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Post by Brad on Jan 26, 2008 13:13:00 GMT -5
Hi. I want to do an orange flavoured chocolate, and truffle, and want to start with natural oranges - not purchased orange oil or a licquor like Grande Marnier. How would one get the orange flavour into: A) a truffle center B) A chocolate bar. I was thinking of dehydrating some orange rind (less the pith) and throwing that in with the chocolate during the refining process until the right flavour is attained. For the truffle center, I was just going to infuse fresh orange peel with the cream before mixing in the butter and chocolate. Does anyone have any other suggestions?
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Post by ethnobotanist on Jan 26, 2008 18:20:16 GMT -5
You could melt some cocoa butter with orange peel in it and leave it to infuse, perhaps in the oven on very low heat to keep the fat molten. Any water should sink to the bottom allowing you to skim off the cocoa butter plus orange essential oils as a pure, clear product and add to your chocolate as a flavouring. Worth a try...
For the centre you could use a zester to make thin slithers of zest and then simmer them in a very strong sugar syrup, slowly reducing it down to drive out the water. You'll end up with candied rind in an orange syrup. You should be able to add that to cream without dramas.
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Post by Brad on Jan 26, 2008 22:11:38 GMT -5
Funny you should mention candied orange peel...
I just made some the other evening!
My first batch (candied orange peel) failed miserably. However my second worked great. I found that if I used seedless navel oranges with thick pith (very dimpled skin on the outside of the orange, as opposed to a smooth skin), I could use a sharp potato peeler to get the orange peel off without pith, and do so in nice wide swaths, that I could later cut into strips for garnish.
What's even better is that because the thick pith was still in tact, I was still able to quarter and peel the oranges and eat them after.
The only downfall is that I spent $20 on a good zester at Williams Sonoma, which will now probably never get used again.
Anyway, thanks for the advice!
Brad.
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Post by Brad on Jan 27, 2008 23:09:23 GMT -5
Orange Infusion.... The outcome.
This evening was an unqualified success. The orange buttercream truffle centers I made are simply amazing!
It's time to share:
2/3 c whipping cream 1/4 c sugar Peel (without pith) of one large navel orange 9 oz of 20% MILK chocolate 1/2 c butter at room temperature
Make sure the orange is firm and has a thick skin like mentioned above. Peel the orange with a potato peeler, then cut the peelings into thin strips.
Mix the cream, sugar and orange peel in a small pan, and while stirring constantly, bring to a boil, and then boil lightly for another 5 minutes. The cream will turn a bit yellowy. MAKE SURE TO STIR THE ENTIRE TIME, OR YOUR MILK WILL DEVELOP A NASTY SKIN ON IT.
Strain the milk into your broken up 9oz of chocolate pieces, making sure to keep ALL of the orange peel out. Stir until all of the chocolate is melted. You may have to zap it briefly in the Microwave to help.
Let it sit until room temperature.
Once the ganache is at room temperature, whip the butter with an electric mixer and fold it BY HAND into the ganache, just enough that the streaks of butter are gone and there are no lumps. DO NOT USE YOUR ELECTRIC MIXER TO FOLD THE BUTTER IN.
It's important that you first whip the butter, otherwise your buttercream will have big lumps of butter in it, and it won't blend properly!
You may either pipe the mix into balls and refrigerate, or refrigerate first and use a small melon baller to create your truffles.
This buttercream has a very delicate, yet noticeable orange flavour, which I found to be fabulous! Dip in milk chocolate, and garnish with a small piece of candied orange peel on top.
Enjoy!
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Post by Howard on Jun 18, 2008 15:59:32 GMT -5
wowowowowowowowowowowow.
Looks wonderful
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Post by patsyswine on Nov 18, 2008 6:44:37 GMT -5
Tried making orange truffles myself a few weeks ago. Quick (probably useless) tip: pairings of orange should soak at least an hour in the cream before boiling. It gives a wickedly strong flavour.
By the way, tried making beer chocolates in the past few weeks. They go down well in my local pub. Especially a beer called Hommel. I put coriander in with the cream. Gave it a nice kick. You should try it!
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