Does anyone have suggestions for the best type of cocoa for rolling
truffles? Is it better to use Dutch-processed or the other kind? And are
any particular brands better than others? I'm guessing Fry's is out,
probably Hershey's, too. We also have Godiva cocoa but I found out it's
the sweetened kind so that's out, too.I do have Penzey's cocoas around here
somewhere--both the natural and the Dutch process. Any suggestions?

I recently made 6 batches of truffles using 6 different bittersweet
chocolates. I have not done an official taste test, yet, but so far Trader
Joe's 70% seems to be the best. I will post our non-scientific rankings
when I'm done :-).

rona

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at Sun, 12 Oct 2003 20:46:00 GMT in
>, (Rona
Yuthasastrakosol) wrote :

>Does anyone have suggestions for the best type of cocoa for rolling
>truffles? Is it better to use Dutch-processed or the other kind?

Use the "natural-process" kind, i.e. not the Dutch processed. Also, use a
high-fat type (~20% fat) instead of the low-fat kind. This, is, at least,
true for bittersweet truffles, the kind I see you've been making.

> And
>are any particular brands better than others?

There are indeed better and worse brands. Guittard is quite good, and
Ghirardelli is very good. Michel Cluizel is better, but hard to find. You
might want to experiment with Scharffen Berger or Valrhona, although both
of these cocoas are very sharp.

> I'm guessing Fry's is
>out, probably Hershey's, too.

They're both pretty harsh, although you can use them if you have no options
- with truffles, it's useful but not critical to use a high quality cocoa
for the coating, unlike the chocolate you use in the ganache which must be
first-rate. Since the flavour of the ganache will (or should) quickly
overpower the cocoa, it's not the end of the world if the cocoa isn't the
best possible.

BTW, if you're making semisweet truffles, a mildly Dutched cocoa is a
better bet. If you're making white chocolate truffles (don't knock them -
with El Rey chocolate they're actually really good), use non-instant milk
powder, preferably full-fat. If you're making milk chocolate truffles,
blend half cocoa, half non-instant powdered milk.

--
Alex Rast

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"Alex Rast" > wrote in message
...
<snip>
>
> BTW, if you're making semisweet truffles, a mildly Dutched cocoa is a
> better bet. If you're making white chocolate truffles (don't knock them -
> with El Rey chocolate they're actually really good), use non-instant milk
> powder, preferably full-fat. If you're making milk chocolate truffles,
> blend half cocoa, half non-instant powdered milk.
>
> --
> Alex Rast
>
> (remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)

Thanks so much for the truffle coating primer! I am especially grateful for
the different coatings for different chocolates. I have always just used
whatever cocoa I've had on-hand and did not even think to use different
coatings. I've never tried making white chocolate truffles but recently
read one should use 3:1 ratio of chocolate to cream in that case. Would you
agree with that? I also read one should use 2:1 for dark chocolate and
2.5:1 for milk chocolate. I had never heard of using different ratios
according to the type of chocolate. But then, my recipe only calls for 7 oz
dark chocolate to 1.5 cups heavy cream so I'm not sure what ratios I would
use for other chocolates.

I think I can probably find Ghirardelli in my city but there's slim to no
chance of finding the others. It's difficult to find any kind of premium
chocolate because people in my area a) don't care much for quality and b)
aren't willing to pay higher prices for better quality. Most are quite
satisfied with Baker's chocolate. I do have a couple of Bernard Callebaut
stores nearby so maybe I'll drop by to see if they sell cocoa. I usually
use BC chocolate to make truffles since it's the best quality I can find
here.

Thanks again!

rona


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at Wed, 15 Oct 2003 00:34:54 GMT in
>, (Rona
Yuthasastrakosol) wrote :

....
>
>... I've never tried making white chocolate truffles
>but recently read one should use 3:1 ratio of chocolate to cream in that
>case. Would you agree with that?

I can see where that advice would be coming from - to offset the high milk
percentage - but I've found it's not necessary. 2:1 works just fine. Be
sure to use the highest-fat cream you can find. BTW, white chocolate
truffle mix makes a great cookie filling - you can make super "Oreos" with
it.

> I also read one should use 2:1 for
>dark chocolate and 2.5:1 for milk chocolate.

I would agree, however, with the 2.5:1 for milk chocolate, but mostly for
the sake of flavour. If you're using a high-percentage milk chocolate, such
as Michel Cluizel's 50%, use 2:1 just like dark chocolate.

