March 1st is the feast day of St. David, the patron saint of Wales, and in honour of my wife’s Welsh heritage we always prepare a Welsh related dish to celebrate the day, such as Welsh cakes or bara brith.
Bara brith is a spiced fruity loaf made with dried fruit, which is traditionally soaked overnight in tea to boost the flavour. It translates from the Welsh into “speckled bread”.
It’s great as it is, especially when sliced and buttered, but I thought it also made a great candidate to turn into a chocolate truffle.
I used a technique I’ve used before to turn a cake or a loaf into a truffle, making the centres with a mixture of crumbled cake, syrup and chocolate before rolling them in yet more chocolate to produce the final truffle. You can experiment with any cake you like to make your own creations – the only limit is your imagination.
The bara brith truffles were great: moist and tasty and a perfect way to celebrate St. David’s Day.
Bara Brith Truffles
8oz bara brith, crumbled (click here for recipe)
2oz agave syrup
1oz unsalted butter
Pinch of salt
4oz milk chocolate (I used Guittard 38% Organic Milk Chocolate)
6oz dark chocolate to cover (I used Ghiradelli 60%)
Place the crumbled bara brith into a bowl. Melt the agave syrup and butter together in a small pan over medium heat.
Pour the syrup mixture over the crumbled bara brith and mix well to combine. Add a pinch of salt.
Melt the milk chocolate over medium heat in a double boiler or a glass bowl over a pan of water. Add the melted chocolate to the bara brith and syrup mixture and stir until combined.
When cool, place in the refrigerator for an hour or two until the mixture is firm.
Taking a teaspoon full of the mixture at a time, roll into balls to form the centres of the truffles. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, then return to the fridge to firm up again.
Melt the dark chocolate for the coating in a double boiler. Dip the truffle centres in the melted chocolate to coat and place on baking parchment to set before enjoying.
