Every year around this time the same question starts popping up into my
mind: what should I make for the holiday gatherings? I think everyone
has atleast a few dashing staple stars; these are the dishes that you
can whip up with no worries at-all, with very less preparation and they
are sure to please every tummy! I am always awed by all the fellow
food-bloggers who whip up these delightfully scrumptious baked goodies;
seeing the pictures of which make me wish I had more of a baking woo-doo
:) But with my limited baking talent all I feel comfortable taking to
any holiday gatherings is usually a banana nut bread or some fruit cake!
This year though when I saw this chocolate
truffles post on Yasmeen's blog I knew exactly what I wanted to make!
Chocolate truffles are a type of chocolates made with a chocolate
ganache inside and coated with various coatings, the most ubiquitous of
which is cocoa powder but powdered sugar and toasted nuts are common
coatings too. Ganache is just a fancy name for smooth melted chocolate
with cream (low-fat milk or heavy cream). Occasionally ganache is
flavored with flavorings such as vanilla and espresso. Chocolate
truffles are named for the look-alike wild truffle fungus/mushroom
variety which is a delicacy. Now the truffle-police will insist that the
real chocolate truffles must be uneven and rustic to resemble the
mushrooms they are named after.. but I am raised in a round and perfect
laddoo tradition and what the heck I took pride in making my truffles
perfectly circular and round so the pictures will look better (don't
tell the truffle-police!) :D
Anyway, so here is how I made my truffles:
Recipe source: multiple truffle posts mainly Yasmeen's post, an old Joy-of-Baking article describing anatomy of a truffle and a step-by-step photo post from here.
Ingredients:
For ganache:
8.5 ounces of dark chocolate (I used Trader Joe's Belgium chocolate brand with 54% cocoa)
1/2C cream (I used mixture of heavy cream and 2% reduced fat)
1/2tsp vanilla extract
1tsp instant espresso coffee
For coating:
cocoa powder
toasted crushed slivered almonds
powdered sugar
Recipe:
(The posts linked above have a much detailed description of the method, but here is what I did in a nutshell).
- Cut the chocolate into as many thin pieces as possible. My chocolate slab was very thick and so I chopped it very roughly into big pieces.
- Heat the cream just until the boiling point. Add espresso and mix well.
- Pour the cream over the chocolate pieces and let it stand for a minute. At this time if your chocolate was very finely chopped then the cream will be able to melt the chocolate. If instead you had big chocolate chunks like mine, you will need a double-boiler method to melt the chocolate. For double boiler method: heat water in a large pan to barely simmering. Place the pan holding the chocolates and cream over the simmering water and continue stirring until the entire chocolate is melted.
- Add vanilla extract to the melted chocolate and mix it really well to get a smooth consistency. This is your ganache, cover and let it chill in refrigerator for overnight.
- Remove from fridge when you are ready to make truffles. Place each of the coating ingredients in a separate plate.
- Using a mellon scooper scoop out a chocolate bowl. Roll in your hands for a smoother round shape. (Heat from your hand will start to melt the chocolate making it easy to reform into a round ball).
- Roll the chocolate balls in one of the coating plates making sure the truffle is thoroughly coated. Place the truffle on a parchment paper.
- Ready to serve! Serve them at room temperature or refrigerate for later use.
These were heavenly and had a perfect truffle byte! I forgot to take a photo of the truffle byte, may be next time :-)
These chocolate truffles go straight to S of the wonderful blog Art, Food and Travel Chronicles for giving me my first food blog award here! Thanks S!
No comments:
Post a Comment