Saturday 2 January 2010

Nigella's Christmas Puddini Bonbons (looks like a lovely way to use up the remainder of the Christmas pud)

I am going to attempt to cook these tomorrow morning... will let you know how it goes....


Original Ingredients:
  • 125g best-quality dark chocolate, finely chopped
  • 350g leftover, or freshly cooked and cooled, Christmas pudding
  • 60ml sherry
  • 2 x 15ml tablespoons golden syrup
      For decoration...
  • 100g white chocolate, finely chopped
  • 6 red glacé cherries
  • 6 green glacé cherries, or 6 short lengths angelica

OK so the only things I changed here were, regular chocolate instead of dark chocolate as it was what I had and regular sherry instead of the fancy one for the same reason. Here is my photo of ingredients:




 

Original Method:

1 Line a baking sheet (that will fit in the fridge) with clingfilm, baking parchment, foil or Bake-O-Glide, and set it to one side while you make the bonbons.

2 Melt the dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl suspended above a pan of simmering water, or in the microwave according to the manufacturer's guidelines.

3 Crumble the cold Christmas pudding into a bowl, add the  sherry and golden syrup and stir briskly till all is incorporated.

4 Pour in the melted dark chocolate and stir again: this will make the mixture much more cohesive.

5 To make this step easier, put on a pair of those disposable vinyl gloves sold in hardware stores and supermarkets, pinch out small lumps of mixture and roll so that you have little rounds about the size of a chocolate truffle. You should get about 30 out of this mixture; fight the impatient urge to make these balls larger as you go.

6 Cover with clingfilm and slot into the fridge to firm up.

7
To decorate, melt the white chocolate either in a heatproof bowl suspended over a pan of simmering water, or in the microwave according to the manufacturer's guidelines, then let it cool for about 5 minutes, to make it easier to work with, while you chop the red cherries into small pieces (to evoke berries), and snip the green cherries (or angelica) into miniature lengths, to represent leaves.

8 Using a teaspoon, drip a little of the melted but slightly cooled white chocolate on each bonbon, then arrange the infuriatingly sticky pieces of cherry on top.

9 Place in boxes to give away -- if you use small boxes that will fit 6 bonbons each, you will get 5 adorable presents out of this -- or on a plate to hand round with coffee, instead of dessert, after a post-Christmas dinner.

Makes about 30


MAKE AHEAD TIP:
Make the bonbons up to 2 weeks before eating or giving. Pack in boxes and store in a very cool place. If made 2 weeks ahead, add a label to say "keep cool and eat within 1 or 2 days".




My finished result:



To be honest, they are very pretty and therefore nice to give as a gift but I wasn't blown away by what they tasted like. Would love to know what you make of them....

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