Chocolate Truffles - alcohol optional ;) (Confectionery)

Member Name: calypte

Product:	Confectionery
Date:	04/12/06 (2495 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: easier than expected, fun to make and even more fun to eat!

Disadvantages: little bit messy and not so kind on the hips ;)

Stuck for ideas for Christmas presents? On a tight budget? Well why not make your own chocolate truffles! A few creative ideas, a bit of experimentation, and voila! Very definitely recommended, whether you decide to give them as gifts of just eat them yourself ;)



¤ INGREDIENTS ¤
This makes about 20-25:

200g dark (70% cocoa solids) chocolate
200ml double cream
30g unsalted butter, at room temperature
flavouring of choice (see below)
coating of choice (see below)


If you're not already familiar with it, one technique you're going to need for making truffles is using a bain marie. It basically involves resting the bowl containing your chocolate over but not in a saucepan of boiling water, so that the chocolate is exposed to heat but not directly - and therefore doesn't split. May sound a little fiddly, but it's easy enough: I actually poured boiling water from the kettle into the saucepan (or just a bigger bowl) rather than using the hob, and there was enough heat to melt the ganache.

On to the...



¤ METHOD ¤

1. First chop the chocolate up as small as possible, and put it in a heatproof bowl.

2. Next, heat the cream up until it's just about boiling - I cheated and put it in a jug in the microwave!

3. Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and start stirring! This is why it needs to be chopped up small: the heat of the cream is all that's used to melt the choc.

4. Apparently, the mixture (which is called ganache) should be the consistancy of mayonnaise. Yuk at that idea! :P

5. Add the butter - this is optional, but is supposed to help the truffles last longer (hah!!). I did find it added a certain glossiness to the ganache, but then it's also adding to the richness - your choice.

6. Add your flavouring (see below for some ideas)

7. Allow the ganache to cool. Now, the recipe said overnight, but when I did that it set solid and I had to remelt it (in the bain marie again) and wait about 45 minutes for it to reset to a 'gooey' consistancy. I would just skip the overnight part next time and just allow an hour or so.

8. Shape your truffles: I used just a teaspoon to form vaguely truffle-shaped splodges; a baking sheet covered in tinfoil made a good resting place.

9. Leave the 'balls'/splodges of ganache to set - I stuck mine in a room cold enough to be a fridge, for a couple of hours.

10. Coat your truffles! Now, you might want to just roll them in cocoa powder (there are lots of flavours to try!) while they're still quite sticky. I dipped mine in chocolate (melted again in a bain marie - no direct heat, which would split the choc) which was hugely messy but fun! You do have to be quick, as the heated coating chocolate will start to remelt the ganache - most messy if using a white chocolate coating.

11. Once coated leave the truffles again to set. Now present artfully (say, in a box lined with tissue paper) and you have a lovely, tasty, handmade gift :)



¤ FLAVOURINGS ¤
Yum! Time to let your imagination roam! I used:

¤ Vanilla essence: the basic. Use essence rather than flavouring, if you can. I dipped mine in melted white chocolate, a la Thorntons.

¤ Caramel: I used Lakeland's posh caramel sauce. Probably the weakest of the batch, which is a pity 'cos Thornton's caramel truffles were/are divine! I used melted milk choc as a coating, and even with a bain marie this one was trying to 'split' - still worked in the end.

¤ Cherry brandy: ooooh yeah!! Now we're talking!! I only used a capful (or two or three) as this is pretty potent stuff - less is definitely more, I reckon (hic). Coated these in dark chocolate, pretty rich and very scrummy!

¤ Tia Maria: coffee liqueur. This worked brilliantly - I coated it in Galaxy Espresso Promises chocolate, which was divine by itself, and fantastic around an alcoholic centre. The pieces of coffee bean added a lovely crunch.


If you want to make reasonably strong liqueur flavours, decrease the initial amount of cream a bit. Liqueurs let you add a lot more than 'straight' alcohol, like rum or brandy. I'd quite like to try orange (Grand Marnier or Cointreau) and Baileys truffles next :)

The variations are pretty much endless - different flavours, different coatings, decorating with hundreds and thousands, etc, and if you're very brave why not try having a 'centre' inside the truffle: cherry with a kirch truffle, for instance.



So, there you go! Fun to make - easier than it sounds, really - and even more fun to eat! Enjoy :)

Summary: Create your own flavours of yummy chocolate truffles