Good ingredients really make a difference when you're making these chocolate truffle trees
Ingredients
- 125g butter, at room temperature
- 125g golden caster sugar
- 2 medium eggs
- 125g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp milk
For the truffle trees
- 300g good milk chocolate, broken into squares (we used Green & Black’s)
- 284ml carton double cream
- 50g butter, cut into cubes
- 12 ice cream waffle cones
- 12 candy canes (from Waitrose)
- 200g white chocolate, broken into squares
- Edible silver balls
Method
- 1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan180°C/gas 6. Line a 12-hole bun tin with foil fairy cake cases. Put the butter, sugar, eggs, flour and vanilla extract in a large bowl and, using an electric hand whisk, whisk until smooth. Add the milk and whisk until it’s a dropping consistency.
- 2. Divide the mixture between each fairy cake case. Bake for 15 minutes, until they are risen and golden. Remove from the oven and put on a wire rack to cool.
- 3. Make the truffle trees. Put the milk chocolate into a large jug with the cream and butter. Microwave on medium (500W) for 2 minutes, then stir and microwave on high (900W) for 1 more minute until just melted. Put a spoonful of the mixture on top of each fairy cake.
- 4. Put 12 glasses onto a tray and stand a cone in each of them. Carefully divide the remaining chocolate between the cones. Chill for at least 1 hour, until the chocolate is firm.
- 5. Use scissors to trim off the curved end of each waffle cone to make straight edges. Push the curved ends of the candy canes into the chocolate cones, then push the candy canes that are still exposed into the chocolate-covered fairy cakes.
- 6. Put the white chocolate into a bowl and microwave on medium (500W) for 2 minutes, then stir and cook for another minute. Take a pastry brush and paint the chocolate over the waffle cones to cover. Press silver balls onto the white chocolate to decorate. Leave to set, then wrap in cellophane and tie with ribbon.
Chef's tip
You’ll need 12 fairy cake cases. We used foil ones by Supercook, available from Sainsbury’s. Use chocolate finger biscuits if you can’t find candy canes.