Saturday, January 24, 2004


truffles today

patient readers know that i've been trying to make chocolate truffles for about a week now.

i've reviewed recipes by richard donnelly, alice medrich, and good ole jacques pepin.

however, mr. right is a tad picky, so there were a few things about each recipe to which he didn't cotton.

the great thing about truffles is that they are sinfully simple to make. say you spend 10 mins. chopping the chocolate and the butter, 4 mins. melting them, 2 hours chilling, and 20 mins. rolling them in cocoa.

that's only 35 mins. real work, if you can call licking excess chocolate off the spoon work.

thus in the end, i combined the appropriate elements of each, and the truffle mixture is cooling in the fridge even as we speak:

1 lb. bittersweet (55%-62%) chocolate, chopped into 1/2-in. chunks: callebaut is the minimum, valrhona is better
10 tablespoons french butter or plugra, chopped into 1/2-in. chunks
1/2 cup heavy cream (you could flavor this by simmering briefly with a shot of espresso, or cinnamon sticks, or fragrant tea in tea ball, or hunks of ginger, etc. to infuse with flavor)
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste (or more to taste, or 2 tablespoons brandy, liqueur, etc.)
2 egg yolks, brought in a double boiler to 140 degrees (but not scrambled!)

since i'm lazy but want delicious stuff, and mr. right wanted vanilla truffles, i just tossed the chocolate and butter in a large soufflé dish and popped it in the microwave on medium-high.

this much chocolate takes about 3 to 3-1/2 mins. or so to melt. so set the timer for 1 min.; stir mixture; heat another minute.

if you've infused your cream with cinnamon or whatever fish it out, and add cream to chocolate mixture. stir well. heat final minute.

stir the chocolate mixture until well-combined -- usually any final chunks will melt from the residual heat. if not, pop it back in the microwave for another 30 seconds.

stir in your now-salmonella-proof egg yolks. mix well; make sure there aren't any lumps of egg. that would be yuck.

if you've infused your cream and/or are using liqueur, you may not want to add the vanilla. hey, they're your truffles.

add whatever, stir well, and taste to see if you like it. adjust until you like it. i ended up adding about 1-1/2 tablespoons vanilla bean paste.

remember the truffles will be cool-to-room temperature when you serve them, so you may want to add a little more flavoring than you think.

when you have your truffle mixture tasting yummy, cover the soufflé dish with plastic wrap and let it chill in the fridge oh, 1-3 hours.

if it's too firm, let it sit on the counter to warm up a bit; you want to be able to scoop out rough nuggets with a small teaspoon. think nothing larger than pecan- or walnut- size (in the shell).

lay out 2 plates and a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. 1 plate is dusted with powdered or confectioner's sugar; the other with about 1/4 cup cocoa powder.

if the truffle mixture seems sticky at all, dip your fingertips lightly into the sugar, grab the truffle off the spoon, and shape into some attractive knobby rustic hunk.

roll this in the plate of cocoa powder, then remove to cookie sheet. or place a few truffles on cocoa plate and shake some cocoa over. you'll figure it out.

repeat. repeat. repeat. try not to eat them all as you are coating them in cocoa. . . .you should easily get 45-50 walnut-sized truffles outta this.

these technically keep for about 10 days at room temperature, but really are best in the first few days. if you can't eat 'em in that time, give a bunch away.

or wrap them well in layers of waxed paper, put them in a good tupperware, and freeze 'em for no longer than 2 months. thaw to room temperature before serving.

fresh chocolates are delicious; your own homemade truffles can be more impressive than those of most candymakers because of great ingredients and strict freshness.

so don't scrimp on the ingredients and ensure they are eaten while fresh.

oops! i just noticed i'm out of half-n-half for that planned afternoon cafetiére of gillies carioca. . .

posted by fortune | 9:09 AM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 0 comments