Earl Grey Lavender Truffles Food

EARL-GREY TRUFFLES

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, stir together cream and tea over medium heat. Bring just to a simmer, then let mixture continue to gently simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool completely. Place chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl.
• Pass cream mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean saucepan. Bring to a boil, then pour over chocolate and let stand 3 minutes. Stir until smooth, then stir in butter and vanilla. Refrigerate until set, at least 30 minutes or, covered with plastic wrap, up to 2 days.
• Place cocoa in a bowl. Scoop mixture with a level teaspoon, then dust hands with cocoa and roll truffles into balls. Coat your hands with a bit of melted chocolate and roll truffles in your hands to lightly coat to create a "shell".
• Drop truffles into bowl of cocoa; toss to coat. Refrigerate in an air-tight container until ready to serve, at least 30 minutes and up to 1 week. Let stand at room temperature 15 minutes before serving.

EARL GREY LAVENDER CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine the butter and the cream, and heat over medium heat to melt the butter. Bring the mixture to a light simmer, add the tea, and reduce the heat to medium-low. Continue simmering for about 10 minutes to infuse the cream with the tea flavor.
• In the meantime, pulse the dark chocolate pistoles in the food processor to grind the chocolate. Transfer the ground chocolate to a metal bowl.
• When the tea has steeped sufficiently, strain the cream mixture over the chocolate, pressing the tea leaves into the strainer to extract all the cream. Whisk the cream/chocolate mixture until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill it for about 2 hours until the mixture is firm enough to scoop and roll into truffles.
• Toss each truffle in the cocoa powder to coat it, tapping off the excess.
• Store the truffles in an airtight container.

CHOCOLATE EARL GREY TRUFFLES

Steps:

• Bring cream and butter to a boil in a small heavy saucepan and stir in tea leaves. Remove from heat and let steep 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, finely grind chocolate in a food processor and transfer to a bowl. Pour cream through a fine-mesh sieve onto chocolate, pressing on and discarding tea leaves, then whisk until smooth. Chill ganache, covered, until firm, about 2 hours.
• Spoon level teaspoons of ganache onto a baking sheet. Put cocoa in a bowl, then dust your palms lightly with it. Roll each piece of ganache into a ball (wash your hands and redust as they become sticky). Drop several balls at a time into bowl of cocoa and turn to coat. Transfer as coated to an airtight container, separating layers with wax paper.

EARL GREY-SPIKED CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES

Steps:

• In a saucepan, combine the creme fraiche and tea and bring to a boil over medium heat. As soon as it boils, turn off the heat.
• Meanwhile, put the chopped bittersweet chocolate in a medium bowl. Strain the hot creme fraiche mixture into the bowl. Whisk until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Cover and let rest in a cool place overnight. The mixture will become firm but not hard.
• The next day, using a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip, pipe bite-size "kisses" (like Hershey's Kisses) of the mixture onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Refrigerate briefly just until set, about 30 minutes. Use your palm to gently press down the point that sticks up on each truffle. Transfer to the freezer and freeze until hard, 2 to 3 hours or overnight.
• In the top of a double boiler set over barely simmering water, melt the semisweet chocolate. It should be liquid, but not so hot that you can't touch it; if it is too hot for you, wear disposable surgical gloves. Spread the cocoa powder out on a sheet pan with sides.
• Working in 2 batches if necessary to avoid crowding the pan of cocoa, dip the frozen truffle centers 1 at a time into the melted chocolate, shake off any excess, and set them down in the cocoa. When all the truffle centers are dipped and the chocolate has started to set, gently but thoroughly shake the sheet pan to roll the truffles around in the cocoa until coated. Carefully remove to another sheet pan and refrigerate, uncovered, 30 minutes. (You can sift the unused cocoa and use it for another purpose.)
• Transfer to an airtight container and keep chilled until almost ready to serve. Bring to room temperature before serving.

LAVENDER EARL GREY SCONES

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
• 2. Steep 1 heaping teaspoon of the lavender Earl Grey tea leaves in 1/4 cup boiling-hot water for 3 minutes. Strain, and reserve the tea.
• 3. In a coffee or spice grinder, grind the remaining teaspoon of lavender Earl Grey tea leaves to a very fine powder. Place the powder in a large mixing bowl, and add the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir until combined.
• 4. With clean hands, work the butter into the dry mixture until it is thoroughly incorporated and has the consistency of fine breadcrumbs.
• 5. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour the buttermilk, vanilla extract, and 1 tablespoon of the brewed lavender Earl Grey tea into the well. Combine the ingredients until all the dry mix is wet, but do not knead!
• 6. Turn the mixture onto a floured surface and gather the dough together. Gently pat the dough to make a rectangle about 1 1/2 inches thick. Using a dough cutter, cut the scones into wedges measuring about 3 1/2 x 4 inches, and lay them on a nonstick baking sheet. Gather the remaining dough together lightly to cut out more scones-just don't knead the dough too much.