Passionfruit Hearts Chocolates

Chocolates with melting passionfruit centres made of fresh cream and passionfruit and topped with edible gold leaf? Making your own chocolate for a Valentines Day present isn't as intimidating as you would think!

Passionfruit are one of my favourite fruit to cook or bake with. Much like lemons, they provide a tangy counterpoint to sweets. I don't tend to eat them straight though as I find them too tangy for that but I am on the search for the elusive passionfruit that I tried in Bali that are so sweet that they taste like vanilla slice icing. Does anyone know where I can get these in Sydney?

Speaking of things that have stolen my heart our little dog Mochi continues to thrive. Every day with this little one is a delight and every day we discover something new about her. Currently her favourite thing is chasing cats but alas the poor little thing is too slow to ever catch them. Her tail wags and she bounces happily towards them but they easily zip out of her sight. And the local cat loves to tease her too sitting underneath our balcony meowing plaintively for Mochi to come down and play chase. We may have a dog cat romance brewing here...

She is a very clean dog so she now sleeps on the bed which seems to allay some of her anxiety. Dogs are pack animals and they just want to be with their pack and she used to sleep badly when she was on the floor or in another room. We have a set of stairs for her to come and go from the bed and the whole apartment is covered in non stick matting so that she doesn't lose her grip and hurt herself (she has very bad knees). She's a good sleeper and snores lightly but ear plugs fix that. And some mornings I wake up to her face about an inch away from mine, her nose touching mine or sometimes she licks my nose. Or she sleeps between my feet.

She still wants human food but we don't really feed her this as there are a lot of foods that dogs can't eat. Her favourite foods are ice cream, poached salmon belly and Peking duck. Unfortunately chocolates are off limits to Mochi (although you'd require an excessive amount of white chocolate to reach toxic levels unlike dark chocolate!). It doesn't stop her from begging for these though!

So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever made your own chocolates? Do you have a fruit that you like to bake or cook with? And who or what has stolen your heart lately?

Passionfruit Melting Hearts Chocolates

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time:

Cooking time:

• 200g/7ozs. white chocolate
• 1/2 cup passionfruit
• 1/3 cup cream
• 300g/10.6ozs white chocolate (for outside)
• Edible gold leaf
• You will also need: a heart shaped chocolate mold and a dough scraper

Step 1 - Make the ganache filling. Chop the chocolate in small pieces. Heat the cream until almost boiling and pour over the chocolate. Allow the chocolate to melt completely. If it doesn't melt completely, place it over a double boiler or in a microwave on 50% heat until melted and smooth. Stir in the passionfruit, seeds and all and allow to cool. Keep in the fridge - it won't set super firm.

Step 2 - Take a heart shaped chocolate mold (I do not recommend using the Ikea ice cube mold shown as the chocolate doesn't grip the sides). Melt the 300g/10.6ozs of chocolate in a large bowl until smooth and then ladle into the mold. Then turn on its side and allow the excess to run back into the bowl. Use a scraping tool to scrape off the excess (this is important to make sure that the chocolates come out with clean edges). Allow to set completely. If you're making these on a really hot day you will need to place these in the fridge.

Step 3 - Using a piping bag or a small spoon fill in the molds with the passionfruit ganache filling and allow to set a bit firmer in the freezer. Then spoon over some more chocolate to seal the chocolate and use the scraping tool again to remove any excess chocolate. Allow to set completely. Decorate using edible gold leaf (I use tweezers to place the gold leaf and then my finger to smooth it out).

Jewellery by JY Jewels