The Chocolate Feast - Chocolate Mint Liqueur Truffles, Honeycomb Chocolates and Creme Eggs

A few weeks late but I need to share with you some amazing chocolates for Easter this year. I made three different types for my boyfriend's family, and all seemed to be a big success.

Because it's so late, here are three recipes in one post!

To summarize the chocolates:

1. Based on the classic Crunchie - chocolate eggs filled with a homemade honeycomb chocolate mixture.

2. Chocolate mint truffles with an alcoholic twist. These were a big hit with the adults and used a beautiful chocolate mint liqueur known as Mintu. I struggle with cream-based desserts/sweets as my stomach is very sensitive to high-fat dairy. I've always loved ganache, and when I spotted a way to make it with just water and no cream I was very intrigued. I tried it out, and it produced a perfect chocolate truffle texture! So then I wondered whether I could use something other than water. I first tried coffee, and that gave an intense mocha-like flavour, which was pretty special. Not using cream really means the flavour of the chocolate and choice-liquid really comes through. I was worried using a liqueur would cause the chocolate to behave badly but the truffle mixture turned out perfectly (albeit pretty boozy).

3. One of my classics - the Creme egg, which I've optimized since the first time I made them 3 years ago.

For the honeycomb chocolates I used cake pop moulds, for the Mintu truffles I used little egg moulds (about the size of mini eggs in the UK), and for the creme eggs I used some cute egg moulds I found in my local supermarket. You could use any spherical mould you like, just be aware the number of chocolates you make will vary depending on the size of the mould.
Also, if you have no mould, chill the mixture for around 2 hours, then form into balls and dip in the melted chocolate. It won't be as neat but will give a similar tasty effect.

Using my moulds I made:
12 honeycomb eggs
12 creme eggs
30 mint chocolate liqueur truffles

Ingredients:

For the creme eggs:

• 150g (1 cup) milk chocolate, finely chopped
• 30g (2 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 85g (3 & 1/2 tbsp) golden syrup
• 185g (1 & 3/4 cups + 2tsp) icing sugar
• 1 tsp water
• Orange food colouring (I used a concentrated gel from Wilton)

For the honeycomb eggs:

• 75g (1/3 cup) caster sugar
• 2 tbsp golden syrup
• 200g (1 & 1/3 cups) milk chocolate, finely chopped
• 25g white chocolate (optional)*

For the mint chocolate liqueur truffles:

• 100g (2/3 cup) 70% dark chocolate, finely chopped
• 80ml (1/3 cup) Mintu chocolate mint liqueur (or your favourite liqueur, or even use 80ml water and a few mint leaves for a non-alcoholic version)
• 50g (1/3 cup) 55% dark chocolate, finely chopped

Method:

Creme eggs

1. Melt 100g of the finely chopped milk chocolate. This can be done in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, or microwave for 20-second bursts on full power, stirring well after each burst.

2. Once melted, use a teaspoon to place the chocolate in the moulds (I used silicon-based egg-shaped moulds with designs on). I found about ½ tsp of chocolate enough – spread up the edges using the teaspoon, being careful to cover all sides. Place in the fridge to set (or in the freezer if you are short on time)

3. Prepare the filling. In a mixing bowl weigh out the softened butter, vanilla extract and golden syrup. Beat with a wooden spoon until a smooth consistency is achieved.

4. Take 1/3 of the filling and place in a small bowl. Dip a toothpick into the gel food colouring and dip this coloured toothpick into the filling you've placed in the small bowl. Stir well until an even orange colour.

5. Once the chocolate has set place a teaspoon of white filling into each chocolate shell. Top with half a teaspoon of the orange filling (to resemble a yolk). Place in the fridge or freezer to firm up (10 minutes in the freezer, around 20 minutes in the fridge).

