Easter has arrived. How did that happen? – By Jemima Butler
Pascua, known as Semana Santa in Spain, is when people get terribly excited about taking their local religious figures of María or Jesús around their town or village during a week long pageantry…some take it more seriously but increasingly most prefer to enjoy the ‘fiesta’ aspect of it.
Many Brits these days are as unlikely to remember why we even celebrate Easter and just want to eat the chocolate eggs – not even knowing the origins of either. Easter marks 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday when traditionally Christians give up some luxuries to mark the forty days Jesus spent fasting in the desert. Chocolate is the most common choice to be deprived of. So once Easter finally arrives we feel we can all indulge as much as we can on it and can start to gobble the rich, dark deliciousness all over again. That is, assuming you did actually give it up in the first place.
One way to give up the fasting for chocolate is to make chocolate truffles…
Just remember they are very rich so you can’t really eat too many of them. This recipe is a fun too to make and share together.
Try them with a glass of Pedro Jimenez, or PX as it´s known, goes down extremely well!
Happy Easter!
Recipe: Butlers Chocolate Truffles
Butlers Chocolate Truffles
Ingredients:
- 300 g double cream
- 1 clementine, finely grated zestof
- 300 g good-quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), broken into small pieces
- 1 splash brandy or rum or Pedro Jimenez
- 1 handful of any mixed nuts, (almonds, hazelnuts, coconut or even crushed kikos)
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder, to serve
- Pedro Jimenez to serve
Method:
Put the cream in a pan over a medium heat and let it heat up. You don’t want it boiling, just hot. As soon as tiny bubbles start to appear, add the knob of butter and the clementine zest. Once the butter has melted, pour this hot mixture over the chocolate pieces, whisking as you go, so the chocolate melts nice and slowly. Stir in a splash of brandy.
Once completely melted and smooth, pour your melted chocolate mixture into a serving dish or bowl. Put this in the fridge for about 2 hours to set. About 30 minutes before you’re ready to make your truffles, get it out of the fridge so that it is soft enough to scoop teaspoonfuls out and roll into the various different coatings you have chosen.
Put the choice of the mixed nuts into a plastic bag each and use a rolling pin to bash them up quite finely. Get some little saucers or bowls and put each crushed nut and/or your cocoa powder in the other.
Either make the truffles yourself or put them on a plate for everyone to enjoy or….
Get everyone around the table to spoon their own truffles out of the serving dish and roll them in cocoa powder, crushed nuts, kikos or anything else you fancy. Serve with a glass of chilled Pedro Jimenez. A fantastic way to end Lent or just a jolly good dinner party.
