Food: Chocolate Truffles Part I

most people think chocolate truffles should be like this:




or this:



they are correct to the degree that literature should be like the davinci code.

what i want from a truffle is this. i don't want a pretty drizzle design on top. i don't want a shiny gloss and a hard snap. i don't want a capsule of goo. i want a delicate, buttery texture. i want the sharp, dry bitterness of cocoa powder, yielding to a deep, mellow richness of dark chocolate and butter.

another great thing about truffles is that they are fairly easy and inexpensive to make. i will tell you how.

8 oz dark chocolate*
6 T butter
1/4 c water
1/2-1 egg yolk (pick out the chalazae)
1/4 c cocoa powder**

(*assuming trader joe's 70% dark chocolate. i prefer 60%, or a mix of dark and milk. if you use a lower %, you can cut the butter to 5T, and if you use the 70% you may want to add some kind of (liquid) sweetener. generally speaking, the less you enjoy eating the chocolate as-is, the more butter and sweetener you should add.)

(** i'm no expert but i like cacao barry)

break the chocolate into chunks by wrapping it in plastic and pounding on it with something hard. put the chocolate, butter (cut into pieces), and water in a bowl, and alternate between microwaving for 15 seconds and stirring with a spatula. the bowl shouldn't get hot; between turns you should stir the chocolate enough to cool the bowl to lukewarm.

once the mixture has melted and its temperature has come down to lukewarm, whisk in the egg yolk with a wire whisk. pour the mixture onto a sheet pan lined with plastic or parchment paper, or some other kind of pan or mold. lay some plastic on top and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes or so.

put the cocoa powder into a ziploc freezer bag. (note, if you are doubling the recipe you don't need 1/2 c powder, probably just 3/8 c)

after the chocolate has firmed up, remove it from the fridge and dump it onto a clean, odor-free cutting surface. cut the mixture into approx 1/2" squares or cubes using a pizza cutter. the pieces may be uneven and stick together (a lot). this is ok.

after you've cut or scored the chocolate, put it in the ziploc bag and shake to coat the chocolate. break the pieces up and shake some more until each piece is coated in cocoa powder. (note, the softer the chocolate is when it goes into the bag, the more powder will stick to it. this is good or bad depending on your taste. also, you should have some cocoa powder leftover, ok to save the excess or return it to the container.)

there! you are done. you now have a decadent treat and a lifelong superiority complex.


part II: notes on my experiments with different flavors

- tkw