Chocolate Truffles

Chocolate Truffles

For November 11, 2010

Chocolate truffles have become so ubiquitous, you might wonder if there’s any reason to make them at home.

Well, yes there is.

First of all, you probably already know that if you can buy the stuff in bulk at a warehouse club it’s probably not going to be the tastiest candy you ever ate. And if you go to a specialty shop for a more luxurious selection of, say, grand cru truffles with wild coconut ganache and a hint of fleur de sel, you’re going to be spending as much money as you might on a real truffle, the kind pigs find in the woods and great chefs use in recipes for pate de foie gras or Tournedos Rossini.

Second, because even though they look lovely and elaborately decorative, as if they took artistic talent and oodles of time, truffles are amazingly easy to make. Which makes them very good candidates for at-home cooking, where you can control the kind of chocolate as well as the cost. And after you make them you can serve the truffles with ice cream or as friandise, those elegant little confections you get in an expensive restaurant after dessert. Or you can put them in a little box (inside tiny foil cups) or a small cellophane bag tied with a fancy ribbon, and give them out as holiday gifts.

The classic chocolate truffle is simply this: a flavored, chilled, chocolate ganache (blended softened chocolate and cream) that has been shaped into a small ball and rolled in cocoa. The candy’s resemblance to the fungi it’s named for is easily apparent. There’s some mystery as to how and when the chocolate versions were first invented, but most food historians agree it was in France, where world renowned chefs relied on the earthy, aromatic vegetable kind to enhance the haute in haute cuisine.

Nevertheless, chocolate truffles made it big in the States, particularly in the last couple of decades. There’s some confusion about them at this point because, as with most foods that get reinvented and then re-reinvented over and over, in some circles truffles have come to mean a chocolate shell stuffed with any sweet center. But a true truffle is filled with ganache, not cream, caramel, nougat or jelly. Traditionally truffles are roundish, although these days they come in a variety of shapes.

Any kind of chocolate would work for a truffle recipe, even a package of generic chocolate chips. But if you’re going to the bother of making your own, why not get the very best chocolate you can afford? It doesn’t have to be the most expensive, but quality does make a difference.

Forget labels such as bittersweet or semisweet. What you should look for is chocolate that is about 60% cacao, which has about the right level of sweetness. You can get very specific here – there are 3 kinds of cacao beans, for example, and different ways manufacturers grind and combine the cacao and chocolate liquor – but for most of us the best way to judge the chocolate is to taste it and go from there. Judge both flavor and texture, avoiding chocolate that feels greasy or grainy in your mouth. Good chocolate also has an almost mesmerizing perfume.

You can make truffles using milk chocolate or white chocolate too, although the recipes must be adjusted (to use less cream) because of the higher moisture content of these varieties.

To make truffles, chop the chocolate, then mix it with hot cream and blend them together. By all means use a food processor, which makes short shrift of the job.

After cooling the cream-melted chocolate just a bit, stir in the flavorings and, if you prefer extra-richness, some softened butter and/or egg yolks. Truffle flavorings can be almost anything you like, from rum, champagne or brandy to spices (such as cinnamon, cardamom or cloves) to minced dried fruit (such as crystallized ginger or cranberries) to nuts, (including ground hazelnuts or toasted coconut) to espresso powder, extracts (vanilla, almond, rosewater, etc.) to less common flavor boosters such as bacon and chili pepper. And so on.

Refrigerate the mixture until it is cold enough for you to shape it into balls – use your hands (wear disposable gloves), a melon baller or pastry tube. This part of the process takes time, but don’t be tempted to hurry things up and make huge rounds. We tend to super-size everything in this country, but in fact, the most luxurious truffles are small, a bite or two of fresh tasting chocolate melting on your tongue, quickly sending signals for more, but maybe just another small bite or another small truffle of a different flavor. Huge, mountainous truffles are flavor overkill, usually offered on less expensive candies that need to impress with size or design rather than taste.

After you’ve shaped the balls, put them back in the refrigerator to firm them up before you roll them in coatings, which could be unsweetened cocoa powder, finely chopped nuts, crushed toasted coconut, confectioner’s sugar, candy vermicelli, crushed praline or melted chocolate. And so on.

Quality chocolate truffles are perishable. They need to be kept refrigerated and should be eaten within a week or so. If you give them as holiday gifts, be sure to tell the lucky people who get them to enjoy them while they’re fresh and to keep any leftovers cold.