6. Melt the remaining 50g of chocolate as previously and use around 1/2 tsp to cover the top of each egg - try to touch all of the sides to ensure no creamy leakage :)

7. Chill until the top chocolate layer has set. Turn out and enjoy!

8. These are best kept in the fridge, and also delicious as a refreshing treat out of the freezer!

Honeycomb Chocolates

*For an extra special touch, if you firstly melt the white chocolate (as previously, but check more often as white chocolate is quicker to burn than milk or dark chocolates), then drizzle a few lines over each mould. Place in the freezer or fridge to set, then continue as below. This will give you a cool drizzled/marbled white/milk chocolate outside, which I think is pretty inviting.

1. Melt 100g of the milk chocolate (and/or white chocolate as mentioned above) as previously, and use a teaspoon to cover the base and sides of the moulds (I used cake pop moulds). 

2. Place in the freezer or fridge to set the chocolate.

3. Make the honeycomb. Get a baking tray and line with greaseproof paper. If you don't have any paper, you can grease with butter, but I've found the honeycomb tends to stick to the tray. Also have a whisk on hand and the tray near to the hob.

4. Heat 2 tbsp of the golden syrup with the sugar in a pan (on low-medium heat). Stir with a wooden spoon at first to dissolve the sugar, then leave, swirling occasionally.

5. Keep an eye on the pan. You want the colour of the mixture to turn to a caramel colour (see below). This usually takes from 5 to 10 minutes, but I've found it depends on your own pans/hob. 

6.  Once the caramel colour has been reached, turn the heat off and add 1tsp bicarbonate of soda. Very quickly whisk the honeycomb, and once the bicarbonate of soda is whisked in, pour onto the prepared tray (see below for how much the honeycomb expands!!). This is a very quick reaction, and be VERY careful not to touch the mixture. Leave to set. If you are in a hurry, you can put the honeycomb into the fridge now. Otherwise, it'll take about 10 minutes to become solid.

7. Melt 75g of the milk chocolate as previously. Crush the honeycomb into pebble-sized pieces and pour over the chocolate. Beat until you have a chocolatey honeycomb mixture with no dry honeycomb not covered in chocolate. Leave until it reaches room-temperature.

8. Place around a teaspoon of mixture into each set chocolate hemisphere. Chill for 15 minutes.

9. Melt the final 25g of the milk chocolate. Carefully remove the hemispheres from the cake pop moulds, then use a small amount of the melted milk chocolate to fuse two halves together. Chill until set.

10. Enjoy! 

Chocolate Mint Liqueur Truffles

1. Melt 30g of the 55% dark chocolate. Use at most half a teaspoon to cover the base and sides of a mini egg mould (around 1.5 cm in length). Place in the fridge or freezer to set (this will only take 5-10 minutes).

2. Begin melting the 70% dark chocolate in the microwave on high power. Whilst melting, bring the chocolate mint liqueur to a boil.

3. Once simmering and the chocolate has melted, start whisking the melted chocolate. Pour over the liqueur and keep whisking - it will look like it separates, but keep going and it will become smooth again.

4. Place in the fridge for at least half an hour to chill down and firm up slightly.

5. Use about 1/2 tsp of filling for each egg. Place in the fridge to chill for 10 minutes.

6. Melt the remaining 20g of 55% dark chocolate and use this to cover the top of each egg. Place in the fridge/freezer for 5-10 minutes until set. Carefully turn out of the moulds and enjoy!

Blueberry Macarons

I love macarons! That's probably not too surprising if you've seen my other blog posts, but I really have fun making them (in the Italian style) and trying out different fillings. These are my first summer batch, filled with a simple but effective blueberry buttercream.
For the first time, I tried using liquid egg whites instead of separating the eggs themselves (they were on offer in my local supermarket, and I had no use for egg yolks). The macarons turned out just as well as when I separated my own egg whites, and it meant I could easily measure the volume of egg whites I needed :)

Makes around 24 macarons (48 shells)

Ingredients:

For the blueberry jam:

• 45g (3 tbsp) caster sugar
• 200g (2 cups) frozen blueberries
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

For the macarons:

• 160g (1 & 1/4 cups) ground almonds
• 175g (1 & 1/2 cups) icing sugar
• 4 (125ml/1/2 cup) medium egg whites
• 165g (3/4 cup) granulated sugar
• 50ml (3 tbsp and 1 tsp) water

Method:

1. Place the ground almonds and icing sugar in a food processor (or high power blender) and blitz for 2-3 second bursts, until the mixture is very fine. Don't over blend the mixture as the almonds will start to turn to almond butter.

