Ottolenghi Champangne Truffles

I'm having fun at the moment working my way through a list of recipes for Christmas gifts, to give over the next few weeks.  Champagne truffles are a recipe I've been thinking about for a while - I'm really interested in making chocolates and truffles but prefer not to use fresh cream so that I feel a bit happier about giving them as gifts when I can't rely on them being kept in the fridge.  Most recipes I'd seen for champagne truffles used cream, and my own previous attempts had resulted in a very poor champagne flavour, usually drowned out by the bitter dark chocolate.  This recipe is by far the most successful - as long as I don't think about the amount of butter in them!  The mix of milk and dark chocolate means they're not too bitter, and the brandy heightens the alcohol flavour without it being overpowering.  The butter gives a very silky, melt-in-the-mouth texture; quite unusual but very popular. 

Ottolenghi Champagne Chocolates (makes about 40)

60g milk chocolate
200g dark chocolate
150g unsalted butter
80ml champagne
40ml brandy

Line a cake tin roughly 14cm square.  Break the chocolates into small pieces and melt gently either in the microwave or over a pan of simmering water.  Cut the butter into small pieces and set aside. 

Pour the champagne and brandy into a small saucepan and heat over a low heat until hot, but not boiling.  Pour over the chocolate and stir together gently.  Stir in the butter in a few additions, stirring together until the mixture is completely smooth.  Pour into the lined tray and place in the fridge for at least 3 hours, until set firm. 

When set, turn out and cut into roughly 2cm sqaures.  These can be coated in tempered dark chocolate and then rolled in cocoa powder, but I chose just to roll mine straight in cocoa powder, which worked well. 

(they were slightly impossible for me with my limited camera skills to photograph well, this is the best of a bad lot!)