Eat to the Beat - Strawberry Wine

Strawberry Wine

(if you are viewing this in GoogleReader, the video won't show up, but you can click the link to see it!)

Elly over at ellysaysopa came up with a GREAT new blogging event! Eat to the Beat challenges it's participants to make something that links to a song, lyrics, band name, etc. I love music and the first thing I thought of was "Strawberry Wine" by Deana Carter. This was actually one of the first country music songs I liked, and lead to an intense love affair with country music.

I started with, well, strawberries and wine (of the Italian sparkling sort), and made a Strawberry Bellini and Strawberry "Champagne" Truffles.

Strawberry Bellini

5 Strawberries, cleaned and stems removed

1/2 cup strawberry liquor

One (750ml) bottle Prosecco

Blend together the strawberries and liqour. Strain out the seeds, combine with chilled prosecco. DRINK. :-)

Strawberry "Champagne" Truffles
I have always used Alton Brown's chocolate truffle recipe for truffles, omitting the brandy and changing the flavor by using different extracts. Recently I started using molds to make them, instead of the traditional rolling into balls and coating. I think that worked best for this recipe, because the ganache center is thinner than usual. I cut down the recipe for testing, so I am going to try to scale it back up to the original amounts and include my adjustments.

Ingredients:
10 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped fine
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 1/4 cups Prosecco (Italian sparkling wine)
1 1/4 cups Strawberry Liquor
10 fresh strawberries, cleaned and stems removed
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped fine

Directions:
~Heat the 8 ounces of chopped chocolate in a heat safe mixing bowl. Heat in the microwave in 30 second increment on low power until melted, stirring inbetween. Coat the inside of the molds with a thin layer of chocolate. Set aside the remaining chocolate. Place the molds in the refrigerator to set the chocolate.

~Place the 10 ounces of chocolate and butter in a medium size glass mixing bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds. Remove and stir, and repeat this process 1 more time. Set aside.

~Blend together the strawberries and liqour, then combine with the prosecco. Heat over medium heat in a small sauce pan until reduced by half.

~Heat the heavy cream and corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Remove from the heat and pour the mixture over the melted chocolate mixture; let stand for 2 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, stir gently, starting in the middle of bowl and working in concentric circles until all chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth and creamy. Strain the strawberry reduction into the chocolate and stir gently until combined.

~Remove the molds from the refrigerator. Pour the ganache into a ziplock bag, cutting a VERY small tip off the corner. The ganache is very fluid at this stage and will basically come right out of the bag. The smaller the hole, the more control you will have. Fill the molds with the ganache, leaving a little room at the top to seal the candy closed with more chocolate. Place in the refrigerator to set (a good 30 min to an hour should be enough)

~If necessary, re-melt the chocolate by heating for a few seconds at low power in the microwave. Fill the remaining space in the molds with chocolate. Place in the refrigerator to set.

~When the chocolate is completely set, unmold the truffles. Enjoy!

These have a luscious creamy center with a hint of strawberry and wonderful rich chocolate to complement it.