Ingredients
- 8 ounce best quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped (we use el rey)
- 6 ounce fresh fromage blanc (unsalted goat
- 2 tablespoon confectioner
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon lemon extract
- 2 tablespoon pure ancho chile powder
- 2 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoon cinnamon
Preparation
Baking Directions:
In a stainless steel bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, melt the chocolate, stirring until it is smooth.
Remove the bowl from the pan and let the chocolate cool slightly.
In the bowl, whisk together the goat cheese, the confectioner's sugar, the vanilla and the lemon extract until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Whisk in the chocolate until the mixture is combined well.
Chill the mixture covered with waxed paper for one hour, or until it is firm.
Roll the mixture into balls about 3/4 inch in diameter.
Put the chile powder, cocoa powder and cinnamon in a bowl.
Roll each truffle in this spice mix.
Chill the truffles on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper for 30 minutes, or until they are firm.
The truffles keep in an airtight container, chilled, for three days.
This recipe makes about 24 truffles.
Variation: Put the chile, cocoa, and cinnamon in separate bowls.
Roll a few truffles in just one of each spice separately, so that you end up with a trio of cinnamon, chile, and cocoa flavored truffles.
The straight-chile truffles will be pretty hot at first, but the sugar and fat in the chocolate will cool off the chile heat in a short time.
Tips:
I love chocolate, chile and lemon.
A beautiful flavor of minerals and earth comes to life in your mouth when these flavors are combined.
It is important that you use pure ancho chile powder in this recipe.
Regular commercial chile powder usually contains salt, garlic, cumin and other ingredients which, although they may work with chocolate, don't work well with this dish.
The final rolling in the spices brings a wonderful, bitter element to these truffles.
That makes it for me.
I really don't like my chocolate to be too sweet.
About “Fromage Blanc” As mountains go, the Adirondacks, Berkshires, and Catskills are extremely old.
There is a lot of old spirit permeating the hills and meadows here.
Maybe that helps make the earth give such great flavor to the foods produced here.
This area is home to the producers of some of the finest goat cheeses made in America.
Coach Farms, Capri and Nettle Meadows all produce outstanding organic goat's-milk products.
We buy an Adirondack “Fromage Blanc” from Nettle Meadows in Warrensburg, New York, that is unsalted and extremely mild.
There, farmer Laurie Goodhart feeds her goats a selection of aromatic herbs and flowers that give the cheese a uniquely sensual bouquet.
If you can acquire such a soft and unsalted chevre, try it in this recipe.
If not, try some of the soft goat cheeses that are available in your local area.
Some are brighter and more tangy than others; for this particular recipe, I recommend the mildest cheese you can get.
