Sweets of Rage - A Classic Easter Eat 'Em Up

This recipe is for our friends over on The Sega Addicts Podcast who have just posted episode 4 of their show featuring a discussion on beat 'em up games. The Sega Addicts crew includes heroically controversial Destructoid editor Jim Sterling and for those who are missing the late, great RetroforceGO! podcast, former host Topher Cantler is on board too.

The Streets of Rage series was one of the jewels in the 16-Bit Sega crown and Streets of Rage 2 is still regarded as one of the finest side-scrolling fighters ever released. While the gameplay and visuals of the series were undoubtedly first-rate for the era, special mention must go to the scorching techno soundtracks by Yuzo Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima. Koshiro, composer of the vast majority of tracks, was heavily influenced by the Nineties rave scene and squeezed sounds out of that poor little Yamaha chip that no-one had thought possible, from deep bass growls to searing acid-tinged synth lines.
Here's the track Jungle Base from the second game.



When I was younger, I made a cassette tape of Yuzo Koshiro's music from Revenge of Shinobi and Streets of Rage 1 and 2 for my walk to school. Nowadays, it's MP3s on my PSP but the music has held up a darn sight better than that of many commercial artists from the same period. Many gamers seem to dislike the music from Streets of Rage 3, as it is often discordant in nature and not as catchy as the earlier games, but listened to in the context of Aphex Twin/Warp Records electronica or even the Psy Trance/Acid Techno free-party scene, it is a remarkably prescient piece of work.

You can find all three Streets of Rage games (alongside 40 other classic Sega games) on Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection which is now under $15 dollars at Amazon on Xbox 360 or PS3. For those of you in the UK, it's less than eleven quid on either system and is known as SEGA Mega Drive: Ultimate Collection


So, on to today's recipe...

Our truffles hit you with a chocolate, caramel and sea salt combo in a concerted effort to both freak out and delight your tastebuds. These three big hitters are ably assisted by some smoky chipotle chiles to provide some depth and heat, and most importantly giving me an excuse to call the recipe Sweets... Of... Raaaaaaage!

Sega fans who prefer savoury to sweet can try our spicy Sega sandwich, After Burger!

Recipe: Sweets of Rage

Makes 40-ish truffles

Ingredients:

• 8 oz (225g) dulce de leche caramel (available in cans or jars from most supermarkets)
• 3.5 oz (100g) extra-bittersweet / very dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa), smashed up good and proper
• 10 oz (280g) bittersweet / dark chocolate (at least 60% cocoa), beaten up into pieces
• 10 oz (280g) good quality milk chocolate, broken 'til it feels the pain
• 1/2 of a US pint of heavy cream (250ml double cream)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp chipotle chile powder (or crushed dried chipotles)
• 3 oz (85g) cocoa powder mixed with another teaspoon of chipotle powder for rolling 'em in
• A little vegetable oil to prevent caramel sticking

Method:

• Ok, these truffles have gooey centres, so first we must make some goo!
• Put your dulce de leche in a pan over a low-to-medium heat for a minute or so before mingling in the darkest of the three chocolates. Leave it to melt for another minute before removing from heat, adding the sea salt and giving it a good stir, making sure the mix is smooth.
• Take a baking sheet (or large plate) and cover it in plastic wrap / cling film, then smear enough oil on the plastic wrap so that it is all coated very thinly.
• Pour the caramel chocolate mix onto the covered sheet and spread evenly. Leave to cool, then place in the freezer for a couple of hours or until the caramel has firmed up.
• Next, heat the cream in a pan until it reaches boiling point, placing the other two types of chocolate in a bowl while you wait. Pour the just-boiling cream over the chocolate and leave to melt for 2 minutes.
• Add the vanilla and the first teaspoon of chipotle powder and stir until smooth. Leave this mix to cool, then place in the fridge to set.
• Take your caramel from the freezer and chop it into pieces about the size of your thumbnail. It's easiest to cut the mix up using wet kitchen scissors but a knife should be fine, just a little messier!
• Spread your chipotle-spiked cocoa powder across a large baking sheet and remove your chocolate truffle mixture from the fridge.
• Dust your hands in a little cocoa, take a heaped teaspoonful of the truffle mix and prod a piece of your caramel into the middle of it. Smear the truffle over the join, make it round-shaped and roll it around in the cocoa. Repeat this process until you run out of caramel or truffle. Any leftovers of either mix would make a great ice cream topping!
• The Sweets of Rage will last 3 days in the fridge, a month in the freezer or 5 minutes in my house! If you are freezing all or some of your truffles, just take them out of the fridge an hour or so before serving.

Happy Easter to food geeks and retrogamers the world over!

We have collected together some of the best SEGA games available on all systems in our Classic Sega Store, to save you sorting the wheat from the chaff! For readers who don't yet own a Sega Dreamcast, we can highly recommend picking one up from the USA store while there are still some available; if the Dreamcast's "geek-cool" status doesn't grab you, the sheer weight of triple-A games will!


Classic Sega Store USA

Classic Sega Store UK

If you are thinking of picking up a Dreamcast or some SEGA games for current or retro systems and have enjoyed our recipes, please consider using our stores, as this helps us keep the site up and running. Thanks!!