Method: 

1. Start by making the truffles.

2. Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of boiling water until melted. Put the cream, milk, rosemary, thyme and mandarin zest in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove the sprigs of herbs from the liquid. Add the melted chocolate into the milk and whisk until everything is incorporated and smooth. Add the oil and dessert wine and give everything a good stir. Pour the mix into a shallow tray and refrigerate for about 3 hours until firm.

3. Make the caramel by placing the sugar in a small saucepan over low to medium heat. When the sugar starts to bubble and melt, it may do this in patches, use a whisk to stir it and prevent it from burning.  Once the sugar has fully melted add the butter and continue to stir until fully mixed in. Now add the cream, chilli flakes and chocolate. Keep stirring until you have a nice thick caramel. Remove from the heat and pour into a jar. The amount of caramel here is more than what you will need but it is always worth making a bit more and storing it.

4. Roughly blitz the nuts in a food processor. You want them blitzed but not to a powder. A bit of texture is nice.

5. Heat the butter in a frying pan over medium heat and when golden add the nuts. Toss them around for a few minutes moving them constantly so they don’t burn.

6. Add the sugar and continue to stir for another minute. Transfer to a tray and spread out to cool down.

7. Roll out small balls of chocolate using your palms and dip them into the nut mix. Roll them around and make sure they are completely covered. Transfer them to another tray and return them to the fridge to firm up again.

Plating:

1. Serve them with some caramel over the top or simply on the side.