Chocolate and marzipan has to be one of my favourite flavour combinations, what a treat. I always used to have marzipan from the fridge when my Mum made wedding cakes (and icing too, oops). There was often a nice big chunk in there for decorating but I couldn’t help taking a little piece now and then (basically whenever I had the opportunity). I adore those marzipan bars you can buy in some health stores too, just a generous bar of marzipan, smothered in dark chocolate. Mmmmmm. I love the smell of it, almonds are so sweet and delicious. These babies are gluten free, refined sugar free and packed with healthy protein. You can omit the amaretto if you like, it just won’t taste as marzipan-y, is that a word?!
I got the basis for this recipe from the Lazy Cat Kitchen blog and in it Ania suggests tempering your chocolate, to get the ultimate snap and sheen to your little truffles. I’d never done it before, but now definitely recommend tempering for the best results. It wasn’t tricky, but you do need a thermometer- it’s all about using it at just the right temperature.
Chocolate marzipan truffles (makes 24 truffles)
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups almonds
- 1 cup cashews
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup almond mylk
- 10 tsp amaretto
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- Pinch of sea salt
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 250g vegan dark chocolate, broken into medium size pieces (use a sugar free dark chocolate bar to keep totally sugar free)
- Small handful of almonds, toasted and roughly chopped
- Blend almonds and cashews together in your food processor until finely ground, to a flour.
- Add lemon zest, maple syrup, almond mylk, amaretto, lemon zest, sea salt and vanilla to a small bowl and whisk together.
- Slowly add the mix, little by little, to the blender and pulse until combined. The mixture should be sticking together with your fingers. Bring dough together with your fingers and shape into a ball. Wrap in clingfilm and pop in the fridge.
- Slowly melt 150g of your chocolate in a bain-marie (a bowl gently heated over boiling water), being careful to keep the water away from your bowl of chocolate (water is the worst thing that could happen to your melted chocolate, be careful).
- When the chocolate has melted, take off the heat and gently stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to get things cooling. Chocolate fully melts at 46°C, but you want to cool it down to between 31 to 33°C. Add the remaining 100g of chocolate, this will increase the rate of the cooling process. Keep checking the temperature with your thermometer every five minutes or so.
- While the chocolate is cooling, take your marzipan dough out the fridge and make into balls. I made a tablespoon of dough per truffle. When the chocolate has reached the magical temperature of between 31 and 33°C, you’re ready to dip! Dunk your balls into the chocolate and leave to dry on a cooling rack.
- Put any remaining chocolate into a piping bag, or just drizzle on top of the truffles. Garnish with toasted chopped almonds. Try not to eat them all to yourself.
