IOTD

Dark Chocolate Cashew Cream Truffles

Dark Chocolate Cashew Cream Truffles
Recipe from Vegan Chocolate by Fran Costigan
“These were really meant to be just a quick experiment in trying out a recipe from Fran Costigan’s new cook book, but then they turned into a pop one…or 3 every night kind of addiction.  Plus, these are seriously the easiest truffles you have ever seen with so many possibilities! I opted for a simple coating of chocolate and dusting of powdered sugar, but crushed nuts or candy canes would probably be perfect for these.”

Ingredients:

For the cashew cream:

1 cup cashews, soaked overnight

2/3 cup water

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the truffles:

7 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted

Powdered sugar, for dusting

Instructions:

– To prepare the cashew cream:

– Combine cashews, water, maple syrup, and vanilla extract in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade. Process until smooth. This could take a few minutes, but keep processing until smooth. Pour the cashew cream into a saucepan and set aside.

– To prepare the truffles:

– Line a square baking dish with parchment paper, set aside.

– Heat the cashew cream that was placed into a saucepan over low heat, add dark chocolate and continuously stir until chocolate is completely melted. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Pour ganache into the prepared square baking dish. Refrigerate for 2 hours, then freeze for 4 hours or overnight.

– After ganache has been frozen, remove from pan and let thaw at room temperature for a few minutes until softened. Cut ganache into square pieces. Transfer pieces to a cookie sheet or cooling rack placed over a baking sheet. Pour melted semisweet chocolate over all pieces, coating each piece in chocolate. Allow to harden at room temperature, then transfer to refrigerator or freezer to store.

Hawaiian Vintage Chocolate Cashew Truffles
Recipe courtesy of Emeril Lagasse
SHOW:The Essence of Emeril

Total Time: 5 hr 20 min
Prep: 5 hr
Cook: 20 min
Yield: About 40

Ingredients:

1 cup heavy cream

1 vanilla bean, halved, seeds scraped from pod

1 pound Hawaiian Vintage Chocolate semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 tablespoon Nocello

1 cup cashews, finely chopped and lightly toasted

Directions

In a saucepan, bring the cream and vanilla bean and seeds to a simmer over medium heat. Remove the pan from the heat and remove the vanilla bean. Add the chocolate and whisk until smooth. Mix in the Nocello. Cool completely, stirring occasionally, usually about 30 minutes. Chill the mixture, covered, until firm, usually 2 to 3 hours.

Line a baking sheet with waxed paper and place the chopped, toasted nuts in a medium bowl or baking dish. Using a melon baller, scoop out the truffle mixture to form 1-inch round balls. Roll lightly in your hands if necessary to shape, then roll in the nuts, pressing lightly so that nuts adhere to the truffle. Place truffles on prepared baking sheet, cover and chill until firm, about 2 hours.

Thank you, Skeen for the recipe! xoxo

Calendar day; April 21, 2015

Tuesday, the 21st of April, 2015 is the 111th day in 2015 and in the 17th calendar week.

General Events:

Kindergarten Day
April 21, 2015 in the World

Kindergarten Day takes place on April 21, 2015. The day celebrates the preschool educational institution for children and honors the creator of the concept of the “kindergarten”. The term “kindergarten” was created by Friedrich Fröbel (born on April 21, 1782) for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school. His goal was that children should be taken care of and nourished in “children’s gardens” like plants in a garden.

The term kindergarden is used around the world to describe a variety of different institutions that have been developed for children ranging from the ages of two to seven, depending on the country concerned. Many of the activities developed by Fröbel are also used around the world under other names.

In the United States, kindergartens are usually part of the K-12 educational system. It is only one school-year. Children usually attend kindergarten around age 5 to 6. Kindergarten is considered the first year of formal education, although the child may have gone to preschool or Pre-K.

Where is the event?
Worldwide

Grounation Day
April 21, 2015 in Jamaica

Grounation Day (April 21) is an important Rastafari holy day, and second after Coronation Day (November 2). It is celebrated in honor of Haile Selassie’s 1966 visit to Jamaica.

Haile Selassie visited Jamaica on Thursday, 21 April 1966. Some 100,000 Rastafari from all over Jamaica descended on Palisadoes Airport in Kingston, having heard that the man whom they considered to be God was coming to visit them. They waited at the airport playing drums and smoking large quantities of marijuana. Today the Rastafari celebrate that Haile Selassie visited Jamaica on April 21st.

Where is Grounation Day?
Nationwide Jamaica

San Jacinto Day
April 21, 2015 in Texas

San Jacinto Day is observed on April 21, 2015. San Jacinto Day is the celebration of the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836. It was the final battle of the Texas Revolution where Texas won its independence from Mexico. It is an official holiday in the State of Texas. An annual festival, which includes a reenactment, is held on the site of the battle.

