Chocolate truffles

This is an old thing I made back in October, but figured I would post. I actually have quite a few past pictures to blog now that I have time. I hope y'all will understand these are past creations that I still wish to share, I am just apologetic for not having had posts for a while and having lost my inspiration to bake.



Hopefully within some time, I will be back to wanting to bake and create. In the meantime.... these are past creations and I will have some bath stuff/clothing/holiday posts to come, though I know it is after the holidays. Also, I know it is indeed after christmas, but I might make a batch of gingerbread cupcakes as well as some white chocolate peppermint cupcakes, as I have most all of the supplies.... that have been sitting in my cabinet and refrigerator since the beginning of October.



Happy belated new years as well.

I don't necessarily have a recipe for these, but they are pretty basic. First you start with combing chocolate chips and heavy cream. I typically use a 2:1 ratio. For instance if I use 1 cup of chocolate, I use 1/2 cup of cream.  I used milk chocolate chips and peanut butter chips here, I added a dash of vanilla to make it pop, and I melted about 1 ounce of cream cheese, not too much because it is tricky to melt proporally over a double boiler, but just enough to add a creaminess and richness.

I heated all of this over the double boiler this is our actual truffle, or ganache. I heated the water to boil, placed the glass bowl on top and then turned the burner to low, stirring constantly to a sure it did not burn. Once everything in thoroughly melted... 

I lined a pan with foil, and sprayed it to ensure the ganache didn't stick.

You want to chill the filling over night if you can, but if not several hours until it is cold enough and set enough to scoop with a small truffle scoop.

These scoops can be found at a specialty supply store. I searched about 5 stores before I found mine in Alaska. I didn't have many specialty stores so I had searched at bed bath and beyond, walmart, target, the BX, jc pennys.... and they did not have it. The specialty store I went to was Habitat housewares in Alaska at the university center mall. It was about 25-30, but well worth it. I am sure william sonoma might have one.

Scoop your filling..

... And roll it into balls. Refrigerate the balls afterwards for an hour or so just to harden the filling back up so you can cover the truffles.

Melt pure milk chocolate with nothing mixed in it over a double boiler. Remember to stir constantly so this doesn't melt. Now, it is time to temper the chocolate. You simply want to stir the chocolate after it is melted and add unmelted whole chocolate to the mix. This is called the "seed" The seed will slowly melt into the chocolate, but not all of it. The purpose of this is to cool the chocolate down at a pace in which the chocolate will harden once dried. Once the bowl is cool to the touch, to ensure your chocolate is temped, drip some of it on parchment paper or a pan, once it hardens completely, you know your chocolate is tempered and able to work with.

I lost some photos but once it is tempered, simply take out the filling, roll it in the chocolate to coat the balls, and once they have hardened, you can strike them with different colors for decoration, or eat them! They can be stored at room temperature, and once you bite into it, the ganache should be melty, gooey, and delicious.

Here is a photo of Christmas truffles I made in 2012 or 2013