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Valentine Chocolate Balls Recipe

There are other coating options such as choux pastry or beaten egg and biscuit crumbs, but here is the most authentic and divine one if you enjoy a culinary challenge.

Difficulty

Prep Time

1 hr (active) min 3 hrs (chill time)

Cooking Time

12 minutes

Serves

4

Recipe Ingredients

  • 100 g  SPAR Wheat Cake Flour (200 ml)
  •   8 ml SPAR White Sugar
  •   1 ml salt
  • 25 ml SPAR Full Cream Milk, warmed to blood temperature
  •   2 ml instant yeast
  • 1 X-Large SPAR egg, beaten
  • 20 ml SPAR Butter or Full Fat Margarine, partially melted
  • 750 ml bottle SPAR Sunflower Oil, for deep-frying
  • 12  white chocolate truffles (eg Lindt Lindor)

To serve

  • SPAR Classic Vanilla flavoured ice cream
  • A pouch of ready-made strawberry fruit topping sauce

Additional utensils

  • Heart-shaped cookie cutter
  • Oil frying thermometer

Recipe Method

  1. Prepare the dough the day before:
  2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt.
  3. Stir the yeast in the warmed milk until dissolved, and pour this liquid onto the dry ingredients, stirring to just combine.
  4. Slowly add the egg in small amounts, mixing between each addition.
  5. Scrape the mixture to ensure an even dough is forming, and while mixing again, slowly pour in the softened butter.  Continue mixing until the dough becomes smooth and elastic and pulls away from the bowl sides – about 6 minutes. Use a wooden spoon or electric hand-held mixer for this.  Lightly oil your hands to pick off and stretch a piece of dough gently - it should extend easily without tearing. 
  6. Chill the dough in a small greased, covered bowl, for at least 3 hours, but up to 24 hours is even fine.  If you notice the dough rising in this time, gently push it down.
  7. Unwrap and chill the chocolates.
  8. Prepare the ice cream scoops or Valentine heart-shapes, (pressed into heart-shape cookie cutters and refrozen before unmoulding), and refreeze them on an open tray.
  9. Arrange your kitchen work top so you have the bowl of chilled dough, tray of chilled chocolates, flour for dipping your hands, and a lightly floured baking sheet close by.
  10. Dip your hands in flour and pull off a prune-size ball of dough, flattening it out using your thumbs,  to give a good size wrap-over to enclose the chocolate thinly but adequately in one step, to hide the entire chocolate surface. 
  11. Twist and pinch of any excess dough, and roll the ball between your floured palms, to be sure any holes or seams are closed and tight and the surface is smooth as a large marble.
  12. Place it on the floured baking sheet. Continue with the remaining few chocolates, spacing them so they do not touch one another.
  13. OPTIONAL: Cover then freeze the tray of coated balls overnight or longer, but remove them no more than 30 minutes before cooking.
  14. Pour oil up to 1/3 full in a fryer, and heat it slowly to reach 180 - 190 °C.   Fry in batches of 3 balls each, for 2 ½ - 3 minutes. They will readily float, so gently turn and press them down with a spoon so they brown all over evenly.
  15. Drain on paper towels and arrange 3 on each serving plate with the recommended accompaniments.  Serve immediately.

Hints & Tips

Steps 1-7 can all be done the day before, so the frying and plating of Steps 8-9  is easily done at the last minute just before serving.