Up to Your Elbows in Chocolate

Lesson — Chocolate Truffles

With truffles you have the chocolate to end all chocolates — a bonbon with rich, unbelievably smooth texture and flavor. One of the joys of owning my own chocolate shop that specialized in truffles was that I was required to taste other chocolatiers' truffles wherever I went to make sure ours were the best!! It was certainly a labor of love.

A chocolate truffle is usually nothing more than chocolate lightened with cream or butter or a combination of the two. If made with cream, the mixture is called ganache and will be lighter or denser depending on the ratio of cream to chocolate —- a higher percentage of cream to chocolate means that your ganache will be lighter and softer.

You'll love the following recipe for chocolate ganache — its simple and quick but don't let its simplicity fool you. By using fresh cream and the very best chocolate you can find, you will end up with an absolutely sublime chocolate truffle.

Ingredients: 

8 oz     250g     Chocolate (chopped fine and set aside in a 1 quart bowl)

1/3 cup 75mL    Whipping cream

1 cup cocoa powder or finely chopped chocolate or nuts to be used to coat the truffle balls.

Recipe:

1. Bring cream just to a simmer (not boil) in a heavy saucepan. Remove from heat.
2. Stir cream slowly into the chocolate by hand with spatula or spoon until all chocolate is melted. Beat by hand or using hand-held emulsion blender until smooth and emulsified.
3. Chill in refrigerator until firm (approximately 1-3 hours).
4. Scrape spoon or melon-ball cutter across surface of mixture; quickly press with fingertips into 1-inch (2.5cm) balls. Roll immediately in cocoa powder or chopped chocolate.
5. Store in refrigerator well wrapped in plastic bag for 1 week, or freeze in plastic freezer bag for 1-2 months. Bring to room temperature in the bag to prevent condensation and serve.

For more chocolate recipes go to our Bonbons & Bars page.