Chocolate Truffles

Posted in Recipes on September 29, 2006 by Dharm Navaratnam |

Chocolate TrufflesMakes: 20 (each)

Ingredients

Dark Chocolate Truffles

  • 250g good quality dark chocolate
  • 100 ml cream

Praline Truffles

  • 250g good quality dark chocolate
  • 100 ml cream
  • 100 g almonds
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 6 tbsp water

Method

Dark Chocolate Truffles

  1. Heat the cream until almost boiling.
  2. Pour it over 125g of chocolate and mix well.
  3. Beat the mixture with an electric mixer on high until it becomes fluffy.
  4. Melt the remaining chocolate in a double boiler and brush moulds or tin foil cups with the melted chocolate. Leave to set.
  5. Pipe or spoon the dark chocolate truffles into the chocolate filled moulds.
  6. Cover with a layer of melted chocolate.
  7. Refrigerate until firm.

Praline Truffles

  1. To make the praline, melt sugar with water in a heavy saucepan. Bring to the boil without stirring and continue boiling till sides of syrup start to turn golden.
  2. Swirl the mixture around until it’s amber coloured. Add in the nuts and quickly pour onto a greased biscuit pan. Allow to cool.
  3. Break the praline into chunks and process in food processor until fine.
  4. Heat the cream until almost boiling.
  5. Pour the cream over the 125g of chocolate and mix well.
  6. Beat the mixture with an electric mixer on high until fluffy.
  7. Add the praline to the chocolate mixture.
  8. Melt the remaining chocolate over a double boiler and brush moulds or tin foil cups with the melted chocolate. Leave to set.
  9. Pipe or spoon the praline truffles into the chocolate filled moulds.
  10. Cover with a layer of melted chocolate.
  11. Refrigerate until firm.

Food Notes

  • When using chocolate in moulds or as a coating, it’s best to temper the chocolate. Tempering involves melting the chocolate to a certain temperature, allowing it to cool, then reheating it slightly. When the chocolate is melted, the molecules of cocoa butter separate. The tempering process puts the molecules back together again. This enables the cocoa butter molecules to combine properly to produce a firm, glossy chocolate. Failure to temper correctly may cause the chocolate to melt too easily at room temperature or cause whitish/greyish streaks on the chocolate. You will need a candy thermometer to accomplish tempering properly. An alternative is to add 50g of butter or vegetable oil to 250g of chocolate. You can also use a mix of cooking chocolate with dark chocolate. Bear in mind however that these two methods compromise the taste of the chocolate.
  • Pralines can be made earlier and stored covered in the fridge for up to a month.