Chocolate Truffles 3 Ways
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Happy Day 11 of 12 Days of Christmas Desserts and Happy Christmas Eve Eve to you all! Let’s talk truffles.
Truffles are a very easy, last minute homemade gift idea that really give the ‘this took me barely any effort at all but they look fancy and cute so you will think I spent hours creating this for you’ vibe. Truffles are just ganache and ganache is just chocolate and heavy cream. It’s all about the technique, so let’s get down to it.
First thing to know about ganache: The consistency of your ganache depends on your chocolate to cream ratio. For a saucy, hot-fudge style ganache, start with 2 parts cream to 1 part chocolate. For traditional, spreadable ganache, it’s a 1:1 ratio, and for scoop-able, truffle ganache, we start with 2 parts chocolate to 1 part heavy cream.
A quick note: milk chocolate has a higher milk solid content than dark chocolate, which will add more fat and cream to your mixture. This means that you would have to slightly adjust these ratios if using a milk chocolate because there would extra fat added to the mixture. For all of these ganache ratios, stick with a chocolate that is at least 52% cocoa solids, preferably a bit higher. 60%-70% is my sweet spot.
making ganache
Roughly chop your chocolate. You want small pieces or else your ganache will be chunky.
Heat your cream until little bubbles form around the edges. (This is called scalding and if you’re measuring, the cream will between 180°-190°F.)
Immediately pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate and jiggle the bowl just a bit to get it all settled down. Let it sit for 3-5 minutes.
After the mixture has rested a bit, start whisking. Whisk (fairly vigorously) starting in the very center of the bowl and working your way out. As you whisk the mixture will begin to look like chocolate milk and then will rapidly change to a smooth, glossy consistency. When the entire bowl has reached that glossy consistency, continue whisking for one minute more.
Cool. For truffles, let the mixture cool for about an hour or until it’s is a scoopable consistency.
Chocolate Truffles Three Ways
Ingredients
- 8 oz chocolate
- 4 oz heavy cream
- 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
- cocoa powder, for rolling
- 8 oz chocolate
- 4 oz heavy cream
- 2 tbsp tahini, stirred
- sesame seeds, for rolling
- 12 oz chocolate, divided
- 4 oz heavy cream
- 2 tbsp sage caramel, recipe below
- Sea salt
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (113 g) heavy cream
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 sprigs fresh sage (10-12 leaves)
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Place 8 oz chopped chocolate in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan set over medium heat, bring 4 oz heavy cream to a simmer. When the cream is hot, pour over the chocolate and shake to settle. Let sit for 3-4 minutes.
- Starting in the center of the bowl, begin whisking vigorously until chocolate mixture becomes smooth and glossy. Whisk one minute more. Add the add-in of your choice (tahini, pomegranate molasses, sage caramel) and whisk to combine.
- Let mixture set at room temperature for about an hour, until it becomes scoop-able. Use a cookie scoop to portion dollops of ganache onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and then transfer to the refrigerator to cool for 15 minutes.
- For the chocolate pomegranate truffles: Remove them from the refrigerator and roll each one in sifted cocoa powder.
- For the chocolate tahini truffles: Remove them from the refrigerator and roll each one in sesame seeds.
- For the sea salt and sage caramel truffles: Melt the remaining 4 oz of chocolate over a double-boiler or in the microwave. Dip each truffle in the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment paper. Sprinkle the tops with sea salt and let set until chocolate has hardened.
- Place butter in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Add about 6 sage leaves to the butter and cook until butter is melted. When the mixture is beginning to sizzle, transfer it to a bowl and let cool completely. Remove sage leaves and discard, set butter aside.
- Place heavy cream your small saucepan along with the remaining sage leaves and bring to a simmer over medium heat. When the milk begins to bubble, remove it from the heat and cover it. Let set for 20 minutes before straining out sage leaves and discarding them.
- Pour sugar in an even layer on the bottom of a large skillet. Set over medium heat and cook without stirring until the sugar has become liquid is beginning to turn golden. At this point, you can swirl the pan gently a time or two. Continue to cook until caramel reaches a deep amber color.
- Carefully remove the skillet from the heat and stream in heavy cream, whisking continually. Return the caramel to the heat and add butter. Whisk well and cook for 1 more minute. Immediately pour caramel into a medium bowl, whisk in salt, and let cool.
Notes:
Milk chocolate has a higher milk solid content than dark chocolate, which will add more fat and cream to your mixture. This means that you would have to slightly adjust these ratios if using a milk chocolate because there would extra fat added to the mixture. For all of these ganache ratios, stick with a chocolate that is at least 52% cocoa solids, preferably a bit higher. 60%-70% is my sweet spot.
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