A Little Story About Those Delicious Delicacies & How To Make Them
It’s the season of chocolate, love and warmth and what could be better than making your own chocolate truffles at home? First, let’s take a trip down memory lane to look at where chocolate truffles originated and why they’re called truffles in the first place.
History
The word ‘truffle’ is Latin for lump/swelling. It was originally used to describe the savory, delicious, and expensive food item used in cooking. Later the term came to describe the dessert for its’ similarity in shape; hence the chocolate ‘truffle’.
In 1920 France, an apprentice of culinary giant Auguste Escoffier was attempting to make pastry cream, and accidentally poured hot cream into a bowl of chocolate chunks rather than the bowl of sugared egg, he was aiming for. As the chocolate and cream mixture hardened, he found he could work the chocolate paste with his hands to form a bumpy ball. He rolled it into cocoa powder, and found that it is very similar in shape and color to the luxurious truffles from the French and Italian regions.
As the concept developed, different truffle textures were created by rolling the center chocolate ganache/balls in powdered sugar or finely chopped nuts, and ganache was flavored with champagne and liqueurs.
Truffles Vs Non Truffles
As time passed, the term ‘truffles’ was applied to everything that is round, chocolate centered and covered. But there is a difference between both, that is to be noted.
A truffle applies to balls of chocolate ganache, coated in a classic-style, or covered in chocolate. Modern truffles can be coated in peppercorns, sweet curry and paprika. But they still have a commonality: balls, squares or other shapes, filled with ganache.
Non Truffle
Anything else, including fruit creams centers, whipped cream-filled chocolates, and any filled chocolate that isn’t filled with ganache.
Homemade Chocolate Truffles
170 grams semisweet baking chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
¼ cup whipping (heavy) cream
1 tablespoon shortening
1 cup semisweet or milk chocolate chips or white baking chips
Finely chopped nuts or candy decorations (optional)
- Cover cookie tray with aluminum foil. Melt baking chocolate in saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly; remove from heat.
- Stir in butter until melted; stir in whipping cream. Refrigerate 10 to 15 minutes, stirring frequently, just until thick enough to hold a shape.
- Drop mixture by teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Shape into balls. (If mixture is too sticky, refrigerate until firm enough to shape.) Freeze 30 minutes.
- Heat shortening and chocolate chips over low heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth; remove from heat.
- Dip truffles, one at a time, into chocolate. Place on aluminum foil-covered cookie sheet. Immediately sprinkle some of the truffles with finely chopped nuts or decorating candies.
- Refrigerate truffles about 10 minutes or until coating is set.
- Drizzle some of the truffles with mixture of 1/4 cup powdered sugar and 1/2 teaspoon milk. Refrigerate just until set. Serve at room temperature. Store in airtight container.
