23 days until Thanksgiving

Not that I'm counting or anything :] I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween! I'm sure you didn't get as crazy as my roommates and I did [picture the 3 girls sitting on a bed wearing mouse ears, watching Casper and eating Indian takeout- oh yea] Anyways, I decided to start November with something a little out of the ordinary and unexpected, and although it didn't turn out exactly how I expected flavor-wise, it DID work out, and i think I really enjoy the texture that this ganache ended up having. What is this unusual ganache? ... SWEET CORN. Yes. Corn + Chocolate = not disgusting. It didn't end up having a strong corn flavor, which i would have liked, but if i get a chance to redo it sometime, I would add more corn and try to make it's flavor much more pronounced. I did keep the corn kernels whole instead of pureeing them up, and I actually enjoyed that because you bite into the truffle and get 1 or 2 kernels that pop in your mouth in a refreshing way.
In other exciting news! I received my order from Chef Rubber, an awesome pastry supply company that has everything from tools to ingredients, check it out! And their prices are pretty reasonable, I love their stuff. Anyways, I ordered Glucose Syrup and Pectin. Glucose Syrup is an inverted sugar syrup that is sometimes used in ganaches to help create a better mouthfeel [it also adds a bit of sweetness, but its purpose is not mainly for flavor]. In all of the recipes I post, they are originally formulated to be used with glucose syrup, but I have been testing them and they CAN be used without it. So i will continue to post the recipes sans-glucose, because I know it is not an ingredient that is readily available to everyone [unless you want to go to chef rubber and buy it, it actually isn't expensive]. If you DO however have glucose syrup and would like to know the complete recipe including the glucose syrup measurements, just ask for it in a comment and I can get them to you :]

Sweet Corn Truffles

Heavy Cream: 40g

Sweet Corn: 40g

White Chocolate: 250g

Dark Chocolate for dipping

1. Cut the corn kernels off the corn [or you can used canned corn to make it easier if you prefer]

2. Boil the corn in a LARGE pot of water. You want to OVERCOOK the corn so it is slightly mushing and not very crisp.

3. Once the corn is done, strain it and add it to the cream. Bring to a boil.

4. Allow the cream/corn mixture to cool between 105 - 110 F, then pour over the tempered  white chocolate.

5. Pour ganache into a "frame" and allow to set at least 1 hour.

After ganache has set, scoop into balls using a spoon and dip in dark chocolate.

naked corn

corn kernels

BOIL!

CORN!?

Also: Check out 33 Shades of Green [awesome blog]