Pages

January 27, 2007

is it really


... a bowl of chocolate truffles? No.


... a bucket full of snowballs? No.



... and is it really winter, with some springy flowers already blooming? Or is it a sign of the coming of spring? No, no, no, I daresay NO. This week in London has been slightly colder than the past several weeks, at least to the extent it was cold enough to snow, although not cold enough for the snow to stay even a day - it once covered the ground before dawn but disappeared before dusk, by which time the sky had cleared up and sunny.

I barely managed to catch the last bits of short-lived snow before it was all gone, along with "snowballs" or fresh blueberries coated with white chocolate and dusted with icing sugar. Those were a little twist to the chocolate-coated fresh grapes introduced by chef Michel Richard in his book Happy in the Kitchen (Artisan, 2006). Ridiculously easy to make in a large batch, those truffle imposters disguised in the layers of chocolate and cocoa powder turned out to be a crowd pleaser - as long as your guests like grapes, chocolate, and a little surprise. I played around with different combinaitons of fruits (grapes and blueberries), chocolate (bittersweet and white), and dusting (icing sugar and cocoa powder) and quite liked blueberries with white chocolate and coca powder, but grapes with bittersweet chocolate and cocoa powder (the original Michel Richard version, that is) seemed to be a winner - or is it really? Not too sure, I'll just have to try another batch or so.

5 comments:

evinrude said...

your photos are simply gorgeous! i really like the sakura! i have been lucky enough to witness sakura in full bloom in kyoto but my photos weren't half as beautiful. oh how i miss the sakura. it's time to make some sakura-cha! 

Posted by evinrude

Susan from Food Blogga said...

Your pictures are like poetry.

P.S. Since you're not sure about the grape ones, I'd be happy to try one and let you know. 

Posted by Susan at Food "Blogga"

Anonymous said...

I have long believed that anything coated in chocolate will be a winner (okay possibly not the cat), but this is an idea that I will have to try. 

Posted by Tim

Anonymous said...

Chica, You always have the best recipe's posted. I envy your creativity!! 

Posted by Sara, The Wine Maker's Wife

Anonymous said...

hello all, thanks for leaving a note! Do try and play around with fruits and choc of your choice :)
 

Posted by chika