> I had never heard of using
>different ratios according to the type of chocolate. But then, my
>recipe only calls for 7 oz dark chocolate to 1.5 cups heavy cream so I'm
>not sure what ratios I would use for other chocolates.

This is 7:12. Not a good ratio. The ganache will be more of the
filling/frosting variety, very soft and never completely solid at room
temperature. You'd have a devil of a time rolling truffles out of it. For 8
oz chocolate, you should have 1/2 cup cream.

>I think I can probably find Ghirardelli in my city but there's slim to
>no chance of finding the others.

At least there's always the Ghirardelli option. And Ghirardelli is actually
very good, so don't think you're losing in a major way. Their milk
chocolate, incidentally is also superb so you have a real winner.
Ghirardelli is great because they're available just about anywhere in the
USA and the quality is pretty good.

--
Alex Rast

(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)

"Alex Rast" > wrote in message
...
>
> This is 7:12. Not a good ratio. The ganache will be more of the
> filling/frosting variety, very soft and never completely solid at room
> temperature. You'd have a devil of a time rolling truffles out of it. For
8
> oz chocolate, you should have 1/2 cup cream.
>

I think because my truffle recipe is not quite standard, it works very well
:-). The recipe I have calls for reducing the cream until most of the water
has evaporated. The final liquid:chocolate ratio is quite different than if
you look at the original quantities, and probably approaches 1:1. I've only
had problems with rolling when I've added other liquids (rum, for example).
I think I added too much because I was adding what one would add to a
standard recipe. I probably should have halved the additional liquid, since
I think I get about half the final product a standard recipe would give.

At one time I was going to do a taste test comparing the standard 1:1 ratio
with my recipe. However, after making 6 batches (1/2 batches, actually) for
this taste test, I'm all truffled out!

Thanks again for your help!

rona

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at Fri, 17 Oct 2003 12:43:20 GMT in
>, (Rona
Yuthasastrakosol) wrote :

>"Alex Rast" > wrote in message
.. .
>>
>> This is 7:12. Not a good ratio. The ganache will be more of the
>> filling/frosting variety, very soft and never completely solid at room
>> temperature. You'd have a devil of a time rolling truffles out of it.
>> For
>8
>> oz chocolate, you should have 1/2 cup cream.
>>
>
>I think because my truffle recipe is not quite standard, it works very
>well
>:-). The recipe I have calls for reducing the cream until most of the
>:water
>has evaporated.

Kind of like using clotted cream for truffles. It wouldn't be exactly the
same, but I think the idea of the recipe is to make the cream be, when
cooled, a fudge-like consistency. I can agree that this would make for a
pretty decadent truffle. It would also minimize the risk of the ganache
"breaking" because there was too much liquid. One of these days, I'll have
to try the idea and see what the result was like. The negative that I could
see is that cream, condensed for that long, acquires a very distinct
"cooked" flavour to it. Milk is similar in this behaviour. Now, many
desserts that call for heavily condensed milk rely on this change in taste,
but in truffles I think it might cause it to taste slightly "off". I would
NOT recommend this procedure for milk or white truffles, where the cooked
taste would really stand out.

>At one time I was going to do a taste test comparing the standard 1:1
>ratio with my recipe.

1:1 is NOT standard for truffles. 1:1 is standard for filling and frosting.
2:1 (chocolate:cream) is standard for truffles.

> However, after making 6 batches (1/2 batches,
>actually) for this taste test, I'm all truffled out!

Is this actually possible? I guess you can't be that much of a chocoholic
:-)

--
Alex Rast

(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)

"Rona Yuthasastrakosol" > wrote in message
...
> Does anyone have suggestions for the best type of cocoa for rolling
> truffles? Is it better to use Dutch-processed or the other kind? And are
> any particular brands better than others? I'm guessing Fry's is out,
> probably Hershey's, too. We also have Godiva cocoa but I found out it's
> the sweetened kind so that's out, too.I do have Penzey's cocoas around
here
> somewhere--both the natural and the Dutch process. Any suggestions?
>
> I recently made 6 batches of truffles using 6 different bittersweet
> chocolates. I have not done an official taste test, yet, but so far
Trader
> Joe's 70% seems to be the best. I will post our non-scientific rankings
> when I'm done :-).
>
> rona
>

Definitely go with the Dutched cocoa. The other cocoa will be much more
harsh in flavor. Dutched cocoa is smoother and mellower.

kimberly