Truffles? Yes please!

Now this is where a wise person might say, "hmmm....is she referring to the chocolate variety or the fungus variety?" About 5 years ago, I didn't even know there were such things called truffles (were on the fungus type right now, otherwise I would have been a very very sheltered child). Never would I have thought that these earthy, stinky, nasty looking black and white pitted balls are edible, much less considered a delicacy. Low and behold they are, and as you might have guessed by my description, I'm not their number one fan. I think they get over used on crappy food to try and give it some dazzle, when you just end up with something tasting like you took a huge bite of earthy funkiness.

There is a time and place, though. Like just a few drops over sauteed asparagus with a poached egg on top (personal favorite), or just enough mixed into potatoes to give them depth but not dominate. A restaurant I worked at would drizzle a tiny amount over hot flatbreads from the oven, which would make the whole area stink of truffle oil, but as a customer it was a great compliment to the pizza. This being the giving season, you may want to try giving someone a small bottle of truffle oil for Christmas or just because. It may sit on the shelf for months, but when it does get used (in small doses of course) it will transform a depth-less food into something with character worth talking about.

Honestly, fungal truffles wasn't really what I wanted to write about. And it doesn't even sound pleasant so let's switch gears to Chocolate truffles!

Ahh the power of chocolate! Although it has been disproved to be a powerful aphrodisiac, only containing tiny amounts of tryptophan and phenylethylamine which create serotonin and amphetamines respectively, in the body. There is a still a benefit to consuming chocolate aside from the pure joy you get when a piece just happens to finds its way into your mouth. Chocolate is packed full of flavanoids (antioxidants) that help fight the bad cholesterol "LDL" in the body. Call me crazy, but having listened to the "Good vs Bad" related to health for so many years, I have a permanent image of little rounds blobs with wild faces flying towards each other to battle. Swords drawn, battle cries, who will win?! I'm sure its much more glorious in my mind than in actuality. The point is, don't completely discredit your chocolate, especially the darkest of the dark. This is where you will get the most "bang for your buck" - a term I don't like, but somehow find myself using constantly.

So what's in a truffle?

This is were the magic happens. Truffles are super easy to make and can be filled with a huge variety of flavor combinations. The limiting factor is really what you feel comfortable doing. I'm sure many of you have seen the surge in "Aztec" style chocolate over the past few years, where you add a little cayenne pepper to give it a deeper, spicier flavor. Well what about tea infused chocolate? Earl grey tea complements chocolate hugely, along with honey, lemon, and well pretty much any fruit. The trick is how your going to get the flavors you want into the chocolate, namely the ganache. Ganache is a combination of cream and chocolate that can be used in many different desserts. Anything that has that ultra smooth chocolate surface on it most likely has had ganache poured over it. Ganache is commonly the filling for truffles with that creamy softish chocolaty center. In order to make this, your going to need to heat some cream (or milk but I like cream, might as well go all the way right?). This is your opportunity for infusing the flavors you desire. I personally like to infuse coffee beans into my cream, scrapped vanilla beans + the pod, spices, maybe some orange rind. I'm a huge fan of citrus and find that the acids in citrus help develop the flavor to be more complex. The only thing you need to keep in mind are your ratios of cream to chocolate. I like the 2:1 chocolate to cream, although this does make for a soft ganache to work with. You also want to bear in mind the type of chocolate you are using and experiment with different amounts of dark chocolate (60 + % cocoa solids) milk chocolate, semi-sweet and so forth.

Okay, enough said. What to do?

Combine your "infusion flavors" with your cream and bring to a gentle scald. Turn off the heat and allow to steep. This is only going to intensify the flavor. While the cream is still hot, pour it through a strainer (unless old vanilla pods, spices, and rind is really something you like chewing on) right into the chocolate. Cover with plastic wrap, allow to sit 5-10 minutes. This is a good chance to get out a shallow pot and bowl that fits in the top of the pot, you are basically making a double boiler to melt the chocolate you will use to coat the truffles. Place some water in the pot and snugly fit the bowl over the top. NOTE* the water should not touch the bottom of the bowl, check the bottom of your bowl to see if it is wet as a quick check.* Now that at least a few minutes have pasted, try stirring your ganache mixture with a spoon. If all the chocolate is melted it should come together into a slightly thick, shiny mixture. Place this in the refrigerator until it is set. Prep a baking sheet (aka cookie sheet, sheet pan...yada yada) with parchment paper and grab a small ice cream scoop to make "bite size" truffles. I'm a huge fan of using ice cream scoops for portioning things out, as opposed to the old fashion not so perfect two spoon method. You should also make sure that you have room to fit the cookie sheet into the refrigerator with it lying flat. Okay, lets PORTION! Grab out the ganache mixture and portion it out using the scoop. Once the bowl is finished just place the sheet pan into the refrigerator and allow the ganache balls to set up for a minute or two. Meanwhile, melt some chocolate in the double boiler over medium-high heat. I like to use dark chocolate for coating, but once again always feel free to play. You only need the chocolate to be melted, if you over heat the chocolate it will turn funny colors when it cools. This is known as blooming, and although it has no affect on flavor, it makes for a not so appealing truffle. Now it is time to get messy. Start by washing your hands very well with luke warm to cold water. Dry off your hands and pull out the ganache balls. Working quickly, scoop up some of the melted chocolate and coat the inside of your hands with the chocolate. Pick up a ganache ball and roll it around in your hands until it is barely coated. You are going to do this with all the truffles, coating your hands with more melted chocolate as needed. As carefully as you can get the truffles back into the refrigerator to set. This will only take a minute or two. Repeat this chocolate coating process one to two more times. For the final coating, roll the truffle in your hands, coating in chocolate again, but instead of placing it back on the sheet pan, immediately place it into whatever you wish your added element to be. This can be cocoa powder, powdered sugar, chopped nuts and so forth. Once again, have fun and think creatively. Roll it around so that it is completely coated. To finish the truffles....and you thought it was over...try to brush off the excess powder. Using a gentle paint brush for this works great, and gives you the look of a perfectionist at work. Now you can enjoy your creation! This all seems like a lot, but not only do these truffles look great and handmade (in a classy way), they are your creative works. Giving these out at the holidays is a great gift and always impresses.