“While there is tea, there is hope.”
Arthur Wing Pinero
Tea Rose Chocolate Truffles, simple chocolate goodness with a few of my favourite things. Chocolate, single cream and Mountain Rose Tea from Teabox. The tea is a fragrant blend of jasmine-infused winter flush black tea with rose and cardamom, and you can well imagine the lilting flavours it added to the truffles. Just right for the festive season. It’s also an extremely pretty tea. Take a look!Teabox is a brand I greatly admire, a brand I have been associated it since it was rebranded by Pentagram in 2015. Teabox, Kaushal Dugar’s brainchild for online tea retailing, aims to revolutionise the tea industry by selling products directly, days after it has been picked. It’s a model that works and works well, growing from strength to strength!Teabox is an experience, a tea experience which is crisp, simple, neat, offers great quality and above all, warmth. I’ve been styling the tea shoots for Teabox the past few years, and loved the very first lot I styled. In particular this banner below shot by the very talented photographer Mallikarjun Katakolin Bangalore is one of my favourites, a reflection of all things I love. The last lot I styled was for the Diwali shoot, and those are now up on Teabox. Here’s a few of those…With so much tea styling of late, it was but natural I develop an affinity to these leaves the world loves so much, even though I’m a ‘coffee person‘. I might not sip a cup of hot tea everyday, yet I’m happy to dive into iced tea, and of course play with the leaves!!Also happy to do recipes using tea leaves/blends which is something I increasingly enjoy. You might remember a batch of Mountain Rose Tea Cookies {below} that I baked a short while ago. I had such fun doing these cookies and shooting the images, the latter which is now quite addictive, that there’s been no looking back. From tea leaves are boring, to tea leaves are so happening, my world has come a long way. Teabox is leading in many ways, the latest it’s innovative concept called Teapac.TeaPacs are the first individually packaged tea bags sealed at the source using a natural Nitrogen flush that keeps the tea as fresh as the day it was picked. With them doing all the hard work, it leaves me a lot of time to get creative.Making chocolate truffles is probably the easiest thing ever. No rocket science here. Needless to say, make sure you use the best quality ingredients. The flavours really shine through, teasing the palette gently, making these the most delectable little bites ever. It’s great to involve kids in making these. Then sit back and see them disappear!Just right for the festive season, Tea Rose Chocolate Truffles are as simple as can be. They are also one of the best and most loved gifts ever. Vegetarian, eggless, gluten free, healthy, make ahead too, and indulgent in a guilt free way, can things get better? You could make these vegan using almond milk or coconut cream/milk. Feel free to experiment.As usual, I had a great time styling and shooting these. Served two ways, with a cup of brewed hot tea after dinner, or chilled Mountain Rose Iced Tea, my way, these make for great eye candy. They’ll be a great addition to your festive platter.Else make a batch, buy some tea and gift them to make someone happy something to remember! My next batch of truffles is going to be using the Kashmiri Kahwa Chaifrom Teabox. A blend of smoked green tea, spices and saffron from the valley, that tea has me smitten! Tempted to join in?
Tea Rose Chocolate Truffles, simple chocolate goodness with a few of my favourite things. Chocolate, single cream and Mountain Rose Tea from Teabox, so you can well imagine the lilting flavours it added to the truffles. Just right for the festive season and the recipe as simple as can be. Vegetarian, eggless, glutenfree, healthy, make ahead too, get indulgent in a guilt free way! You can make these vegan using almond milk or coconut cream/milk. Feel free to experiment.
Course Dessert
Cuisine French
Prep Time 5 minutesminutes
Cook Time 10 minutesminutes
Total Time 2 hourshours15 minutesminutes
Servings 16truffles
Ingredients
Truffles
250g52% dark couverture chocolateroom temperature
100gsingle/low fat creamroom temperature
2tbspor 2 teabags Teabox Mountain Rose Tea
Topping
20ggood quality cocoa powder to toss the truffles in
Instructions
Place the cream and tea leaves or teabags in a heavy bottom saucepan and simmer for 5 minutes.
In the meantime, finely chop the chocolate, or run it in the processor until almost ground. {I ran it in the Thermomix for 20 seconds, Speed 10}
Place in a large bowl.
If using tea leaves, strain the simmering cream over the ground chocolate. If using teabags, gently squeeze the teabags, and dispose, then pour the hot cream over the chocolate.
Whisk with a spatula or balloon whisk continuously until the chocolate melts and is smooth.
Cover the bowl with cling-wrap, and chill for 2-3 hours or until firm to touch.
Using a cookie scoop or round measuring spoon, portion out approx 16 bits. With very clean hands, roll into balls, then toss in the cocoa powder. You could toss a few in tea leaves as well, pressing gently to fix for a je ne sais quoi feel!
