Truffles

I didn't get to craft much during this week so here is a previous project that I did last december but never posted here. Last Christmas, I decided to make truffles for all of my relatives:


Here we have, from top left to top right:Dark chocolate, peppermint, grand marnier and coffee.

I you want to make some, here's the recipe.First, make some basic truffles, just chocolate flavored. For this part I took the Martha Stewart recipe that you can find on her website:

MAKES ABOUT 3 /12 DOZEN Use different brands of cocoa powder (such as Hershey's, Valrhona, Droste, and Ghirardelli) to make truffles of assorted colors.

Ingredients

-8 ounces best-quality bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

-1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions

1. Put chocolate into a large heatproof bowl. Bring cream just to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat; pour over chocolate in bowl. Stir in liqueur, if desired. Cover with plastic wrap; let stand 10 minutes. Stir until smooth. Let stand until thick, about 15 minutes.

2. Pour chocolate mixture into a shallow 8-inch dish or pie plate. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until mixture is very cold and set but still pliable, about 30 minutes.

3. Using a teaspoon or a 1/2-inch melon baller, scoop balls of chocolate mixture, transferring them to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper as you work. Refrigerate truffles 10 minutes.

THEN, when you have your chocolate mix, the fun/messy part begins.

For the dark chocolate truffles: This is the easiest recipe. Just take your truffles and roll them in cocoa powder until they are completely covered.

For the peppermint truffles: add some peppermint extract (how much you put is up to you) to your chocolate mixture and roll the truffles in powdered sugar

For the grand marnier truffles: Add some grand marnier (once again, you decide how much) to your truffles and let them cool in the fridge for about 10 min. While they are cooling, Melt some dark chocolate with cream in a small pan. Dip your truffles in the melted chocolate and let them cool for a while. Add some grated orange peel for decoration.

For the coffee truffles: Add some coffee granules to your chocolate mix and roll your truffles in some powdered sugar mixed with a bit of coffee granules. Add a chocolate dipped coffee grain on top for decoration.

When all your truffles are done, put them in these little foil containers and package them neatly:

And voilà! You now have the perfect fun to eat and fun to make Christmas gift. ;D

Strawberry Applesauce

This is a nice and fast autumny recipe that goes very well with the oatmeal cookies I baked earlier. I made a gigantic batch this week and it only took me about 25 min and now I eat it with everything ^_^

Strawberry Applesauce (by Odri) My own recipe. I'm proud.

Ingredients

14 peeled and cut apples

1 pound strawberries

1 1/2 cup old fashioned apple juice (the brown kind)

6 tablespoon sugar

1 pinch cinnamon

Directions

1.In a pan over medium heat, cook the apples, the strawberries and the apple juice for approximately twenty minutes or until the fruits are tender.

2.Put this mix in the blender and mix until very smooth.

3.Ad the sugar and the cinnamon and let cool before serving.

Carrot Cake

I recently made this carrot cake and I swear, it is the best carrot cake I have ever tasted. I normally don't even like these types of cakes because I find the icing to be too sugary or they contain raisins which I don't like. This one was perfect for me because the cream cheese icing was just sweet enough and it contained pecans and no maleficent raisins. Sadly, I took the recipe in my mother's Coup de pouce magazine and the recipe is not on their website so no recipe this time. (Buy the magazine!) ;)

Oatmeal cookies

Since I had no school this week, I've been cooking like crazy, trying to make a lot of food to freeze so I could later have tons of healthy homemade meals for my lunches. As delicious as they are, I am really starting to get bored with weight watchers and lean cuisine frozen meals. Therefore, since last Friday, I've been in cooking heaven. I've been cooking at least 2 recipes a day while knitting, watching many CSI episodes and doing the obligatory homework. My latest creation is a batch of delicious oatmeal cookies from the Martha Stewart website. I followed the exact recipe but I didn't any dried fruits to the batter because I like my cookies plain and simple.

Classic Oatmeal Cookies (By Martha Stewart)
Ingredients
Makes about 3 dozen
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large egggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups mixed dried fruits and nuts, such as golden raisins, currants, coarsely chopped dried apricots, dried cherries, coarsely chopped pecans, or a combination of above

Directions
1.Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with Silpats; set aside.
2.In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs; mix on high speed to combine. Mix in vanilla; set aside.
3.Combine oats, flour, wheat germ, baking soda, and baking powder in a large bowl. Stir to combine. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, and beat on low speed to combine, 10 to 15 seconds. Remove bowl from mixer, and stir in dried fruits and nuts.
4.Using a large metal scoop, drop dough onto prepared sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake until golden and just set, about 18 minutes. Transfer sheets to wire rack to cool.

I'll try to update with many other recipes during the week, I took a lot of pictures of everything I cooked/baked, I just need to find the time to post them!