Donsuemor Almond Cake Truffles

Back in July, I was contacted by a Donsuemor representative and asked if I was interested in participating in Donsuemor's "Dessert a Day" celebration in October for National Dessert Month. Of course I was interested!! :o) A very big "thank you" goes out to my friend and fellow blogger, Monica of Sweetbites, for referring me to Donsuemor!!

The challenge at hand: create a recipe using a Donsuemor product. They sell all sorts of lovely madeleines and financiers, and they're made with real butter!! After some deliberation, I eventually narrowed down my choice to the Lemon Zest Madeleines and the French Almond Cakes. When the sample box arrived, hubby and I couldn't wait to try them. They were all individually packed and visually they were both equally impressive. The Lemon Zest madeleine was buttery with a wonderful lemon taste and aroma, while the French Almond Cakes were exceptionally moist and packed with lots of almond flavor.

Now it was time to get creative and come up with a dessert recipe that I could use these products in. I had many ideas but eventually narrowed it down to two. In this post, I will share with you the recipe for my Donsuemor Almond Cake Truffles. The second Donsuemor recipe will be posted tomorrow, so stay tuned :o)

Donsuemor Almond Cake Truffles

I love almonds, especially toasted almonds because toasting brings out so much of their flavor. I'm also a big fan of truffles and I happen to love fruit in my desserts. That's how the idea of the Donsuemor Almond Cake Truffles was born: a creamy center made with Donsuemor French Almond Cakes, sweetened cream cheese and forest berry preserves, coated in a dark chocolate ganache and rolled in finely chopped toasted almonds.

Donsuemor Almond Cake Truffles
(recipe created by Hanaa of HanaasKitchen for Donsuemor)
Yields: 16 truffles

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of whole almonds, preferably toasted (I used unblanched almonds)
• 1/4 cup of heavy cream
• 1/3 cup of semisweet chocolate chips (I used Hershey Dark Chocolate Chips)
• 6 Donsuemor French Almond Cakes
• 2 oz cream cheese
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp almond extract
• 1 Tbsp forest berry preserves (raspberry preserves would work too)

Instructions:

• If you prefer toasted almonds, preheat the oven to 350F degrees and toast the almonds until fragrant, about 7-8 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes.
• Chop the almonds (toasted or untoasted) in the food processor and set aside.
• Make the ganache: heat the heavy cream in a pan over medium heat until bubbles form around the edges. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips and stir until the chocolate is completely melted. Set aside.
• Break up each French Almond Cake into roughly 4 pieces and put it in the food processor. Pulse in 1 second increments until the cakes resemble coarse crumbs, about 10 pulses.
• Bring the cream cheese to room temperature by microwaving it for 10 seconds, or until softened.
• Add the sugar, almond extract and berry preserves to the cream cheese. Stir to combine.
• Add the cake crumbs to the cream cheese mixture and gently fold the cake crumbs into the cream cheese mixture.
• Take a heaping teaspoon of this cake mixture and roll it into a ball between the palms of your hand. Repeat with the remainder of the cake mixture.
• Freeze the truffle centers for about 10 minutes.
• Remove the truffle centers from the freezer and coat each one with the ganache. Transfer the truffle to the bowl of chopped almonds and gently roll it in the almonds until it's completely covered. Repeat with the remainder of the truffle centers.
• Freeze the truffles for 5 minutes for the ganache to set.
• Place each truffle in a small (truffle size) paper liner before serving.
• Bon appetit!

Step-by-step pictures:

Grind the French Almond Cakes into coarse crumbs

Chopped French Almond Cakes

Mise en place: preserves, cake crumbs, toasted/chopped almonds, and cream cheese

Added the preserves to the cream cheese mixtures

Cream cheese mixture is ready for the cake crumbs

The truffle center mixture is ready to be rolled into balls

Roll each truffle center in the ganache by rotating it inside a spoon

For a little variety, I left some plain and rolled some in toasted almonds

Bon appetit!