English Opera Creams

The English love their chocolates – the name for these sweets originated with the tradition of taking a box of chocolates to nibble on at the opera. These candies would originally have been made with a cooked fondant. As the fondant is tricky to make, here is an uncooked version that works very well. Flavour the mixture with orange, lemon, peppermint or anise extract or use orange or other flavoured liqueurs. You can add chopped nuts, dried fruits or chocolate for texture variations. You can also dip the creams into white chocolate instead of bittersweet, if desired. Use your imagination to decorate the tops of the chocolates using dried or crystallized fruits or pipe chocolate swirls. Use an excellent-quality European chocolate to make these.

4 oz (125 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 oz (125 g) brick cream cheese, at room temperature
1 lb (500 g) icing sugar
½ tsp (2 mL) vanilla
½ tsp (2 mL) salt
12 oz (375 g) bittersweet chocolate

Suggested Flavourings:

2 drops peppermint oil or,
2 drops orange oil or,
1 tsp (5 mL) Chambord or,
1 tsp (5 mL) coffee liqueur

Garnishes:

Dragées, gold leaf flakes, crystallized violets, dried cherries, crystallized ginger

 

1. With an electric mixer, cream together butter and cream cheese until soft and fluffy. Slowly beat in icing sugar, vanilla and salt. When incorporated and the mixture is the texture of fondant (firm enough to roll into a ball), divide mixture into 4 parts.

2. Flavour each part with our suggested flavourings or your own favourites. Taste each batch to make sure enough flavouring is added. Roll into 1-inch (2.5-cm) balls and flatten slightly.

3. Freeze until hardened, about 4 hours or overnight.

4. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Melt bittersweet chocolate on low heat in a heavy-bottomed pan. Remove chocolate from heat. When chocolate is liquid, place fondant balls on a dipping fork or skewer and roll in melted chocolate. Allow excess chocolate to drip off and then place on parchment paper.

5. Leave in a cool place to set, when set but not yet hardened, score top of chocolate with fork ,press a garnish onto the top or drizzle some melted chocolate in a pattern. Store in a tin in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

 

Makes about 4 dozen chocolates