unpredictability is part of the excitement.  It also makes sense since the guests were all alumni from the same university, and it is a known adage at our campus that people dress to self-express.

I came bearing the requisite bottle to the hostess, of course.  And after getting acquainted with the rest of the pack and finding my place on the table, I wholeheartedly threw formality out of the window and dug in to the hors d’oeuvres.

Good thing conversation flowed as smoothly as the champagne we were drinking, because I was too engrossed with taking pictures and sampling the food to contribute intelligently to the discussion.

I was not too much of a plebeian though, to not notice that food was in Abundance and we were given carte blanche over the wine bottles.  I stopped counting after we consumed the fourth bottle–and we were just midway through dinner!

To be honest, my tongue that night treated the event like one big degustation.  So it was the wine that left a lasting impression on me.  But I only realized this on hindsight and did not track the sequence of the bottles that were poured on our glasses.

In general though, the dishes on the menu blended well together.  I could eat any of the canapes with the any of the main dishes or desserts (like-minded individuals that we guests are, we treated the three-course dinner as a one-course meal. LOL.)  So I knew and very much appreciated that M spent a lot of effort on this.

Oh, and let’s not forget the unbelievably FUN game we had over the gifts!  I’ll write more about that on the next post.

In the meantime, below is the menu of what we ate.  Cheers!

M’s Dinner Menu

Cocktails and Appetizer

Champagne Brut served with Canape Quattro: Tomato and Basil Bruschetta, Smoked Salmon with Capers, Cheddar with Alfalfa Sprouts and Devilled Eggs

Main Course

White Wine served with Chicken roasted in Cream Cheese and Thyme, Spinach Lasagna and Lemon Sole in Noisette Sauce

Dessert and After-Dinner Game

Dessert Wine and Merlot served with Lemon Squares, Dulce de Leche Cake, Camembert and Seedless Grapes