Truffles that work in hot weather

[hearthstone]

Take 24 oz. chocolate, do yourself a favor and don't use Baker's (Ghirardelli is nice), use either all bittersweet or semisweet, or 1/3 unsweetened and 2/3 bitter- or semisweet, depending on your chocolate tolerance. Milk or white chocolate might work but what would be the point? Chop very very finely (a food processor is helpful).

Take a healthy 1/4 c. of heavy cream, heat to boiling, and pour into the food processor, process. Add 4 Tbsp. of whatever liqueur you prefer (or that much more milk if you're making them plain), process.

Put in a bowl and refrigerate for an hour.

Take a cookie sheet covered with wax paper and drop the chocolate onto it in spoonfuls. Refrigerate for 15-20 minutes.

Form the shapeless globs of chocolate into roughly spherical globs of chocolate, roll in cocoa or whatever else you like. Refrigerate and keep refrigerated. Eat eventually, wait until they firm up a bit at least.


This I learned by first trying two recipes that might work fine when the kitchen is 70 degrees, but when it's 85 the chocolate is entirely unmanageable even after refrigeration. You can also freeze the balls and then dip them in melted chocolate or white chocolate, but I figured that would just be asking for trouble. Today's selection: plain rolled in cocoa, hazlenut rolled in powdered coffee (pretty heavily COFFEE!!!! but should be okay with the chocolate-covered-coffee-bean-eating set, which is pretty much everyone around here), raspberry rolled in ground almonds. (I love my food processor.)

And I think I won't do this again until winter. :)

Comments

[hekatatia.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this! I'm going to try a batch sometime in the next few months.

[hearthstone.livejournal.com]

It's good but it's kind of dense; if I make them in cooler weather I'll use a recipe with a higher cream-to-chocolate ratio :).

[hekatatia.livejournal.com]

Do you have the different quantities on-hand?

[hearthstone.livejournal.com]

I believe it was 2/3 cup cream to 24 oz. chocolate that gave me a ganache that would be quite manageable in cooler weather. I've seen recipes calling for 1 c. cream but that seems like quite a lot (might work in winter though, and would sure make a lovely truffle if it did :)).

Then you have to tweak it for whatever liqueur you're using (less cream in that case, I'd like to say you replace it directly but since cream is thicker I'm guessing that won't quite work).

Good luck :).

I still can't eat more than one of these at a sitting :P.

[hekatatia.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'll let you know how they turn out.