Chocolate Truffle Filo Tulips

I featured a photo of these little beauties a couple of Smörgåsbords ago, promising the recipe at a later date. Well, here it is!

Ingredients (makes approx. 15 cups)

For the filo cups:
3-6 sheets filo pastry
45g/1.5oz unsalted butter, melted
caster sugar

For the truffle mixture:
250ml/8fl oz double cream
225g/8oz good quality chocolate (I like to use Green & Black's, 125g 70% dark chocolate and 100g milk)
55g/2oz unsalted butter
30ml/2tbsp amaretto or other liqueur

Method

1. Prepare the truffle mixture. In a saucepan over medium heat, bring cream to the boil. Remove from heat and add chocolate, stirring until melted. Beat in butter and add amaretto. Pour into a bowl, straining if necessary. Refridgerate for one hour (approx.) until thick enough to pipe.

2. Preheat oven to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas 6. Grease a bun tray(/s) with indents c.4cm/1.5" deep. Place filo sheets on a work surface. Cut each sheet into 6cm/2.5" squares. Cover with a damp tea towel. Keeping filo sheets covered, place one square on a work surface. Brush lightly with melted butter, turn over and brush reverse. Sprinkle with a pinch of sugar. Butter another square, and place it over the first at an angle; sprinkle with sugar. Butter a third square and place over the first two, unevenly, so that the three squares form a star shape. Press the layered filo squares into the tray. Continue in this way until you have around 15 filo cups (I made 12, but had truffle mixture to spare at the end).

3. Bake the filo cups for 4-6 minutes until golden. Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack whilst still in the tray. Remove from tray to cool completely.

4. Stir the chocolate mixture. It should be just thick enough to pipe. Spoon mixture into a piping bag with a medium star tip, and pipe a swirl into each cup.

5. Decorate to your taste. I used raspberries, but you may prefer a twist of orange zest, a shaving of contrasting white chocolate, or a sugar flower, for example. Finish off with a dusting of icing sugar and enjoy!