Easy and Exquisite Chocolate Truffle Recipe

I decided it was time to find a good truffle recipe. I really like truffles, but making them has always intimidated me. I've had some good homemade truffles from others, and I've had some average to pretty blah, so I wasn't quite sure how difficult it was to attempt.


Well, a little while ago I found a truffle recipe from two of the Master Chocolatiers on the Lindt website. It looked pretty simple, and I figured they know what they're doing, so I thought I'd give it a try.


Just as a side note, isn't that a cool job title? Master Chocolatier. Has a nice ring to it. And they get to wear the cool baker's caps and stuff......Maybe this will have to be one of my new lifetime goals. We'll see.....

Okay, so most importantly, the key to making a good truffle is to start out with good quality chocolate. Of course this Lindt recipe suggested using theirs, but I wanted to give some others a try. Here are the ones I experimented with:


Green & Black's Organic 70% Dark Chocolate
Hageland's Origins Ecuador 43% Milk Chocolate
Andes Mint Chips!


So, firstly, the G&B dark chocolate is amazing! I like the  dark much better than the mint that I had previously tried, just because you can appreciate the natural flavors much better. Hageland's is a new brand that I discovered, and this milk chocolate also very good! More notes on this later. And, I just love Andes Mints and just happened to have a bag of their baking chips in the cupboard, so I figured, why not?


All three turned out really great and were really easy! The one thing I suspected and discovered is that every chocolate has a slightly different density (since it's already tempered and has different levels of cocoa butter). I may adjust the proportions in the future depending on each chocolate type, but honestly, I was still really pleased with all of them. The dark chocolate truffles were the most dense, and going down with each one. The one regret I had is that I was in a hurry and so I just dusted all of them in cocoa powder to finish. I think the softer truffles would have been better if I would have dipped them in a hard chocolate shell. So.........next time (which I think will be very soon)!


HERE'S THE RECIPE! (By Ann Czaja & Hans Mazenauer)

Ingredients:

Ganache (this is technically what the truffles are made of - ganache can be used in a variety of other chocolate desserts as well)

1/4 cup heavy cream
5 oz milk, white, or dark chocolate, chopped
1 Tbsp butter, softened

Method:

Heat the cream until it just comes to a boil. Add the chopped chocolate and remove the saucepan from the heat. Stir or whisk the mixture until the chocolate is completely melted. Stir in the butter until the ganache is smooth.

Put the ganache in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, ensuring that the plastic makes contact with the entire surface of the ganache. Refrigerate overnight or until the ganache is set.

To form basic truffles:

Use a melon baller, small ice cream scoop, teaspoon, or piping bag. Roll the ganache in a ball and place on parchment paper.

To finish the truffles:

Option 1: Roll truffles in unsweetened cocoa powder, powdered sugar, chocolate shavings, chopped chocolate, chopped toasted nuts or coconut.

Option 2: Temper a few ounces of desired type of chocolate. Wash hands, rinse them in cold water and dry them thoroughly (cold hands prevent the truffles from softened and the tempered chocolate from getting too warm). Place a tablespoon of tempered chocolate in the palm of your hand and roll the truffles to coat. Place the finished truffle on the parchment paper. Replenish the chocolate in your hand as needed. The chocolate coated truffles can also be rolled in the toppings suggested above.

Makes approximately 20 truffles

So, not super pretty (at least not like the picture perfect website display on Lindt). I'll work on the details later. I just wanted to make sure the recipe was worth trying again, and it is!!!

I had to hurry and get this picture before they all disappeared, because they didn't last long.

LINDT: CHOCOLATE REVIEW (Lindor Truffles)

Why is it that chocolate in every other country besides the US seems to be better? (Sorry, Hershey's, but you are just not at the top of my list.) Anyway, Lindt & Sprungli from Swizterland is one of my fav's for the money! Especially their collection, Lindor Truffles. I bought a big bag of them right before Christmas, and was trying to hold out, to savor just one a day to make them last longer. Well, that has not been happening lately. Because once I have one, I just want to try another flavor, to try to decide which one is my favorite. Such a predicament!

Anyway, what is my favorite? Honestly, really can't say, although I really like the Extra Dark Chocolate. But then there's the Stracciatella that's also quite delish. And then I get to looking at their website (www.lindtusa.com) and I start realizing how can I even decide when I haven't even tried all of them!

I so wish they had a retailer around my parts. But, not so. Maybe one day they will smarten up and get one around here (Utah). Or I'll have to start with their new program of becoming a Lindt home distributor (seems appealing, but I might just eat it all instead of having the parties, so I don't know how successful that would be). 

Anyway, for those who don't have a true retail store close by, there's still hope as they are common to find. If you buy these chocolates separately just at a local grocer, as they are often sold as impulse items by cash registers, you will pay around 50 cents a pop. Since I am a little more price savvy than that, I recommend going to WalMart or Sam's Club/Costco, and buying a bigger variety bag (or all of one flavor, if you have your favorite). The one downer is that you really can't find all of the flavors if you go that way, but they are getting better at having a selection.

I'm sure most of you have seen these and hopefully had the opportunity to taste! If not, put it on your list of things to do. You will not have regrets.

Mint Oreo Truffles, Anyone?

So, I found this truffle recipe on Bakerella.com that just sounded like it was definitely worth a try. Bakerella is a really fun website with lots of simple and cute baking ideas. You should definitely check it out!

If you are using normal Oreos:

1 package oreo cookies (divided… use cookie including the cream center)
(Reserve 7 cookies for decorating)

1 8oz. package cream cheese (softened)

Chocolate or white chocolate bark

If you are using Double Stuf (Mint) Oreos:

1 pkg. Double Stuf Mint Oreos (1 lb. 1 oz. pkg.)
use 22 cookies with cream centers included
use 10 cookies with cream centers discarded

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, room temperature
Chocolate or white chocolate bark

Directions for both:

Finely crush the cookies in a food processor or a ziploc bag with a rolling pin. Stir in softened cream cheese. Mix well until good consistency. Roll the mixture into 1″ balls and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet. Place covered in freezer for a few minutes to help retain shape when dipping.. Melt chocolate as directed on the package and then dip balls into chocolate. tap off extra and set aside on wax paper covered cookie sheet to dry. Add any toppings before chocolate is completely set so they will stick. Refrigerate and enjoy!

I took some of the crushed cookies and some of the chocolate bark shavings and reserved them for sprinkling on top of the truffles.

Well, on the tastiness scale, they rated well with me. However, I do prefer the consistency of a real creamy truffle instead - just personal preference. But they were fun and different and the classic mint Oreo flavor always wins me over. I think next time I will use normal Oreos, since you can usually get them at a better price, and then add a few drops of mint extract and see if that will still do the trick.

Here's my other awesome realization - well my favorite Oreos are the ones dipped in white chocolate that you can only get at Christmastime. I always try to stock up and hide them away when they come out since they are so hard to find in the stores after like a week. Well, now I can just get some almond bark and dip those anytime of year! Mmmmm. My husband will be so happy.