2. Sieve the almonds/icing sugar into a large bowl. Add 2 (60ml/1/4 cup) of the egg whites, and beat until a smooth paste is formed.

3. Heat the granulated sugar and water in a saucepan, stirring occasionally until the sugar has dissolved. Then stop stirring and place a sugar thermometer in the pan. In a grease-free bowl, add the remaining two egg whites. Once the sugar/water has reached 112C, start whisking the egg whites at a medium speed (I used a stand mixer and found this required less of my attention than a handheld).

4. Once the sugar/water syrup has reached 118C, the egg whites should be white and frothy (like shaving foam). Turn the stand mixer down to a low speed, then carefully pour the syrup onto the egg whites, whisking constantly. Be very careful not to touch the syrup as it is super hot! Once all of the syrup has been added, turn up the speed of the mixer to high and keep whisking until the mixture is shiny and forms peaks when the whisk is lifted from the mixture (this should take between 5 and 7 minutes).

5. Dip a toothpick into the violet food colouring and then dip into the meringue mixture. Whisk briefly. Add more food colouring until you have the desired purple colour.

6. Use a metal spoon to fold a third of the egg white mixture into the almond/sugar paste. Once incorporated, gently fold in the remaining egg whites.

7. Fill a piping bag with the macaron mixture, and cut off 1cm from the end (or use a large round nozzle). Grease and line four baking trays with parchment paper and hold the piping bag vertically above where you want to pipe. Pipe directly down onto the tray until you have a circle 3cm wide (or whatever shape you like - I also like making rectangles so that they look like mini eclairs). Repeat across the trays, leaving about a 1&1/2cm gap between each macaron shell.

8. Tap the tray on the surface a few times, then leave at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour, until a "skin" has formed on the macarons - this means that when you gently touch the macaron, no mixture goes on your finger.

9. Whilst waiting to bake the macarons, make the blueberry jam by pouring the frozen blueberries, sugar and lemon juice into a saucepan. Place on a low-medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring regularly.

10. Boil the mixture for around 5 minutes, pressing the blueberries against the sides of the pan to break them down. After 5 minutes the mixture should have thickened slightly. Set aside to cool.

11. Once at room temperature, pour the jam into a blender and blitz briefly. This will give a nice thick jam.

12. Preheat the oven to 170c (150c fan)/ 340F/ gas mark 3. Before you place the baking trays into the oven, tap the trays against the surface again. This gives the perfect "foot" of macarons. Bake the macarons for 10-12 minutes - keep an eye on them after 8 minutes in case they are browning too much. Remove the macarons from the oven and transfer the macarons (with the baking paper still attached) to a wire rack to cool.

13. To make the filling, cream the butter against the sides of a mixing bowl until it is very soft and spreadable. Add half of the icing sugar and beat in.

14. Add the remaining icing sugar and 2-3 tbsp of the blueberry jam. Start beating the mixture. If the mixture is very stiff, add a splash of milk to loosen the mix. The buttercream needs to be thick enough that it holds it's shape when lifted from the bowl, but not so thick that it requires muscle power to move the buttercream around the bowl.

15. When the macaron shells have completely cooled, flip half of them over. Fill a piping bag with the blueberry buttercream and pipe about a teaspoon of buttercream on each flipped shell.

16. Top each covered macaron shell with an uncovered shell and press down lightly.

17. These are best to eat at least 24 hours after sandwiching as the shells go very soft. However, they are still delicious straight after assembly! They should keep in an airtight container for around a week (they will get softer as time progresses).