Where is San Jacinto Day?
Nationwide Texas

Queen’s Birthday
April 21, 2015 in the Commonwealth

The Queen’s birthday, also known as the Queen’s Official Birthday, is celebrated in many Commonwealth countries around the world. It is a public holiday in countries and territories such as Australia, New Zealand, and Gibraltar, although on different dates.

The Queen celebrates two birthdays each year: her actual birthday on 21 April and her official birthday on a Saturday in June.

Official celebrations to mark Sovereigns’ birthday have often been held on a day other than the actual birthday, particularly when the actual birthday has not been in the summer. King Edward VII, for example, was born on 9 November, but his official birthday was marked throughout his reign in May or June when there was a greater likelihood of good weather for the Birthday Parade, also known as Trooping the Colour.

The Queen usually spends her actual birthday privately, but the occasion is marked publicly by gun salutes in central London at midday: a 41 gun salute in Hyde Park, a 21 gun salute in Windsor Great Park and a 62 gun salute at the Tower of London. In 2006, Her Majesty celebrated her 80th Birthday in 2006 with a walkabout in the streets outside of Windsor Castle to meet well-wishers.

On her official birthday, Her Majesty is joined by other members of the Royal Family at the spectacular Trooping the Colour parade which moves between Buckingham Palace, The Mall and Horseguards’ Parade.

Where is Queen’s Birthday?
Nationwide Commonwealth

National Chocolate Covered Cashew Truffle Day
April 21, 2015 in the USA

This is one of the more specific holidays to celebrate the chocolate-covered cashew truffle.  A truffle is a sweet made with chocolate ganache, then covered with cocoa powder. And, a cashew is actually not a nut but a seed from the cashew apple.

Put it together, then cover it with chocolate and it sounds like a great treat to celebrate.

Where is the event?
Nationwide USA

Historical Events on 21st April:

753 BC – Romulus and Remus found Rome (traditional date)

43 BC – Battle of Mutina: Mark Antony is again defeated in battle by Aulus Hirtius, who is killed. Antony fails to capture Mutina and Decimus Brutus is murdered shortly after

1453 – Turkish fleet sinks ships Golden Receiver in Constantinople

1526 – Battle at Panipat: Mogol Emperor Babur beats Sultan Ibrahim Lodi – rise of the Mughal Empire

1536 – Thomas Cromwell begins to plot Anne Boleyn’s downfall while feigning illness

1649 – Maryland Toleration Act passed, allowing all freedom of worship

1785 – Russian tsarina Catharina II ends noble privileges

1792 – Tiradentes, a revolutionary leading movement for Brazil’s independence, is hanged, drawn and quartered

1836 – Battle of San Jacinto, in which Texas wins independence from Mexico

1857 – Alexander Douglas patents the bustle

1863 – Bahá’u’lláh, founder of the Bahá’í Faith, enters gardens of Rivden, near Baghdad. Makes the declaration of aha’u’llah during 12 days spent there

1878 – Ship Azor leaves Charleston with 206 blacks for Liberia

1898 – Spanish-American War: The U.S. Congress, on April 25, recognizes that a state of war exists between the United States and Spain as of this date

1916 – Sir Roger Casement, an Ulster Protestant and ardent Irish nationalist, lands on the coast from a German submarine; he attempts to get German aid for an uprising against the British

1918 – World War I: German fighter ace Baron Manfred von Richthofen, known as “The Red Baron”, is shot down and killed over Vaux sur Somme in France. Canadian pilot Captain Arthur Roy Brown was credited with the kill

1945 – He Shima Okinawa conquered in 5 days, 5,000 die

1952 – BOAC begins 1st passenger service with jets (London-Rome route)

1959 – 1211-kg great white shark becomes largest fish ever caught on a rod

1960 – Founding of the Orthodox Bahá’í Faith in Washington, D.C.

1966 – Emperor Haile Selassie (Ethiopia) visits Kingston Jamaica

1969 – The Ministry of Defence in London announces that British troops would be used in Northern Ireland to guard key public installations following a series of bombings

1975 – Last South Vietnam President Nguyen Van Thieu resigns after 10 years

1981 – US furnish $1 billion in arms to Saudi-Arabia

1982 – Dr Michael E Bakey performs 1st successful heart implant

1984 – Centers for Disease Cont says virus discovered in France causes AIDS

1989 – Thousands of Chinese crowd into Beijing’s Tiananmen Square cheering students demanding greater political freedom

1993 – Brazil votes against a monarchy

1994 – The first discoveries of extrasolar planets are announced by astronomer Alexander Wolszczan

1995 – FBI arrested Timothy McVeigh & charge him with Oklahoma City bombing

1997 – Ashes of Timothy Leary & Gene Roddenberry launched into orbit