Truffles Chocolate Truffles are a rich and elegant, bite-sized delight made with a creamy mixture of chocolate, cream, and butter to which various flavourings are added (liqueurs, extracts, nuts, coffee, purees, spices, candied or dried fruits). This mixture is really a Ganache that is rolled into mis-shaped rounds to look like the real truffle fungus that grows around the roots of trees in France and Italy. Once the truffles are formed they are then rolled in cocoa powder to simulate the 'dirt' that the real truffles grow in. While cocoa powder is the traditional coating, truffles can also be coated in confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, toasted and chopped nuts, tempered chocolate, shredded coconut, or even shaved chocolate. The taste and quality of the truffle is primarily dependent on the quality of chocolate you start with. Not all chocolates are the same. Chocolate begins with the beans from the tropical tree Theobroma. There are three types of cacao beans (Forastero, Criollo, and Trinitario) and the type and/or blend of beans, their quality, and where they are grown all contribute to the quality and taste of the chocolate. Other factors affecting taste and quality are how the beans are roasted, how the beans are ground into a mass called chocolate liquor, how much extra cocoa butter is added to the chocolate liquor, quality and amount of other ingredients added, and how long the chocolate liquor is conched (processed). A chocolate with a velvety smooth texture will produce a truffle that is velvety smooth. However, the most important point to consider when choosing either a bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate for making your truffles is whether you like the chocolate when eaten out of hand. Ganache An important term when making truffles. Ganache is normally made by heating heavy/double cream, then pouring it over chopped dark semi-sweet chocolate. The mixture is stirred or blended until smooth, with liqueurs or extracts added in desired. Depending on the kind of chocolate used, what the ganache is intended for, and the temperature it will be served at, the ratio of chocolate to cream is varied to obtain the desired consistency, typically, two parts chocolate to one part cream are used for filling cakes or truffle base, while three to one are commonly used in a glaze. Cooled ganache can be whipped to increase volume and spread to cover a cake.
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