Does anyone have a good recipe for truffles they'd like to share?
sb

Alex Rast wrote:

>at Tue, 14 Dec 2004 20:22:49 GMT in >,
>deedoveyatshenteldotnet (Dee Randall) wrote :
>
>
>
>>What brand of 70% bittersweet (dark) chocolate would make a good
>>truffle/ganache/chocolate sauce?
>>
>>I have tried Scharffenberger, but am looking for a less fruitty
>>chocolate, not more than $11 a pound.
>>
>>
>
>Almost any chocolate will be less fruity than Scharffen Berger, but FWIW I
>agree that, in general, a fruity chocolate doesn't make for the best
>truffles, or sauce, for that matter. Actually, you want something a little
>different for truffles and for sauce. In the truffle range, you can get by
>with a more nuanced, mild flavour, because there's much more chocolate in
>the mix. With sauces, OTOH, you want a powerful flavour because the higher
>dilution means you need the strength to make the chocolate flavour stand
>out. With sauce, however, you can also get by with a lower cocoa butter
>content, because you've got so much more fluid, generally at a lower fat
>content anyway, to smooth out the mixture.
>
>For low fruitiness, you want a darker roast. Now, if a roast is *very*
>dark, it can make truffles seem a little "flat", but definitely you want
>the roast to be darker than the (underroasted?) Scharffen Berger.
>
>The $11/lb restriction makes your choices *very* limited. Most of the
>better chocolates are more than that, even if only a little bit more.
>At the $11/lb price, you're more or less limiting yourself to domestic
>producers. And that pretty much means you're limiting yourself to Guittard
>and Ghirardelli, if you want quality chocolate. Guittard is superb overall
>- IMHO far better than Scharffen Berger, but their best chocolates come in
>the 60-65% class. Ghirardelli doesn't list their cocoa solids percentage.
>The Bittersweet chocolate they produce is very good, but so nearly
>identical to Callebaut that it's hard to tell them apart. So if you really
>do want to stay under $11/lb, for truffles, yet want a different flavour,
>perhaps the only option you have left is Guittard Coucher du Soleil 72%. Be
>aware that there's still some fruitiness to it.
>
>If you can accept a loss of actual cocoa solids percentage, then an
>outstanding choice is Guittard Gourmet Bittersweet. It's 63% cocoa solids,
>but possesses an unusual intensity for that percentage that really makes it
>a lot stronger than typical chocolates in its range. I use it as my
>"standard" ganache chocolate - it's incredibly versatile, being excellent
>across the entire range from truffles to sauce.
>
>For sauce only, you have another good choice : El Rey Gran Saman. This has
>a low cocoa butter content, and for that reason isn't the best for
>truffles, but for sauce it has knockout power and a great, tropical/earthy
>flavour.
>
>Now, if you want to expand your horizons into the $20/lb range, your
>options open up immensely. Michel Cluizel, perhaps the best single
>chocolatier in the world (at least IMHO) has a world-class entry in Amer
>Brut 72%. Cote D'Or and Dolfin each make chocolates that are almost as
>good, although with the Cluizel available for a lower price thanks to the
>fact that you can get it in a bulk format as opposed to the other 2, only
>found in bars, it sort of begs the question as to why. Valrhona's Araguani
>is good for truffles, with a delicate flavour, not so fruity as the typical
>Valrhona either. I wouldn't recommend this one for sauce, though.
>
>There are other chocolates that offer various balances of flavour and roast
>, if you're ready to spend the big bucks, but of course prices quickly get
>out of hand and I'm with you - when it comes to truffles and sauces, *some*
>cost control is desirable, especially when the extra price doesn't really
>buy you better quality, just different, generally more characterised,
>flavour characteristics.
>
>
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