Mysterious Truffles from "The Cook's Book", My favourite Recipe Collection.

What is the surprise ingredient?


The picture I took above gives it away, but if you don't leave any visual clues when serving these Pierre Hermé Bittersweet Truffles with Lime and Honey I think I can 99.9% guarantee that anybody who tries them will not be able to guess what gives them their unfamiliar flavour. In my own experience absolutely no one has deciphered the star ingredient correctly so far, not even after several attempts, (and I have tried them out on close to two dozen people to date). It is surprising that everyone should have so much trouble detecting a common ingredient like lime, but maybe that is because it is such an unexpected pairing with chocolate.

When Alanna Kellogg of A Veggie Venture proposed the "Surprise Inside" theme for this month's edition of Sugar High Friday, I knew I had to share my enthusiasm for these mouthwatering truffles. One of the first people I tested these truffles on, described them more elegantly than I could ever put in to words:

"Like March, these truffles come in like a lion and go out like a lamb. It's the first touch of tongue against powdery unsweetened cocoa flecked with sugar and lime zest that creates a pucker and paves the way for a ganache that's as smooth as Jamie Foxx's come-on."

And highlighting these beauties for today's sweet event affords me the opportunity to showcase my current favourite recipe tome, too, "The Cook's Book". which, coincidentally, Amy featured on her blog just a couple of days ago. Despite the fact that Amy makes claims about me to the contrary, I absolutely adore cookbooks and am was indeed an addict. However, since I spent some time in cookbook rehab, I learnt to curb my addiction. These days I am more of a discerning recipe book buyer, resisting the need for quantity, sucumbing only for quality.

I absolutely LOVE this book. It is the first place I turn to when looking for ideas. I like it because it is a generalist book covering many different types and styles of cuisine, from Ferran Adrià's foams, through Rick Bayless's Mexican Cooking and Dan Leppard's doughs to Pierre Hermé's desserts. And, of course, his Bittersweet Truffles with Lime and Honey. If this leads you to jump to the conclusion that this is just a.n.other Celebrity Chef money spinner, please think again. These are not media whores who tout themselves on network television, these are celebrated chefs, great cooks whose names are well known because they have achieved and earnt respect in their various fields.

The Cook's Book is modern, well presented, cleanly designed and well laid out with beautiful photographs including step-by-step guides for many of the recipes. "How To's" include cutting fillets of fish, boning chicken, wrapping & baking a roast in salt dough, crumpets, baking a Frankfurter Kranz and hundreds of other ideas, both classic and progressive.

And you know what? If you want to make these mysterious guest-guessing truffles yourself, you'll just have to get your own copy of The Cooks Book to get a butchers at the recipe. So there.



(Ps sst.. Or you could cheat, but I think owning the book is the best option, you won't regret it!)

Archive: | 2004: A look inside Levende Lounge. I have since met the new chef and can't wait to give it another try.

Food | SHF23 | Sweets | Chocolate | Truffles

Mysterious Truffles from "The Cook's Book", My favourite Recipe Collection.