18. Enjoy!

If you liked these, here are my other macaron recipes :)

• Mega mocha macarons
• Mint chocolate macarons
• Chocolate, peanut butter and salted caramel macarons eclairs
• Chocolate and raspberry macarons
• Festive spiced macarons
• Cocoa gingerbread macarons

Granny Cake (Gluten-free, Vegan, Nut-free)

Have you ever been asked to make a cake that was gluten-free AND vegan? Once you start looking for recipes for such bakes, they are few and far between. This cake is based on an old-fashioned cake known as "Granny cake". It's a fruity sponge/bread, perfect with a cup of tea, and contains no dairy, eggs and is easy to make gluten-free (without the addition of nuts).
To make the cake extra special, I added a lemon syrup to the cake once it came out of the oven, which worked really well I think!
If you aren't gluten-free, normal self-raising flour would be totally fine to use.
This makes one traybake, but could be baked in a loaf tin (you would need to add about 20-25 minutes to the baking time to account for the extra depth of the cake however).

The cake can be frozen, and will keep in an air-tight tin for around a week.

Makes around 16 squares (fills a 20 x 20cm square tin)

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 450g (3 cups) gluten-free self-raising flour (or normal self-raising flour if not making gluten-free)
• 65g (1/3 cup + 1 tsp) soft light brown sugar
• 60g (1/4 cup + 2 tsp) caster sugar
• 1 tsp gluten-free baking powder (or normal baking powder if not making gluten-free)
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 450g (2 & 1/2 cups) mixed dried fruit (I used a combination of raisins, sultanas, glace cherries and mixed peel - use whatever your preference is)
• 125g (1/2 cup) vegan margarine/butter (I used Trex)
• 250ml (1 cup and 2 tsp) unsweetened almond milk
• 1 tsp oil, and 1 tbsp gluten-free flour (for greasing)

For the topping:

• Juice of one lemon
• 30g (2 tbsp) icing sugar

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 160c (150c fan)/325f/gas mark 3. Grease the base of a 20 x 20cm square cake tin with oil and dust with the flour.

2. Pour the flour, brown sugar, caster sugar, baking powder and spices into a bowl and mix well, ensuring there are no clumps of brown sugar.

3. Rub the vegan margarine/butter into the flour mixture with your fingertips, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

4. Add the milk and the dried fruit, and stir until well combined.

5. Pour into your prepared tin and bake for 40-50 minutes, until the top is golden and springy.

6. Whilst the cake is baking prepare the syrup by pouring the lemon juice and icing sugar into a saucepan. Place on a low heat and cook until it thickens slightly and turns clear.

7. When the cake has finished baking, take out of the oven and set aside. Gently reheat the syrup until it is easy to stir. Skewer holes over the cake and pour over the syrup. Set aside to cool fully.

8. Once fully cool, turn out of the tin and cut into squares.

9. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter, Blackberry and Spelt Blondies

These blondies are strange but delicious! They are free from refined sugars, and the peanut butter makes the blondies taste amazing. The secret ingredient is an odd one, but believe me, it works! Cannellini beans make the blondies lovely and moist, and I promise the end result tastes nothing like baked beans. We've made them to keep us going on long hikes, and they were the perfect treat.

These are best kept in the fridge if not eating them straight away (due to the fresh berries and beans). If kept in the fridge, they will last for about a week.

Makes around 16 squares (fills a 20 x 20cm square tin)

Ingredients:

• 130g (1/2 cup) crunchy peanut butter
• 180ml (3/4 cup) maple syrup
• 80ml (2/5 cup) coconut oil (melted), plus a little extra for greasing
• 2 eggs
• 160g (1 & 1/3 cups) spelt flour, plus a tbsp for dusting
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 150g (1 cup) fresh blackberries

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 200c (180c fan)/ 400f/gas mark 6. Grease the base of a 20 x 20cm tray with a little oil, and dust with flour.

2. Beat together the peanut butter, maple syrup and coconut oil. Whisk in the eggs.

3. Add the spelt flour, salt, baking powder and berries, and gently fold in.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 20-25 minutes, until lightly golden on top and the mixture shakes very slightly in the centre when you shake the tin.

5. Remove from the oven and leave to cool before slicing.

6. Enjoy!