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What could be more romantic or more perfect
for Valentine’s Day than a plate of truffles hand-made
for someone you love? We couldn’t think of anything either,
so truffles it is!
Truffles are chocolate delicacies with smooth
flavored centers, a chocolate coating and a dusting of cocoa,
powdered sugar or nuts. Surprisingly easy to make, homemade
truffles are sure to bring a smile to anyone lucky enough
to receive them.
In this class you’ll learn how to make
two types of truffles, ‘Rich Chocolate Truffles’
and ‘Bourbon Espresso Truffles’.
Although relatively easy, the preparation
for making truffles is time consuming because the chocolate
must cool for at least two hours before it is whipped and
the centers must chill for at least 1 hour. Be prepared that
you will need half a day to make truffles.
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Essential Equipment:
Whisk
Candy Thermometer
Electric Mixer
Pastry Bag with 1/2" plain tip
Jellyroll pan or baking sheets
Parchment or wax paper or silpat
Double boiler
Rubber spatulas
Chocolate dipping fork or fondue fork
Strainer
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Techniques & Tips You Will
Learn in this Class
Tempering chocolate
Melting chocolate
How to pipe ganache
Coating ganache centers
Applying the outer coating |
Before we begin, let’s talk chocolate.
When making any recipe where the main ingredient is chocolate,
it is imperative to use a good quality chocolate. (See our article
this month ‘Chocolate Taste Test’) We prefer and use
Scharffen Berger chocolates for all our recipes calling for
chocolate. It truly is the difference between good and spectacular
results. If you want to try Scharffen Berger chocolates and
can’t find it locally, you can find them on-line at www.scharffenberger.com.
Tempering Chocolate
Tempering chocolate involves melting chocolate,
letting it cool and then re-heating it so that the chocolate
returns to the stable condition it was in before you melted
it.
The simplest way to explain the need for
tempering is that when the temperature of chocolate is raised
above 91.5 degrees F., the crystals of cocoa butter melt and
lose their shape. When the chocolate is cooled to 80 degrees
F., it will harden again but because the crystals will have
been rendered unstable, they will not resume their original
shape and the chocolate will look dull and the texture will
be grainy instead of smooth. Tempering is necessary for chocolate
used for molding, dipping or coating.
There are three steps to temper:
- Melt: The correct temperature for melted
chocolate is between 115 and 120 degrees F.
- Cool: Let the chocolate sit out until
it registers in the low 80’s.
- Reheat: Raise the temperature to 88-91
degrees F. for dark chocolate, 86-88 degrees F. for milk
chocolate and white chocolate. This can be done by lowering
a bowl of chocolate over simmering water for a few seconds
at a time and checking the temperature.
For a quick temper, and the method we will
use in this class, we will simply melt the chocolate and let
it cool to 90 degrees F.
Rich Chocolate Truffles
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup whipping cream
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 Tablespoon light corn syrup
- 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 12 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 2 cups cocoa powder
Step 1. Making the ganache or centers
To make the centers, simply combine cream,
butter and corn syrup in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer
over low heat. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool for
5 minutes.
 Step
2. Melting the chocolate
To melt the chocolate, place the chopped
chocolate in the top of a double boiler over a pan of simmering
water. Stir with a rubber spatula as the chocolate melts.
The chocolate will melt quickly. When the chocolate is almost
all melted, remove from the simmering water, continuing to
stir until it has melted completely.
Step 3. Combine cream mixture with chocolate
Slowly pour the cream mixture into the melted
chocolate whisking until blended and smooth. Let the center
mixture sit out for 2 hours on a counter.
  Step
4. Piping the centers
Before you begin this step, have ready,
the pasty bag fitted with the tip and the jellyroll pan or
baking sheet.
With an electric mixer, whip the chocolate
mixture on medium speed until it lightens in color, about
1 minute. You will see a definite change in color. Spoon the
chocolate mixture into the pastry bag. Roll up the open end
of the pastry bag until your fingers are pressing against
the chocolate. Hold the pastry bag upright and squeeze a 3/4"
ball straight down onto the jellyroll pan. Space the balls
about 1-2" apart. Repeat until all the chocolate has
been used. Put the jellyroll pan in the refrigerator and chill
for at least 1 hour.
  Step
5. Coating the centers
Melt the 12 ounces of chocolate just as
we did in Step 2. Remove the centers from the refrigerator
and have ready. Sift the cocoa into a small bowl and have
ready. For a quick temper, allow the melted chocolate to cool
to 90 degrees F. Place a center on a chocolate dipping fork
or a fondue fork and dip the center in the melted chocolate
until completely coated. Drop the coated truffle into the
bowl of sifted cocoa. Repeat for all centers.
  Step
6. Coating with cocoa or powdered sugar
Gently toss the truffles in the cocoa until
completely coated and roll them in a strainer or on wax paper
to remove the excess cocoa. Resift the leftover cocoa and
you can reuse it.
Bourbon Espresso Truffles
The ingredients are the same as for Rich
Chocolate Truffles with the addition of 2 Tablespoons instant
espresso coffee, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1 Tablespoon
bourbon which are all added to the melted chocolate just after
the cream mixture is whisked in. The final step is to roll
the truffles in sifted powdered sugar instead of cocoa.
To store your truffles, place them in a
plastic container with a lid. They will keep at room temperature
for about a week.
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