Sunday, May 2, 2010

SMS: Peanut Butter Truffles


This week’s Sweet Melissa Sundays selection is Peanut Butter Truffles. Josh has asked me to make chocolate ice cream with chocolate chunks several times and I never want to do it because it sounds unappealing to me. Since I didn’t think I’d want to eat too many of these truffles myself (I like chocolate, but my threshold for rich, dense chocolate treats is pretty low), I decided that I would make chocolate ice cream studded with these truffles for Josh . Unfortunately, my ice cream “plans” for the week got a little thrown off (there will be more about that on Tuesday) and ended up making two non-chocolate based ice creams. So just plain truffles here. This is the second time the group has made truffles and the recipes in The Sweet Melissa Baking Book are quite simple: you make a chocolate ganache, let it firm up for at least two hours (mine sat in the refrigerator for two days), then scoop and roll the truffles in peanuts. I decided to make it slightly more difficult and made a mess tempering white chocolate and attempting to dip the truffles in it - trust me, you don’t want to see the results. There were reports on the Problems & Questions section that the peanut butter flavor did not come through, so even though I quartered the recipe, I still used a quarter cup of peanut butter, which was the full amount.



And I still didn’t really taste the peanut butter! The recipe said to use bittersweet chocolate, and I usually think the darker the better with chocolate, but I think semisweet would have been a better complement to the peanut butter. I kept thinking the ganache had an off-taste, but Josh said it was fine. I guess I just didn’t like these truffles. Josh said they were okay and rated them a 5.5, but when I suggested he put some on his ice cream last night, he said no and I heard him offer one to Eloise (don’t worry, we wouldn’t really give our dog chocolate!). I though that they were a 2 in terms of Deliciousness, so with Josh’s 5.5, the average rating is 3.75, with a 2.5 for Effort, for an EDR of 1.5. Oh well, if we loved every treat I made, it would be bad news. The Sweet Melissa Sundays group has welcomed a lot of creative and talented new members recently, and this week’s hostess, Mara of Love Your Mother Earth, is one of them. You can find the recipe here on Mara’s site and visit the Sweet Melissa Sundays blogroll to see how these turned out for the rest of the group.

18 comments:

Kayte said...

Well, I will say they are very cute. But, down under all that disguised cuteness, I can sense: chocolate! Guys here would have them gone in a second...yep.

JoAnn Freda said...

At least they look adorable.

Gloria - The Ginger Snap Girl said...

Your truffles look great. I had a mishap with my first batch so I made some adjustments which I thought enhanced the flavor...i used semi sweet chocolate and doubled the peanut butter. Though milk chocolate is the red headed step child of chocolate these days....I really think it pairs wonderfully with peanut butter. So next time I will roll them in shaved milk chocolate or dip them (if it's not to much of a mess!).

Stephanie said...

ice cream with these truffles in 'em! would have been ooh so good and rich. but the plain ol' truffles look adorable, too!

Katiecakes said...

Oooh, I love the idea of popping them on ice cream.

Katie xox

Leslie said...

They look perfect (how did you get that even peanut covering?!?) I'm impressed that you tried so hard to make them work out...I hope the news on Tuesday is good (and not a caramel crisis...)

Leslie said...

And forgot to say I LOVE the blue dish. Love it!

rebecca @ beurrista said...

Your pictures look divine!

Shandy said...

The truffles are perfect! I wish I had thought of only making 1/4 of the recipe. I usually have 1 and the rest have to find a new home. Lucky for me, I just started knitting and have a whole new group of people to share with!

You have been busy, making 2 different ice cream recipes, the truffles, experimenting with white chocolate for the truffles. . . WoW!

Jessica of My Baking Heart said...

Beautiful photos! I tasted more of the chocolate in mine, as well! :)

Anonymous said...

Hi Margot!

Thank you for stopping by and saying hello- it was SO wonderful to hear from you, as I've definitely missed talking each week. I'm glad to be back and am looking forward to keeping in touch again! How have you been doing? And of course, I have to ask, how is your beautiful Eloise? I definitely have to show you a picture from my puppy Bella's 3rd birthday... this year I made her a little 6" doggie cake to celebrate- it was the cutest thing!

I'm sorry these truffles weren't a hit for you and Josh, but they sure look lovely!

I hope you're feeling better and having a great start to your week! Talk to you soon :)

<3,
Joy

Mimi said...

They certainly look delicious.
Mimi

Nina said...

Looks great! I actually used semisweet and made a quarter recipe and also kept the peanut but amount the same..and I tasted peanut butter...or at least I thought I did!

Anonymous said...

At least they look nice. Too bad they weren't a hit, but like you said, it's bad news if you love everything. There's always next week!

Unknown said...

What a cute little dish Margot! Your truffles look terrific, but I'm sorry to hear they weren't a big hit in the taste department. Oh well, it happens. I'm surprised the peanut butter didn't come through in yours since you used the full amount. Sounds like maybe we should search elsewhere for a peanut butter truffle recipe...

I was so unproductive today and didn't get any marathon photos posted, but it's on the agenda for Wednesday's post. Shane's doing pretty well today, surprisingly! Sore, but not too bad.

Tessa said...

We thought they were just okay as well. I wasn't sure if it was my personal tastes though, as I'm not the biggest chocolate fan.

Good luck with your marathon this summer. Trust your training program come race day, and you'll do great!

spike. said...

you're right- you can't love them all! At least they look great- a shame about the pb flavor

Nancy/n.o.e said...

Love your honesty! Too bad the dog couldn't finish them for you.