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

HCB - ChocolateTomato Cake with Mystery Ganache

This week's recipe for the Heavenly Cake Bakers, Chocolate Tomato Cake with Mystery Ganache, brought about lots of hesitation. Yes, you read the title correctly. There's tomato soup in this week's cake and frosting. Rose devised a chocolate cake recipe as well as a frosting recipe that incorporated canned Campbell's condensed tomato soup. Knowing Rose, this cake couldn't possibly be a stinker, so I went ahead and made it (although I did make just half the recipe). The batter came together quickly, using the usual two-stage mixing method. The ganache, which had some tomato soup in it as well, was a breeze too. Although, I ran out of patience after waiting 3 hours and it still wasn't at frosting consistency. So at 11pm, I gave up and did what I've done before which is to make a whipped ganache instead. You can find instructions for that in a previous post. I decided to spruce the cake up a little so I adorned the top with a chocolate drizzle and some homemade cocoa truffles.

There it is in full glory :o)

I served this cake at a dinner party tonight and it was a big hit. Everybody loved how chocolatey it was. Although I didn't tell them about the tomato, they didn't taste anything "funny". I was going to tell them afterwards, but I forgot. Will let them know when I see them again.

For step-by-step pictures and my final thoughts and tips, please continue reading.

Truffle Varieties and Ideas (no SMS)

Although I skipped this week's SMS challenge, which was Hazelnut Truffles, I wanted to share with you pictures of truffles I have made in the past. I have played with various flavor and texture combinations and they were all very tasty. My base recipe for truffles is from a book called The Ultimate Candy Book (absolutely love this book). As for the variations, you just let your imagination and creativity run wild :o)

Annie of Living Life Foodcariously chose this week's SMS recipe. You can find the recipe here. Don't forget to check out the creativity of other SMS bakers during truffle week.

Simply roll ganache in cocoa powder for a big, dark and bitter chocolate punch followed by the smooth and creamy chocolate ganache finish

Raspberry-flavored ganache truffles coated with finely chopped good-quality white chocolate

Almond-flavored ganache truffles with unblanched toasted almonds for a nice crunch

Mint-flavored ganache truffles coated with finely chopped good-quality milk chocolate

Vanilla-flavored ganache truffles dipped in tempered good-quality milk chocolate
(these were wedding favors for a friend)