Valentine’s Day is around the corner and we are very much looking forward to celebrating this year!
Originating as a Christian celebration and part of folk traditions, Valentine’s Day has become today a (mostly commercial) celebration of romantic love. For us at Oliveology, it is a day to celebrate love, but not only romantic love. Love comes in all shapes and forms, and on Valentine’s Day we celebrate the love for our parents, our children, our friends, our partners; the love for ourselves and for the world around us.
Every year on Valentine’s we make something with chocolate, and this year is no exception. Do you remember our olive oil chocolate mousse? Or our delicious chocolate slab with pistachios and raisins? This year we are making chocolate truffles, but with a very interesting twist. The idea for this recipe comes from the Greek pastry chef Stelios Parliaros, who made some very delicious truffles with grape molasses.
Grape molasses is one of our favourite ingredients for cooking and baking, and a great pairing to chocolate. The original recipe uses double cream, but here we’ve used a non-dairy alternative. Both work great. We also have a video for this recipe, with myself and little Harry, so don’t forget to check it out!
Makes 30 truffles
500g dark chocolate (we used mostly 70% cocoa and a bit of 85%))
300g cream (double cream or non-dairy alternative)
100g grape molasses
50g Corinth raisins
Cocoa, powdered sugar (for dusting, optional)
Finely chop the chocolate and place in a heat-proof bowl.
In a small pot warm up the cream until it reaches 90C, just before boiling.
Add the hot cream to your chocolate and let it stand for a minute. Stir with a spatula or whisk. The chocolate should slowly melt and you should have a homogenous mixture.
(Troubleshooting: If you have chocolate pieces that haven’t melted, place your bowl over a pot of boiling water and stir until all chocolate has melted. If your mixture crumbles (ie the ganache breaks) follow the same steps, stirring vigorously with a whisk until smooth again. You may need to add a few drops of water.)
In your smooth cream-chocolate mixture now add the grape molasses and raisins and gently stir until well-combined.
Place in the fridge overnight (or for at least a few hours).
Using your hands or a couple of spoons, shape little balls, using ½ to a tablespoon of the mixture for each.
Dust or roll in cocoa or powdered sugar.
