Just about everyone has had a chocolate truffle at some point in their life, and just about everyone who’s had one loves them. As some of you may have deduced, truffles get their name for their resemblance to truffle mushrooms, and to be considered a true truffle they should conform to a few standards. Namely they will have a firm ganache which is a mixture of bittersweet chocolate and heavy cream. Ganache for the truffles is made by boiling heavy cream and then pouring the hot cream over chocolate. It is then mixed and chilled, making it either a dense chocolate or gooey center depending on the recipe. The ganache is then either pipped or scooped (not necesarily in a sphere shape) and finished with a coating of tempered chocolate and then rolled in cocoa powder, nuts or other rollable topping.
Nowadays you can find a lot of different truffle variations:
- Fruit Creams
- Caramel
- Nougat
- Fudge
- Mint
- Toffee
- Nuts
- Marshmallows
- Liquors
- etc…
The most common truffle is probably the rum truffle. You can substitute just about any alcohol in this recipe to pair with any flavor profile you want. Basically, truffles can be any flavor you desire. All you have to do is exeirment and see what works best for you.
The great thing about chocolate truffles is that they’re simple enough to master and keep handy when the holidays roll around or you want to impress your in-laws, but also challenging enough that they provide a good entry into more advanced chocolate confections like molded bon bons.
Almond Amaretto Truffle
Ingredients
- 8 oz Heavy Cream
- 13 oz White Chocolate chopped
- 3 tbsp Unsalted Butter
- 3 tbsp Amaretto
- 8 oz Almonds toasted and chopped
Instructions
- In a small pot, bring the cream to a boil.
- Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl.
- When the cream has begun to boil, pour it over the chocolate and gently tap the bowl to ensure that the cream fills the empty spaces around the chocolate. Let it sit for 2 minutes.
- With a whisk, start from the center and stir in circular motions. Once the chocolate has begun to emulsify, stir towards the outside of the bowl to incorporate all of the chocolate.
- Once emulsified, add the unsalted butter and Amaretto to the ganache.
- Let the ganache cool and set until stiff enough to pipe.
- Using a 12mm round piping tip and a flat tray, pipe ganache into drops approx. ¾”/1.9cm wide and tall. Piping drops this size will give a final truffle close to an inch wide.
- Place the pipped ganache in the fridge to set firmly. Once set, roll the ganache into spheres and dip into tempered chocolate. Before the chocolate sets, roll into the chopped almonds and set aside to firm.
