Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1993 00:49:49 PDT
Here is a truffle recipe, makes about 10 dozen: 2 lbs Dark coating chocolate (Merckens Yucatan) 6 oz Unsweetened baking chocolate 3 oz Unsalted butter 3 dl (1 1/4 cup) Cointreau Chop the chocolate. Melt together with the butter over simmering water. Stir continuously with a rubber spatula. Don't let water get into the chocolate. Warm the Cointreau to the same temperature as the chocolate. Slowly blend the Cointreau into the chocolate (still over the water). Stir continuously. Do this slowly (as if you were making Hollandaise). Using an electric mixer, beat the mixture until cool and somewhat thickened. (Takes about 5 minutes; you'll need a good mixer.) Line a large baking sheet (11 x 17) with wax paper. Pour in the truffle mix. (This will fill the pan.) Chill in the refrigerator until solid. Use a pizza cutter to cut the stuff into strips (peel off the wax paper first), then into squares. Take each one, mash it in your palm, and roll in cocoa. Chill some more. Substitute other liqueurs (Chambord, Amaretto, Kahlua) and coatings (chopped roasted almonds, finely chopped candied orange peel, coffee beans run through a nutmeg grinder, etc.) Truffles rolled in cocoa are "classic" -- here are some rough and ready instructions for coating them with chocolate, abstracted from "Making Chocolates" by Alec Leaver. Melt some chocolate over hot water, let it cool slowly until it just thickens (80-84 degrees F). Now warm the chocolate gently and slowly until it thins slightly. The temperature should be above 85 degrees, but below 91 degrees. "Should the temperature accidentally exceed 91 degrees while it is being used, it will be noticeable that it quickly runs off the center that is being coated and takes much longer to set. The only solution is to cool the chocolate again to 80-82 degrees and warm it once more to the working temperature. These maximum working temperatures are therefore absolutely critical, and a great deal of time can be wasted warming and cooling couverature which has thinned because it accidentally became too hot." The temperature of the room you work in should not exceed 70 degrees. "The ideal temperature is exactly 22 degrees less than the chocolate. In other words, if the couverature is 89 degrees, the room temperature should be 67 degrees." Pre-bottom all centers -- that is, smear a little couverature on what will be the bottom of the center with the back of a spoon and place it, bottom side up, on a plate. This lets you check that the couverature is properly tempered. After the bases have set and hardened a little, stir the couverature thoroughly, trying not to get too many air-bubbles in. Drop a center into the couverature, bottom down and, with an ordinary fork, slightly warmed, push it down to submerge it fully. Immediately, pick it out with the fork, tap the fork on the side of the bowl in order to settle the chocolate, and wipe any excess from underneath the fork. Transfer the center to a sheet of wax paper. Stir the couverature after depositing each center to keep it well mixed. Martin Minow decvax!minow
[From the NY Times]
CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES
3 cups semisweet chocolate morsels
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons rum
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Unsweetened cocoa
Melt chocolate over simmering water. Beat until smooth. Scald the
cream in a small saucepan; remove from the heat and let cool to 130
degrees on a candy thermometer.
Add cream to chocolate and beat over simmering water until smooth.
Remove from heat and add flavorings.
When cool, beat with an electric mixer until fluffy. Refrigerate
until firm. Dust your hands with unsweetened cocoa, roll teaspoonsful
of the mixture into balls and roll in unsweetened cocoa. Place in
small candy papers and refrigerate.
Makes about 40.
Truffles
INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier (or dark rum, Kahlua, Amaretto, etc.)
6 ounces German's Sweet Chocolate
4 tablespons sweet butter, softened
powdered unsweetened cocoa
1. Boil cream in a small heavy pan until reduced to 2 tablespoons.
Remove from heat, stir in liqueur and chocolate, and return to
low heat. Stir until chocolate melts.
2. Whisk in softened butter. When mixture is smooth, pour into a shallow
bowl and refrigerate until firm, about 40 minutes.
3. Scoop chocolate up with a teaspoon and shape into rough 1-inch balls.
(Perhaps a melon ball (?) or a small ice cream scoop may be useful???)
Roll the truffle balls in the unsweetened cocoa.
4. Store truffles, covered, in the refrigerator. Let truffles stand at room
temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
This is straight of of "The Joy of Cooking". Very easy if you
have a microwave.
Coarsely grate [ I broke into pieces ]
3 oz. unsweetened chocolate.
Melt it with:
1/4 cup butter.
Add:
2 Tablespoons [1 oz] cream
Gradually stir in until lump-free:
7 tablespoons sifted confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons finely ground hazelnuts.
[note: sice I didnt have hazelnuts, I used some extra sugar.
8 tablespoons is 1/2 cup]
Cover and refrigerate 12 to 24 hours. [I could wait that long] Make
individual balls by rolling about a teaspoon of the mixture in the
pl6am of the hand. This friction and warmth will cause the chocolate
to melt slightly, so that the final coating will adhere. Roll balls
in:
cinnamon flavored cocao, or
Chocolate pastilles or shot
[I used powered sugar with cinnamon, which I thought was too
sweet, and ground almonds, which were better]
This coating will stick to them very satisfactorily. Keep refridgerated,
but for best flavor, remove 2 hours before serving.
[As I said, if you use a microwave, it takes about 90 seconds to melt
the chocolate and butter, starting with frozen butter. An interesting
experiment, yet to be done, consists of replacing the cream with various
l liquers: kaluha, ameretto, etc. ]
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