Chocolate Truffles
I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, but truffles are a decadence I can appreciate on occasion. Truffles are so ridiculously easy to make they barely meet the technical definition of cooking. Truffles are, in essence, about as difficult to make as a bowl of cereal.
Truffles are simply balls of ganache, and ganache is simply chocolate and cream mixed together. Okay, maybe not quite as simple as cereal, because you have to heat the cream and you have to roll the truffles, but hardly a difficult procedure. The better quality of chocolate you use, the better the quality of your ganache. Recently I wrote an extensive guide on buying chocolate. For straight eating I prefer other brands, but for baking applications (including this), I swear by President’s Choice Bittersweet. It’s an excellent value.
Truffles are often very expensive. The ingredients definitely don’t come cheap, but the process is painless (though messy) and you can flavor them however you like, so it’s worth making the effort. So, in a time honored fashion of only posting about things when they’re no longer really relevant, I give you a recipe for truffles a few days after Valentine’s Day, that you will quite likely forget about long before next February. Not that the promise of chocolate truffles aren’t enticing on any other day of the year, mind you.
- 1/2 cup (125ml) 35% cream
- 9 ounces (about 250g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
- cocoa powder, icing sugar, chopped nuts or chocolate shavings to dust
- Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it just comes to a boil.
- Place the chocolate shavings in a bowl and pour the cream over them. Stir until the mixture is smooth, then chill in the refrigerator until it is manageable, about an hour.
- Remove the bowl from the fridge and spoon relatively similar-sized balls of the ganache onto a parchment-lined baking sheet or plate. A melon baller is the perfect size for this. This is the messy part, so don’t surprised if you end up eating chocolate off of your fingers. Return the ganache balls to the fridge and chill once more.
- Roll the truffles in the palms of your hand to form a proper ball. When they’ve chilled significantly, this will be a much easier process. Then, simply toss them in the dusting of your choice and shake off the excess.
If you wish to flavor the truffles with something, such as a liqueur (Grand Marnier, Creme de Menthe and Amaretto, as well as Cognac, are excellent choices) simply substitute about an ounce of the cream for the liqueur when you mix the cream into the chocolate. You want to retain roughly a 2:1 ratio of chocolate to liquid, and the flavor of alcohol will carry substantially, so go easy.
Any other element can be added at any time really, such as a whole roasted hazelnut center (like a Ferrero Rocher), maraschino cherry, whatever you’re into. There are hundreds of flavor combinations to work with. The ones pictured are the most simple variety, dusted with cocoa powder, icing sugar and crushed pistachios.
Truffles are “appropriately” served at room temperature, but I like to keep them in the freezer for nibbling. Delicious.
On wandering around the www, I found myself on your truffle page! I haven’t made these for ages (too long!
I will give your recipe a go, they look so delicious, thank you for sharing.