I am a huge fan of the films of Studio Ghibli and especially love the works of Hiyao Miyazaki. So many of his films are filled with real characters, epics tales, and a fair bit of magic. Re-watching “Spirited Away” recently I was reminded of the soot sprites that Sen encounters in the furnace room. (These little guys also appear in “My Neighbor Totoro.”) They have these big, sweet eyes, and long, spider-like arms and legs and they work tirelessly to move the coal from the coal room into the fires. They are rewarded with their favorite food, little candy stars, which in Japan are actually a confection called Konpeito! The little sprites seemed like the perfect creature to turn into a tasty treat. So, I decided to create Chocolate Soot Sprite Truffles!
To make the truffles you will need:
- For the truffles:
- 8 oz. semi-sweet or dark chocolate
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- OPTIONAL – Alternate Flavorings: Almond, Raspberry or Mint Extract, Fresh Mint Leaves, Cinnamon, Rum, Amaretto, or Orange Liqueur
- About 10 Oreo-type chocolate sandwich cookies
- For the Decoration:
- A small handful of white candy melts
- A few black candy melts (or dark chocolate)
- Small candy stars, flowers, or sprinkles
HOW TO MELT CANDY MELTS
Stove top: melt in a heat-proof bowl stirring constantly as it melts over a double boiler (a little bit of water in a saucepan that is a bit smaller than the size of your bowl. Make sure water doesn’t actually touch the bowl). Glass and Metal bowls keep the heat and can potentially over-heat the candy melts causing them to get too thick. So be careful.
Microwave: melt in a microwave-safe bowl at 50% power for 1 minute stir, 30 seconds, stir, 10-20 seconds, stir, and do this until they are all melted. Microwaves heat unevenly so you must stir well in between heatings.
Let me show you how it’s done!
- Chop the chocolate into small pieces either by hand or in a food processor. The chocolate will melt more easily and evenly if it’s chopped finely. Place the chopped chocolate into a heat-proof mixing bowl.
- Heat the heavy cream on the stove in a small saucepan until it just begins to boil. Immediately take off the heat and add the vanilla and/or other flavorings of your choice.
- Pour the hot cream through a sieve over the chopped chocolate. (This gets out any thick bits of cream that might be present). Let sit for a few seconds and then whisk together until glossy and smooth.
- Let the truffle mixture set at room temperature for a few hours or in the fridge for about an hour. Just keep checking it. You want it to be scoopable and to hold its shape but not so firm you can’t get your ice cream scoop through it!
- Remove the cream from the centers of your cookies and place the chocolate cookies into a large Ziploc bag. Crush the cookies into a fine crumb using a rolling pin, mallet, or your hands. Set aside.
- Print out the Soot Sprite template from here: Soot Sprite Template and tape it onto a piece of wax paper with the image side showing through the paper.
- Melt the candy melts and put them into two separate pastry bags fitted with small rounds tips, or small Ziploc bags with a tiny corner cut off of each.
- Pipe the whites of the eyes in white candy melt following the template. Shake the template/wax paper vigorously to smooth out the surface of the eyes.
- Before the white set completely go back over with the black candy melts to make the pupils.
- Once the truffle mixture has set, use a 1 ½ inch ice cream scoop to from the truffles. Place them on a cutting board or work surface.
- Using gloves roll the truffles between your hands and then place them in the bag of cookie crumbs.
- Shake the truffles around to coat them in their cookie “soot”.
- Use some extra melted white candy melt as glue and apply the eyes to the truffles.
- Sprinkle candy stars over the truffles – it’s their favorite food after all!
And there you go – Chocolate Soot Sprite Truffles!
