Ancho and Honey Truffles - Sweet Heat

I decided that I was once again going to join the Foodie Fight and try to conquer the battle. This battle is Ancho chili and Honey. I thought about what a great combo this makes but there was one drawback. That drawback being that I wanted to be a bit more creative than a marinade or glaze that I could do with meat. I have done that often and although tasty it just wasn't exciting enough for this challenge. I thought of other really weird things to do but I wanted this to be something that people really wanted to eat. Chocolate... Ancho goes with chocolate and so does honey. I decided that I would do a Chocolate honey truffle with Ancho. I started off with a favorite recipe for truffles that an old friend gave me years ago. I then went crazy with it.



First off was processing the chocolate. I used Callebaut because quality of ingredients is everything. I wanted Valrhona but didn't find it until it was too late and I already had bought the Callebaut (which is a very fine chocolate as well).



Next was the honey. When I said to Dr Food "I don't have any honey left" I thought he was going to choke. He proceeded to go to the pantry and pull out my collection that I had um... forgotten about? I really had to decide what to use. Honey is one of my favorite ingredients.



I went with a honey that I had gotten in British Columbia at Tugwell Creek Honey Farm and Meadery



So, the cream, honey (lots of it) and ancho got simmered together.



Next it was added to the chocolate.



This puppy was now put into the refrig for about 2 hours. Meanwhile we were planting flowers and it turned into an archeological dig. Besides not being able to find Valrhona chocolate easily little did I know that there were boulders everywhere you go around here. Hence, the name of my blog.



We had to get a little help from our neighbor who then was the recipient of truffles (see? it does have to do with my foodie fight). Just so you don't worry about the outcome of this sidebar...



The flowers got planted. Ok, I digress. Lets get back to time lapse photography 2 hours later.



The fun begins and now is the time for chocolate rolling. The ganache is rolled into balls.




They then go back into the refrig for a couple of hours. Ready for another sidebar? You want to know what I was doing in THOSE two hours don't you? Ok, I was still planting flowers and digging boulders and going back and forth to damn hardware stores for dirt and mulch AND THEN....I went swimming! I knew you wanted to know.

Ok...whew...out of the refrig the ganache balls come and it is time to dip 2nd layer. For this layer it was the Callebaut melted in a double boiler and then cooled to 90 degrees (didn't get a picture of this but it looks just like the other melted chocolate that I showed you.



I then mixed ancho chili with cocoa powder and rolled the truffles in it to finish them off. They then got refrigerated for about 2 more hours. I have to say that they tasted really good. The honey was definately there in the taste and the ancho did not overpower at all. I would definitely make these again.



Chocolate-Honey-Ancho Truffles

1 lb 12oz Callebaut Chocolate (this is what *I* used but you could use any semisweet chocolate that you like)
1 C Heavy Cream
1C Good quality Cocoa (I used a local cocoa from Vermont)
1 tsp + approx 3 heaping Tbl Ancho Powder (I added more for more of a kick so you have to decide for yourself how much)
1/2 C Honey
Powder sugar

1. Chop 12 ounces chocolate into chunks. Put the chocolate into a food processor and process until finely chopped.
2. Bring cream, honey and 1 tsp Ancho powder to a boil, stirring constantly so it doesn't scorch.
3. With processor running , add cream to chocolate and process until cream is completely mixed into chocolate.
4. Refrigerate chocolate mixture until chilled.
5. Mix ancho powder and cocoa together in a bowl.
6. Using powder sugar on your hands to prevent the chocolate from sticking, roll teaspoonful of the chocolate mixture into balls.
7. Refrigerate until chilled.
8. Melt 1lb chocolate in the top of a double boiler. Allow chocolate to cool to about 90 degrees. Take each chocolate ball and dip into the melted chocolate and then dip into cocoa mixture.
9. Refrigerate until truffles are hard. Serve at room temperature.

So that was MY sunday. Now please vote for me at Foodie Fights on June 22. OK? I made these AND lifted a boulder all in the same day. Ok, I didn't lift the boulder but I did plant the flowers and made truffles.