How to make delicious and original Chocolate Truffles

Continue celebrating the Holidays with fresh homemade truffles! It is very simple and you do not need to wait for Christmas to prepare these treats. You only need 3 ingredients to prepare the base and then, use your imagination to coat each truffle!

For about 60 truffles
Preparation time: 30 minutes + 2-3 hours in the fridge
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Difficulty: *

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup (10cl) heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 pound (200g) good quality dark chocolate
- 3 1/2 tablespoons (50g) butter
- 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier or Cointreau
- ingredients for coating: cocoa powder, powdered sugar, chopped almonds/peanuts/pistachios, dried fruits, shredded coconut...

1. Grate the chocolate or cut it into small pieces and place it in a bowl.

2. Melt the butter in the microwave.

3. Gently boil the whipping cream on medium heat and pour it slowly on the chocolate, stirring until melted. Add the melted butter to the chocolate. Then add the Cointreau. Stir well.

4. Pour the chocolate in a baking dish which is not too deep so that the preparation is not too thick and can harden easily.

5. Cover your dish with plastic film and place in the fridge for about 3 hours.

6. Take the preparation out of the fridge. Use a spoon to scoop regular size chocolate balls. Roll them quickly in your hands to create a round shape. Place the truffles on a parchemin paper lined sheet pan and refrigerate 5 to 10 minutes.

7. In the meantime, prepare your coating ingredients and pour them in different dishes.

8. Take the truffles out of the fridge and roll them, one by one, into the desired coating. It can be cocoa powder for traditional truffles or coconut, pistachios, dried fruits etc. for more fancy truffles.

Enjoy!

Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls with Shrimps

Fresh spring rolls are a delicious and healthy appetizer. They are a nice change from the fried rolls (eggrolls) which are served warm. For this recipe, I added shrimps in the rolls for a more complete dish but you can replace them with fried tofu if you like. Enjoy!

Serves 2 (2 rolls per person)
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Difficulty: **

Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 oz (75g) dried rice vermicelli
- 4 jumbo shrimps, cooked, peeled and sliced half lengthwise
- 1 romaine heart (or other lettuce you like), leaves separated, rinsed, and dried
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon peanut oil
- 4 rice-paper wrapper
- 1 small Persian cucumber, cut into matchsticks
- 1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
- 1 bunch fresh mint
- 1/3 cup roasted salted peanuts, roughly chopped

- 2 teaspoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1/2 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic chili sauce

Place the rice vermicelli in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave for 10 minutes. Drain well.
Fill a bowl with warm water. Dip one wrapper at a time into the water for about 15 seconds or until soft.
Place the wrapper on a flat surface. Top the central part of the wrapper with vermicelli, cucumber, carrot, peanuts, mint, lettuce and two shrimp halves.

Fold the lower part of the wrapper on the ingredients and roll tightly, folding in the sides. Put on a plate, cover with a damp cloth and repeat.

For the dipping sauce: In a small bowl, mix the fish sauce, water, lime juice, garlic, sugar and chili sauce.
Serve with the spring rolls.

Guacamole: the king of dishes for your fiesta!

Guacamole is an avocado-based dip which originated in Mexico. It is quite easy to do and always appreciated as a dip in parties. The traditional recipe only includes ripe avocados and salt. To give it a twist, I like to add garlic, red chili, lemon juice and diced tomatoes. Try it and let me know!

Serves 2
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: none
Difficulty: *

Ingredients:
- 2 ripe avocados
- 2 garlic cloves, grated
- 1 small tomato, diced
- 1/2 red chili, very finely minced or 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- juice of 1 lemon (or lime)
- salt

Dice the tomato, grate the garlic and mince the chili.
Note that the chili and the cayenne pepper are optional. The give a nice kick to the dish but you can exclude them if you want to.

In a bowl, place the scooped avocado pulp and add the lemon juice. Using a fork, start mixing and mashing the avocado pulp.

Fold in the garlic, diced tomato and chili or cayenne pepper (if you use it).

Mash more until you reach the consistency you like: you can leave some avocado chucks for a more authentic guacamole of mash it more (even using a potato masher) for a smoother texture.
Serve quickly with tortilla chips or pita bread. Yum!

Small Homemade Walnut Breads

I have a bread machine but for walnut bread, I use my hands :-) Indeed, I actually prepare individual portions because it is so convenient and so cute when I have family or friends over! Using the same recipe I'm going to share with you, you can make Fig and Walnut bread, for an even more fancy homemade bread. Ready? Go!


For 4 small walnut breads
Preparation time: 10 minutes + 1h20 to let rise
Baking time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: **

Ingredients:
- 160g / 1 cup and 1 big tablespoon all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon liquid honey
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 10 cl / 3/8 cup (a little bit more than 1/3) warm water
- 1 teaspoon bread yeast (machine bread yeast works wonderfully)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 figs cut into small squares (optional)

Pour the liquids in a large bowl (water, oil, honey). Add the flour and make a small whole in the center and add the yeast. Close the whole with some of the flour and add the salt on the side (the yeast should not come in contact with the salt).

Knead with your hands for at least 5 minutes. If the dough looks dry, add a little bit of water or in the contrary, if the dough is sticky, add a little bit of flour.
At the very end, add the walnuts (and the fig pieces if you are using some).

Leave the ball of dough in the bowl, cover with film paper and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour.

Then place the dough on a clean and lightly floured surface. Cut it into 4 equal parts and shape your small breads (round, oval...). Then place the breads on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and let rise again for about 20 minutes, covered with a clean towel.

Preheat your oven at 350°F / 180°C. Bake the breads for 10 minutes first, then increase the heat to 410°F / 210°C and continue baking for 10 minutes.