Truffles - the chocolate kind
Truffles!
These were so stupidly simple to make. A bit messy, but gloves and equipment make it a little better.
I made three batches of truffles - about 36 per pound of chocolate. These were really easy to make. Melt the chocolate, mix in the cream, chill, scoop out, roll, chill, dip, coat. Done. And that's the complicated recipe!
I purchased two pounds of nice bittersweet chocolate, each recipe calls for about 9 ounces, so I had a lot to work with. I wanted to make some festive truffles with fall flavors. I think - cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, orange, ginger, etc. So I steeped some spices in the cream, strained it, then added it to the chocolate. This added a nice spicy flavor to the chocolate, and I infused some cocoa with cloves.
The second attempt was in response to the general question "Where's the crunchy shell"
--Same recipe, but I rolled the ganache centers in a spiced cinnamon/cayenne chocolate, then I rolled them in cocoa powder.
The Third set of truffles was the best. I took some liberties with all the recipes I could find online. First, I made some creamy peanut butter with a little added cinnamon. , I mixed that in with the hot cream, then poured it over the chopped chocolate. Once mixed in, I placed the batch in the refrigerator until the mixture solidified and the oil from the peanuts separated and floated tot eh top and hardened. I removed all the oil and started to roll out another set of truffles. Once cooled, the centers were rolled in semisweet chocolate and rolled in Oreo crumbs (just the cookies, no centers)
The trick with making truffles, freeze the centers if you plan to roll them in chocolate. The shells freeze very quickly, so there is little mess. Wear powder free plastic/latex gloves - you want the tight fitting kind, and switch out between stages. You do not need to temper the chocolate for coating, and you can coat multiple times if you want a thicker shell.
To coat: take a spoonful of melted chocolate and smear it on the palm of your non-dominant hand (left for me). Roll until coated and roll in any dry coating you want to use (except for cocoa - this goes on well when the chocolate is dry). Then with tongs, life the truffle onto a cooled cookie sheet.
Everything will get covered in chocolate. Your hands are in gloves for a reason. The spoon will have chocolate on it, the bowl will be edged in chocolate, the tongs will be coated in chocolate. You just have to accept this and keep going. Have a resting place for any utensils you will use, this will keep the mess off the counter.
All said and done, I wish I got better pictures of the finished product.
Recipe
Basic Chocolate Truffle
1 pound chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
chop the chocolate fine, bring the cream to a boil, pour over the chocolate and stir until combined. Place the chocolate in the refrigerator until solid. Scoop out and roll between hands.
If you want to coat them in chocolate, melt the chocolate and roll the chilled truffle centers between your chocolate coated hands. dust with cocoa or crumbs
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Truffles - the chocolate kind.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.sketchyskitchen.com/blog/mt-tb.cgi/72
1 Comments
Leave a comment
Search
Truffles are simple to make... but I agree they are messy!