Filled chocolate truffles
I've heard "truffle" used two ways with chocolate -- either simple balls of ganache covered in cocoa / sugar / chopped nuts, or a formed chocolate shell holding some kind of filling. The former are pretty straightforward, but the latter are generally the domain of professional chocolate shops. So of course, that's what we wanted to make for our friends and family this Christmas! Although it takes time, it's not that hard to produce an attractive -- and tasty -- result! (Flawless is still for the pros, though.)
Ingredients & Equipment
- Couverture chocolate. This is high quality chocolate containing extra cocoa butter, and is used for the chocolate shell. The extra fat (cocoa butter) allows the chocolate to be tempered, producing a hard, shiny coat. Although I haven't tried it myself, the lore is that trying to use grocery-store chocolate for the shell will give poor results. (For a ganache filling, though, cheaper stuff seems fine to me.) The best deal I found was $15 + $10 shipping for 1 kg (2.2 lbs) of Callebaut from Golda's Kitchen on Amazon. I got about 4 dozen truffles per kilogram, but there's always a little waste at the end, so order at least 2 kg.
- Chocolate molds. These are simple plastic trays that for molding the truffles. Lots of different sizes are available. The stated volumes seem to be for solid chocolates, so you'll get more for filled ones. I bought three 6 x 1 oz molds from Amazon. More molds make faster work, but more than about four would be hard to manage at one time.
- Instant-read digital thermometer. Temperature (within 1 degree F) is critical for getting a good temper on the chocolate. Don't skip this.
- Marble slab / stone counter / sheet pan. Ideally, you'd have a smooth, hard stone surface for tempering the chocolate. But I didn't, so I used the back of a cookie sheet. It's not ideal, but it's certainly workable. Make sure it's flat and clean.
Tempering the Chocolate
Tempering chocolate consists of melting it completely and then cooling it in a controlled way. The even cooling causes the fats to solidify in the uniform structure that produces a smooth, hard, shiny surface when the chocolate sets.
If you didn't buy callets (chips), chop the chocolate. You'll want at least enough to fill all your molds once. More won't hurt, you can re-use any leftovers. Melt them in a double boiler with 140 F water, top vessel not touching the water. Stir gently but continuously -- getting the chocolate over 140 F will scorch it, but you don't want to whip in any air. Also watch out for water -- even a small amount of water in the chocolate will ruin it. Keep stirring until the chocolate gets to 115 - 120 F. (Temperatures here are for dark chocolate; they vary somewhat for white or milk chocolate.)
Pour most (~3/4) of the chocolate out on your work surface, set the rest aside, off the heat. Spread it thin to help it cool, and keep folding it back on itself to mix it. I used an offset spatula in one hand and a metal bench scraper in the other. When the chocolate gets cool enough, it will abruptly set up into a thick paste. Scoop this back into your double boiler and stir until smooth. If the combined chocolate is now down to 82 - 83 F, you're done. Otherwise, pour some out and repeat -- you'll need less (maybe half) and it will set up faster (since it started off cooler).
The chocolate is now tempered. (You can test this by dipping a corner of parchment in the paper, folding it back on itself, and freezing for a minute or two. When set, it should break with a crisp crack.) But to work with it, you'll want to re-warm it over the double boiler to 87 - 90 F. Above ~93 F, the chocolate will start to lose its temper, so keep a thermometer in it while you're doing this. You'll probably need to re-warm the chocolate before each of the following steps.
Pour the warm chocolate into the prepared molds, filling them completely. It works best if you stop just shy of the rim -- too full and the truffles will have a little rim around the bottom. Let the molds sit at room temperature for 4 - 5 minutes (no more), then turn them upside down and give a gentle shake over your work surface. The molten centers should fall out, leaving chocolate shells in the molds. Freeze the molds for 5 minutes to fully set the shells. Scoop the chocolate on the work surface back into your double boiler to reuse.
Fill the shells with whatever you like (see below for suggestions). Fillings should be cool (no more than 80 F) so they don't melt the shells. If the filling seems thin, freeze for a another 5 minutes before capping. (Otherwise, the cap chocolate may sink into it!) To cap, pour a little more tempered couverture chocolate over the filling. I find shaking the mold gently after pouring each one helps the cap spread out smoothly. Work as quickly as you can; the chocolate will want to set up almost immediately. Freeze the truffles for 15 minutes to fully set them, then gently turn them out of the molds. They should come out very easily -- I think the freezing makes them pull away from the mold slightly.
We decorated them with edible glitter dust. We brushed the truffles with a little water to make it stick -- water doesn't seem to hurt them once they're solid. We also tried colored icing on a later batch, which worked OK, but didn't look quite as good.
Whisky Ganache Filling
In a microwave-safe bowl, combine
- 8 oz chocolate chips
- 4 oz (1/2 c) heavy cream
- 2 oz (4 T) Scotch whiskey
- 1 packet (0.25 oz) unflavored gelatin, such as Knox
- 3 T red wine
- 1 bottle (750 ml) red wine (3 T reserved above)
- 6 T sugar