Spicy Nutella and Pequin Pepper Truffles

Today is World Nutella Day, an excellent tradition started by Sara from Ms. Advertures in Italy and Michelle from Bleeding Espresso, but one which I have never celebrated… Until today! I had forgotten about it until this morning, but as soon as I saw Sara’s blog post, I was overwhelmed by a surge of Nutella-inspried enthusiasm and ran out to buy the necessary ingredients. I knew I wanted to use some Pequin chilies I had brought back from Texas and could think of no better way to let the flavors shine than the good old-fashioned truffle. These are wickedly good. I had all sorts of plans to bring them to a dinner party tomorrow night but they’ll never make it. I had to fend off my husband (and myself) from eating them all until we even took a decent picture for this post… And as of now, the photo is all that remains!

Spicy Nutella and Pequin Pepper Truffles

Adapted from Sunita’s world

• 400 g /  one 13-oz-jar of Nutella
• 200 g / two 3.5 oz bars of dark chocolate (70% cocoa), separated
• 15 g / 1 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 tsp pequin chili pepper or 1 tsp cayenne pepper

In a bowl, place all the nutella, half of the dark chocolate (100 g), pequin (or cayenne) chili pepper and butter. In a microwave or double boiler, heat the mixture till the chocolate melts.

Remove the bowl from the microwave or double boiler. Mix vigorously to combine. As the mixture begins to cool, it will come away from the bowl easily. Shape it into a mound, place it again in the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour or till the mixture is firm enough to handle.

Roll into about 25 walnut-sized balls. If the mixture begins to feel too soft or sticky, chill a little more. Place the chocolate balls in the freezer for 15 minutes.

In the meantime, melt the other 100 g of chocolate in a microwave or double boiler, remove from heat. Spear one of the frozen chocolate balls with a toothpick and dip in the melted chocolate. Turn the toothpick slowly and allow excess chocolate to drip off. Sprinkle the top of the truffle with paprika or chile pepper. When the chocolate firms, remove the toothpick and transfer the truffle to a parchment-lined tray. Repeat with remaining chocolate balls.

Let truffles sit at room temperature for 15 minutes, then refrigerate until ready to serve. If they harden to much, remove from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before serving.

Photo by Emilio Scoti