Monday, October 25, 2010

Tim Tam Truffles and Candy Melts Winner

Tim Tam truffles are one of life's decadent little treats; they're a huge step up from Tim Tams (which are pretty irresistable on their own) and also allow for a huge amount of creativity and personalisation if you want it. I hate to bring up the C word so early but for those of us who like to make things for Christmas it is getting into the crafty zone - we always have a big family Christmas, which is loads of fun but requires some planning for my strategy of having something homemade for everyone.


Almost - yikes - three years ago I used Tim Tam truffles, and made 'bouquets' by sticking a kebab stick into each one before dipping, using an assortment of patterns and decorations then wrapping 10 or 12 in florists' paper for each bouquet.

That's not what I'm planning for this year (sorry, hopeful family members!) but they are great gifts for anything - or just yummy nibbles! - so I thought I'd show you how. 


Health food is not really the correct category for these treats - behold the decadent ingredients - but they are always well received so I think it's justified. They're also really easy - takes a little bit of time but there are only a couple of steps, and did I mention how yummy they are?


You start off by reducing the Tim Tams to crumbs - I am really impressed with my little stick blender's food processor attachment - it did a whole packet at once, with perfect results. You could use a normal food processor, or if you don't have one pop them in a snap-lock bag and bash them with a rolling pin for a while - especially good when you're a bit stressed or annoyed at something. ;-) 


Step two is adding cream cheese. Make sure your hands are clean and then get in there and smush it all together - your hands are going to get dirty in a minute anyway and it really is the best way of combining everything.


Sometimes it's satisfying to get a bit messy in the kitchen! Even better; when you finish rolling them all you can lick your fingers. Yummmm!


 I usually pop these in the fridge or freezer to firm up (depending how long I plan to wait before dipping them - if you're not going to dip them for a while the fridge is fine) before dipping them. Today I used Nestle white chocolate melts - you either need to use compound chocolate (i.e. not containing cocoa butter) or temper the chocolate, or they won't set properly. I know the eating stuff tastes better but it just won't harden up when you remelt it. 


 Then you just dip the truffles one at a time, gently turning them in the chocolate until they're fully coated, drain for a couple of seconds, and set gently on some baking paper to set. This one was a wee bit messy - it was my first - but once it's hard you can break off the extra sticking-out bits of chocolate on the base and remelt them.


Speaking of remelting, if you still have chocolate left over when you've finished spread it on a piece of baking paper to set - that way you can break it up and put it back in the bag for next time. This is a trick that took me a while to figure out - it's pretty near impossible to not have leftover chocolate when you're dipping stuff, since you need something to dip into, and chocolate (even the compound stuff!) is too expensive to throw away. With this kind of truffle you might find the occasional crumb or two in the chocolate - if there are too many to fish out put the post-dipping chocolate aside for something like drizzling over muesli bars, where it doesn't matter so much if there are traces of Tim Tam! 


If you like you can leave them plain - or you can throw some more chocolate around. ;-) Just melt it and flick it with a fork back and forth across the chocolates. This will make a mess! 


This one cracked so I had to destroy it - so sad! So you get a glimpse of the scrummy centre. Seriously, these are goooood. Dangerously irresistable.

Anyway, I bet you're all dying to know who won the candy melts - you could do some fun things with them if you had a fresh batch of Tim Tam truffles to decorate!


Commenter number 5 was:


Congratulations, Becs! Email me (mrscake.nz@gmail.com) and the chocolate melts will be winging your way very soon. I'm sure they'll make awesome shoes! :-)



Tim Tam Truffles (makes about 20)
Ingredients
1 packet plain Tim Tams
100g cream cheese
300g compound chocolate, for dipping
(optional) Additional chocolate for decorating

Pulse the Tim Tams in a food processor (or put in a bag and hit with a rolling pin) until reduced to crumbs. Use your fingers to combine with the cream cheese - the mixture should stick together. Roll into balls and chill for several hours (or freeze for 30 minutes-1 hour).

Melt the chocolate - put in the microwave for 30 seconds, stir, then put it back in for 10-20 second bursts until mostly melted. Stir until smooth. Dip the truffles one by one, using a fork to gently turn them in the chocolate then lift them onto baking paper. If desired spatter with different chocolate to decorate.

35 comments:

  1. Oohhh or you could use white chocolate Tim Tams to make white truffles! :D We rolled them in coconut! Yum!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ooh, these look divine! I had a go at making truffles earlier this year (without a lot of success) but these look even simpler. Thanks for the step-by-step - I'm definitely going to give them a try. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. ooooh they look sooooooo good!!!

    As you may be able to tell, it's chocolate o'clock but there's no chocolate here :(

    ReplyDelete
  4. ccm - great idea - they would be so tasty, love the white choc/coconut combo.

    Cafe Chick - there are really easy - the mixture can get a bit sticky when it warms up too much but way easier to work with than ganache. Let me know how it works out for you!

    Michelle, it's healthier to look at the pictures than eat it. ;-) Not as yummy, but I haven't mastered transporting food through cyberspace yet, sadly!

    Jeanna, as above, if you happen to hear of any developments in the cyber-sharing space I will totally give you one. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Been following your blog for a while being a fellow Wellington foodie. These truffles look good. Last year we had Polar bear poos for Christmas, basically the same but with Oreos.
    I warn you, I shared this recipe on a forum and you may get a few more hits than normal, hope you don't mind.
    http://www2.everybody.co.nz/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/2103297/gonew/1/Remember_the_Polar_bear_poo_la#UNREAD

    Emma

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hehe, what a funny name! I have also made them with Toffeepops, and they were yummy, although Tim Tams still win for me. Might have to try Oreos next time!

