Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Vegan Hazelnut Kahlua Dark Chocolate Truffles


There's this story my paternal grandma used to tell us when we were kids. It's the Mysore Pak story. My granny is super adorable and she made all these sounds and expressions when she recited it. It was an absolute delight for a child to watch! :)

One day, a man says to his wife, "Darling, I have a hankering for Mysore Pak. Please make some for me".
The wife replies, "I don't know how to make it sweetheart but I'll ask the auntie next door to teach me".
And so she asked the neighbor who very sweetly agreed to teach her.

The wife asked her husband to buy all the ingredients from the market and the following day she went to the neighbor's house for a cooking lesson. She learnt how to toast the flour and add the sugar and the oil (yes, I'm veganizing it!!) and how to spread the mixture into a tray and slice it after it's cooled. As a thank you for teaching her, she gave the neighbor auntie half the Mysore Paks and brought the rest back home.

The Mysore Paks looked and smelt amazing!! The wife bit into one and her eyes went wide. "Mmmmmmm", she said, "my hubby's going to looooove these!!" She couldn't wait for him to come home from work that evening and taste them.

After sometime, she thought to herself, "I have got to eat another, they are so very tasty!" And so she did. A little while later, she couldn't resist having another one.

As the evening neared, she started pacing up and down on the front porch, waiting for her hubby. The excitement was too much! She kept going up to the table where she's placed the Mysore Paks to check on them and each time she checked, she couldn't help but pop one into her mouth. One, then another, then another one.

In this way time passed by and finally the evening arrived. She saw her hubby walking in through the gate. She ran up to him and excitedly told him all about the delicious Mysore Paks she'd made just for him!! She took him lovingly by the hand and led him to the table.

On the table, he saw one lonely Mysore Pak sitting in a tray with a few crumbs here and there.

"Is this all??" asked the hubby with shock.
"There were more", she replied sheepishly, "but I couldn't stop myself from eating them".
"But, but, HOW did you eat them all?" he asked, and regretted it the very next moment because his wife hypnotically reached out to the Mysore Pak, picked it up and said, "Like this!" and as a he gaped in amazement, the Mysore Pak disappeared into her mouth forever.

The End. :oP


Now why did I tell you this story? Because that is EXACTLY what has been happening to these Vegan Hazelnut Kahlua Dark Chocolate Truffles. Need I say more? :D

Vegan Hazelnut Kahlua Dark Chocolate Truffles

1/2 C Hazelnuts (toasted)
1 Bar 100% Bitter Dark Chocolate
1/2 Bar Semi-Sweet Dark Chocolate
1/4 C Brown Sugar + Agave for more sweetening as required
Kahlua (and/or Dark Rum)
2-3 T Soymilk

Keep half the toasted hazelnuts aside and crush the other half into a medium fine powder (I used a mortar and pestle but you could use a grinder if you like).

Melt the chocolate using the double boiler method. Basically one kettle/pan/vessel at the bottom and another, slightly larger one on top, covering it. Water in the bottom one and broken chocolate in the top one. Place on medium-low flame (water should get hot but not start boiling) and stir chocolate till half of it is melted. Then switch off the stove and continue stirring until it's completely melted.

Add sugar and mix well and keep stirring for a while longer.

Take the chocolate vessel off the water vessel and let it sit until it comes down to room temperature. VERY IMPORTANT!

Add the kahlua and/or rum and the soymilk and mix well. As soon as the alcohol hits, the texture changes slightly but that's absolutely okay.

Let the mixture sit in the fridge for a couple of hours.

With your palms, shape the chocolate into balls and press a whole hazlenut into the center of each ball as you form it.

Chill for another hour in the fridge.

Start popping them into your mouth and be transported to heaven.

The End. :oP

8 comments:

  1. hahaha! very funny story! :) love it. Shame that I have a nut allergy and have to pass on all these nuts goodies. This recipe sounds really delicious though.

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  2. yummmm! pretty truffles.. wait where is the mysore pak picture!

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  3. Richa, one disappearing dessert at a time. :oP Mysore Paks will be posted whenever I attempt to make them. But for now, you can feast your eyes on some vegan Mysore Paks that I captured at a local restaurant (last picture in that post): http://blog.veganosaurus.com/2011/10/first-professional-food-photography.html

    Teenuja, that sucks about your nut allergies. :( So what kind of truffles do you make? Can you have sesame seeds? I've heard those work well in truffles.

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  4. I think I have read this in Tinkle.:) But I liked reading the vegan mysore pak story again!

    And... what is not to like about those truffles! Hazelnut, kahlua, dark chocolate - yum!

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  5. this really sounds delicious.
    i will definitely try this.

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  6. I can already imagine how soon these would be disappearing!! Cant wait to buy the ingredients for this one!

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  7. I foresee these in my very near future.. maybe before my man gets home...
    they may find them selves dipped subtly in melted chocolate... ;)

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  8. I've never heard of Mysore Paks before but I love the story! ^^ Very funny - and these look so delicious! I know firsthand what it feels like to be around addicting little snacks.

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