Tiramisu Truffles

It is my lovely brother's birthday tomorrow. I had decided on the perfect present and was all set to go into town to buy it yesterday. But then the snow started again. Cars were queued up for miles and those that did move found themselves sliding onto the other side of the road. Needless to say, public transport was not an option. So I found myself presentless and in quite a predicament.

And this is why I simply adore Hope and Greenwood's 'Life Is Sweet'. Filled with glorious confectionary recipes, with a bit of patience you can make breathtakingly cute sweeties and chocolates, perfect as gifts. 

So that is the book I reached for yesterday afternoon.

The actual recipe is for Syrup Sponge Nuggets (they look like magical little snowballs with their miniature chocolate stars and drifts of icing sugar!) but I adapted it slightly because my brother (or anybody in my family actually) is not a great fan of white chocolate. Since he is turning 20, I wished to make the truffles sophisticated and with an essence of masculinity (if gender can be applied to a truffle?!).

Thus came Tiramisu Truffles. And rather nice they are too.

Tiramisu Truffles (makes 25-30)

adapted from Hope And Greenwood - Life is Sweet.

100g (4oz) golden syrup

25g (1oz) butter

100g (4oz) crumbled sponge cake

200g (8oz) white chocolate

1 tbsp very strong black coffee

1 tsp Grand Marnier (or other such liqueur)

For the chocolate coating:

400g (14oz) dark chocolate

1 tsp very strong black coffee

decorations (optional) the book suggests chocolate stars, or I used golden balls

Gently melt the butter and the golden syrup in a pan. Put the cake crumbs in a bowl and pour the butter/syrup mixture over it and mix well so that the crumbs soak up all the syrup.

Put the white chocolate in a bowl over a pan of water, and heat gently until it melts. Remove from the heat and pour over the syrup sponge. Add the coffee and liqueur gradually. Mix well until thoroughly incorporated. 

Place in the fridge overnight until the mixture is firm. 

*When I made this there was very deep snow and I did not have much time, so I stuck the bowl outside in the snow (and then transferred it to the freezer) and it firmed up within about 3 or 4 hours!* 

Use a teaspoon to take blobs of the mixture and roll them into nuggets with the palms of your hands. Put them onto a plate or board and put them back into the fridge or freezer until they firm up again. 

*Don't worry if they spread out slightly and lose their shape - this happened to mine and I think it's because of the additional liquids in my adapted version - if you put the balls in petit fours paper cases, roll them lightly in a mixture of icing sugar and cocoa powder and leave them in the freezer overnight, they will be fine by the time you coat them.*

Gently melt the dark chocolate in a bowl over a pan of water, as before. Using two forks, carefully roll the balls, one at a time, in the chocolate until coated all over. Pop your chosen decoration (if using) on top! *The recipe suggests coating them twice (and for the quantity of dark chocolate mentioned you will need to - half it otherwise), but as I used dark chocolate instead, and because I needed them to be ready and wrapped quickly in time for my brother's birthday, I just coated them once.*

Return the balls to the fridge until set. 

I found a beautiful box that once contained Turkish Delight to put them in, and made a gift tag! 

Even though I only made half the quantity described here, I had a few left over to try. They are quite different to normal truffles, and the flavour and texture is rather unexpected, but if you like tiramisu you should like these - I am really happy with them.