    Thanks for sharing my recipe - of course I don't mind, I hope it's useful to people. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. This looks FAB! Thinking about doing it for the grandparents for xmas but have a couple of questions:
    How long do you think they'd be ok for? [You know how old people are great at making their treats last for weeks!]
    Do they need to be kept in the fridge?

    Thanks :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I always keep mine chilled - I'm sure a couple of days at (cool) room temperature wouldn't do much harm (cream cheese icing survives okay) but for the long haul I'd put them in the fridge or even freezer. I'm pretty sure that my grandparents kept theirs for at least a couple of weeks in the fridge and still enjoyed them. ;-) Yup, definitely know how old people make treats last!

    They do also freeze well, though, so for more than a week or so I'd recommend that!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks - I'm sure these will be a hit :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. thanks for making them so easy to make...will be doing these this christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Mrs Cake, just wanted to say thanks for sharing the recipe, I found it via Cafe Chick's blog. I blogged some pictures of my attempt with a link to the recipe here today:

    http://mummy-adventures.blogspot.com/2010/11/recipe-tim-tam-truffles.html

    Cheers
    Katie

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anon, jacksta, I'm sure your recipients will love them!

    Katie, yours looks great - love the idea of the origami gift boxes, too! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  13. I've tried a similar recipe using mint slice biscuits and they were excellent. I took them as a plate to a function and they disappeared very fast!

    ReplyDelete
  14. wow these will make awesome teacher gifts this year! thanks for the recipe :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anon, that sounds yummy! I need to expand my biscuit-aisle horizons, clearly. ;-)

    Widge, glad I can help. I bet the teacher(s) will love them, too, so irresistably tasty. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hey Rosa :) Just had a go at making these, as was forced to by husband! They were tricky! No food processor, and it was a hot night, so the creme/ganache-like stuff inside the tim-tams stuck to the bag I was bashing them up inside... And I had trouble melting the chocolate to decorate them, so they didn't look anything near as pretty as yours. But, more importantly, the taste test - I'll let you know when they get eaten! They do look pretty tasty though :D

    ReplyDelete
  17. Oh no! Sorry you had so much trouble - I've never had that problem but it's fair to say I've probably never made them in weather so hot as you lot had yesterday. ;-) I do hope the taste lives up to expectations...

    ReplyDelete
  18. Came hunting for the recipe after Beth made some and brought them to a staff lunch yesterday. Definately be on our table at Christmas :) YUMMY!!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hi there, just wanted to double check that you can refrigerate these once they're coated with the melts as a friend told me not to as she said the coating 'sweats'... I've got uncoated ones in the freezer and was going to pull them out and dip them as I need them but would be SOOO much eaiser if I could dip the whole lot at once and keep them in the fridge for a week or so :o)

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anon, great! Glad you liked them and hope they're a hit with your family on Christmas day, too!

    Kirstie, you can refrigerate - chocolate will sweat a little in the fridge but it's not a big deal - not enough to mar the flavour and you can help diminish the effect by setting them on paper towels. Mostly they sweat when they warm up lots - does that help? Feel free to ask if I haven't fully answered your question. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  21. ok - despite the difficulty, and the sad fact that I used signature range "tim tams", they are sooo delicious!

    And now I think quite a few people will get these for christmas, hehe.

    And I am going to try and buy myself a food processer!

    ReplyDelete
  22. A great Christmas gift! I'd be happy with some of these in my stocking. ;-) Glad they worked out. Also, on food processors; I really do swear by our blitzer, it's part of the Braun Multiquick stick blender and really chomps up those Tim Tams (plus hazelnuts, almonds, gingernuts). :-) In case you don't want a hulk of a machine...

    ReplyDelete
  23. Just made these- delicious! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  24. You're welcome - glad you like them! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  25. Why does everyone think these are great for Xmas? I can see these being made for any/ all occasions. I once made a tim tam choc. tart that was devine. It used crushed tim tams as the base. I now make my cheesecake bases with tim tams!! Yummmy.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anon, they are definitely great for any occasion! I guess the draw with Christmas is that we're often trying to make lots of delicious things to give away and these work well. Using tim tams for cheesecake bases sounds incredibly good, thanks for the tip!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Hi! Could you roll the finished products (not yet covered in white chocolate)in cocoa? if so which type is best?

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  28. You definitely could. Something you like the taste of - generally the expensive ones taste better, but I have heard good things about Sun Valley, which isn't too pricey (assuming you're in NZ).

    ReplyDelete
  29. Have just returned from Perth where I helped my daughter put together the party snacks for my grandson's first birthday party. With over 50 adults and 15 kids she selected some great food for everyone. One of these snacks - timtam truffles. She made them, I decorated them. They were a big hit with everybody, all ages. So now I plan on taking them to a bowls ladies day! Quick, easy to make, look terrific, and very tasty.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anon, they are fantastic, aren't they? I've always found that everyone who eats them swoons over them and wants to know my secret. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  31. The bst way to make them is to make bothe white and chocolate ones. We gave them away as presents. Use white chocolate timtams for the white ones. Also, trust me, roll them in coconut straight after u dip them in the chocolate

    ReplyDelete
  32. The comment above is absolutely right. Couldn't of said it better myself

    ReplyDelete
  33. They look delicious. I've made similar truffles but with Mint Slices instead of Tim Tams - very morish!

    ReplyDelete

Theme Design by Quentin de Manson Web Design