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Making truffles....OT?
at Tue, 25 Nov 2003 15:08:39 GMT in
. edu>,
(Chari) wrote :
>Dear Hans--
>
>It's that time of year again, and I'm interested in making truffles to
>give as small holiday gifts. Can anyone recommend a favorite recipe?
>
>(Apologies if truffles are a bit off-topic for the baking group, and
>thanks in advance for any suggestions!)
>
>Chari
It's been a while since I posted my recipe, so I will repost. For reference,
this is an edited version of the article " Truffles recipe needed" I posted
to rec.food.chocolate in 1997 ). So you can look up the
article in Dejanews if you want.
Chocolate Truffles
16 oz. bittersweet chocolate. I recommend the following chocolates, in order of
preference: Guittard (the BEST! If you can find it, buy as much as you can.)
Valhrona Guanaja 70% cocoa solids, Callebaut, Ghirardelli. Be sure to look for
the "bittersweet" label.
8 oz. heavy cream. Be sure the label on the carton says "heavy". "Whipping"
cream will not work very well. Also look for "pasteurized", not "ultra-
pasteurized".
(optional) 2 tbsp. unsalted butter. The heavier the cream you can find, the
less necessary this will be. With most U.S. creams, adding this will make a
big improvement.
Either grate the chocolate using a box grater, holding it while grating with a
folded paper towel, or cut it (and the butter) into small pieces and put them
in a bowl. The grating method works best but is *extremely* tedious.
Heat the cream in a small saucepan until it is just barely simmering. Be sure
not to overcook or the cream will acquire a foul taste.
Immediately, pour the hot cream over the chocolate shavings (and butter) and
stir gently just enough so that the chocolate melts completely and is
reasonably well mixed.
Chill until the mixture just starts to stiffen. You can do this in the
refrigerator, but your fridge must be *absolutely* odour free or the mixture
will pick up the odour. If you have the patience, it's better to just set the
mixture aside in a cool spot.
When the mixture has cooled to this point, whip to the desired consistency.
This can be anywhere from not at all to really thoroughly whipped. Unwhipped is
extremely dense, while fully whipped is light, almost like a super-rich
chocolate mousse. I whip a small amount, enough to lighten the extreme
heaviness of pure ganache, but not enough for it to become light and airy. Set
aside again and cool all the way. If you are working with a strongly whipped
mixture, be sure it's near-frozen before proceeding.
Powder your hands with cocoa. Working quickly, shape pieces of the mixture
into little balls by scooping out with a melon baller or spoon and quickly
rolling in your hands, and cover with cocoa. Set on wax paper.
If you want to cover the resultant confections with chocolate, proceed as
follows:
Chill the truffles you have at this point in the refrigerator. Be absolutely
sure you've gotten rid of all odours.
Melt an additional 16 oz. of the same chocolate you just used. (or more for a
thicker shell)
Now, you need to "temper" the chocolate. To do this in the classical way, get
a big marble slab and a palette knife. Pour about half to 3/4 of the melted
chocolate out on the slab, and spade it around on the slab until it just barely
begins to solidify. Immediately transfer it back to the rest of the chocolate
and stir gently in. If you don't have a marble slab or don't want to buy one,
you can also temper the chocolate by pulling some of it up the sides of the
pot. Then you spatula this around until it starts to solidify, then push it
back into the rest of the chocolate, stirring until the mixture becomes smooth.
Now, pull the truffle centers out of the refrigerator. Dip each one very
quickly in the chocolate. A first, thin coating followed by a thicker coating
works well and minimizes separation between center and shell. Chill everything
again.
The recipe makes about 30 truffles. Practice and patience are key. Initially,
you probably won't get as good results as the good commercial brands but after
a few tries you'll be doing it like the pros.
--
Alex Rast
(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)
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