Food Diaries Of A Chocoholic:Truffles

I won’t try and fool you with a low-calorie version of truffles there's no such animal. They’re one of life’s little indulgences calories and all. Truffles are actually Bonbons the literal translation is from the French meaning good. They’re every hostess’s little black dress. Arrange them on a mirror in the center of a buffet table, or wrap them individually as party favors for your guests and voila, you’ve transformed an informal gathering into an elegant soiree. They’re sinfully delicious and they make the perfect gift especially around the holidays and Valentine’s Day. Surprisingly they’re actually easy to make; the process may seem a little involved at first but just take it one step at a time they’re so worth it. I prepare them in large batches and freeze them until I’m ready to dip and decorate. That way I always have them on hand for that impomptu gathering. You can chocolate dip them, or roll them in chopped nuts or other flavored confections. Just let your imagination run wild.They’ll keep in the freezer indefinitely and decorating only takes about 30 minutes. Although once decorated, you won't be able to freeze them, but they’ll keep in the refrigerator upwardly for a month; that is if you don’t eat them first.

FYI: Truffles are the secret ingredient that creates the lava in the Chocolate Molten Lava cake.

Bon Apetite,

The 2th Fairy

Chocolate Truffles: Scooping, Rolling and Decorating

What you’ll need:

• 1 # 50 or 1 oz melon ball scooper
• Double boiler or metal bowl over a saucepan will work
• Wax paper
• Toothpicks
• Styrofoam block (a base for drip drying the truffles)
• Plastic containers for freezing
• Food handling Playtex gloves (the chocolate tends to melt from the heat of your hands while rolling)
• Small paper candy cups

Step 1

Truffle Mixture

2 ½ lbs Semi or bitter sweet chocolate chopped

2 ½ cups Heavy cream

2 Sticks + 1 ½ tablespoons Sweet butter cut into pieces

2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract to taste or other flavorings of choice

1 cup Raw Cacao Powder for rolling

Yields 100

Directions

Melt chocolate over a double boiler. Scald cream. Remove chocolate from heat and pour scalded cream into chocolate mixing well (chocolate will appear to have a strange consistency, don’t be alarmed) until completely smooth. Wisk butter into chocolate cream mixture until smooth, add flavoring. Store in refrigerator over night until firm.

Step 2

Scooping:

Remove truffle mixture from fridge and let stand for a few minutes to soften slightly. Line a plastic container with wax paper and have additional pieces of wax paper to layer over truffles. Scoop mixture and place in container, layering with wax paper then freeze truffles; at this point you can freeze them until you’re ready to roll them.

Step 3

Rolling:

Pre prepare another plastic container with wax paper to transfer the rolled truffles to, or use a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Remove truffles from freezer. Pour a healthy amount of cacao powder in a bowl. Drop a couple of truffles into chocolate powder. Quickly roll truffles between your hands and place in container. Repeat until they’re all rolled. Place back into freezer until ready to dip and decorate.

Step 4

Ganache-Dipping & Decorating:

I highly recommend using a high quality chocolate for dipping since the ganache is the first taste impression and will dictate the overall quality.

1 lb Semi or bitter sweet chocolate chopped

1 cup Heavy whipping cream

7 tablespoons Sweet butter cut into pieces

: Melt chocolate over double boiler and remove from heat. Scald cream. Whisk cream into melted chocolate and whisk in butter.

-Dipping-

Have your toothpicks and Styrofoam ready for this step.

• Partially fill a saucepan with warm water and bring to a boil. Remove from stove and place on the counter with a towel underneath. Pour melted chocolate into a coffee mug and place mug in saucepan with hot water*. The warm water bath makes it easier to control the melted chocolate by keeping it warm as it will begin cooling and become thick quickly making it difficult to dip. Rewarm water as needed 
• Remove about 5 truffles at a time from the freezer in order to keep them as cold as possible through the process. This will prevent them from sliding off the toothpick during dipping, so keep them cold/frozen.
• Pierce truffle with tooth pick and dip into chocolate.
• Remove and swirl slightly to release excess chocolate and stick bottom of tooth pick into Styrofoam to dry (if you’d like to roll them in nuts or other confections, do so before sticking them in the Styrofoam.
• Repeat
• Line a cookie sheet with wax paper.
• Gently twist truffle picks to release on to wax paper turning truffle pierced side down

* Be very careful not to allow water to come in contact with chocolate it will constrict and crystalize the chocolate, and you'll have to start over.

-Decorating-

For drizzling, you can either use white chocolate on dark or vice versa. There’s no exact rule make it fun and be creative. To drizzle, you can make a piping cone from wax paper clipping the tip slightly, or dip a fork into melted chocolate and drizzle; what ever works best.

-Storage-

After decorating, allow to solidify about 30 minutes at room temp before moving or handling. Be sure to use plastic gloves while handling as the heat from your hands will smudge the truffles. Place truffles in small paper cups and either gift box or store them in plastic container; if you plan on stacking them be sure to layer with wax paper and a piece of cardboard