Snowy day fun with chocolate! Truffle mania!
Spring may be days away yet, surprisingly, winter seems to still be in full bloom. But being stuck inside can be a lot of fun when there is chocolate involved! How about gathering the kids and your girlfriends together for an afternoon or evening of truffle making?
Truffles may look difficult but they can be quite simple to make. And they are certainly an elegant addition for an everyday dessert, to enjoy when having family or friends over or even as a personal gift from your kitchen wrapped in a beautiful box. Making truffles with your kids is also an ideal way to get your kids to enjoy dark chocolate, which has less sugar and real health benefits than milk or white chocolate. They won’t even notice since they are having great fun!
You might want to create two different types of truffles…one for the kids and one for adults in mind. How about Cognac or Grand Marnier truffles? Yum!
There are many different ways to decorate them that everyone can have fun with. Be creative! You might already have these things in your cabinet.
Cocoa powder
Melted chocolate (dark, milk, white)
Chopped nuts
Coconut
Colored sprinkles
Decorative icing
Colored sugar crystals
Chopped dried fruit pieces
Icing sugar
So, let’s get started! What’s key here is the chocolate you choose and I’ll give you some ideas so you are making truffles with beautiful, rich flavor. This recipe makes about 60 truffles so you may want to split it in half – one for the kids without the alcohol and one for the adults with the alcohol. Or make two full recipes so everyone can have some to take home.
Ingredients
1 pound (16 oz) good dark chocolate such as Valrhona 64% or 72% –
At Whole Foods it’s next to the cheese and bakery section not the bar chocolate aisle. It’s usually in bulk chunk form. Good to ask. Also at Trader Joe’s. Stay away from the round disks from craft stores and some chocolate stores – not real chocolate!
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier or Cognac, optional
1 tablespoon prepared coffee, optional
1/2 teaspoon good vanilla extract
Chosen decorations – see above for choices
Directions
Chop the chocolates finely with a sharp knife. Place them in a heat-proof mixing bowl.
Heat the cream in a small saucepan until it just boils. Turn off the heat and pour the cream into the bowl with chocolate. With a wire whisk or rubber spatula, slowly stir the cream and chocolates together until the chocolate is completely melted. Kids can help stir. Whisk in the Grand Marnier, if using, coffee, and vanilla. Put in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Use this time to get all of your decorations in place.
Take out several bowls and pour your chosen decorations into each. Take a vote with the kids! Maybe cocoa powder in one, colored sprinkles or coconut in another.
Take out a baking sheet or two lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Take the bowl out of the refrigerator. With 2 teaspoons, spoon round balls of the chocolate mixture onto a baking sheet.
Now everyone wash your hands!
For this article, we’ll just touch on dry decorations. Roll each dollop of chocolate in your hands to roughly make a round ball. Please note that if the truffles are held too long in your hands, they will melt. Just refrigerate and re-use.
Put each ball into your bowl containing a decoration. Or use 2 or 3 decorations. Have fun with them! Toss to cover them, then put them on clean parchment lined tray to dry. Allow the truffles to set for about 10 minutes before devouring. These will keep refrigerated for a week, but serve at room temperature.
Enjoy some wine with your truffles too! A rich red is perfect with dark chocolate, like a nice Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Noir with earthy notes.
Have fun and roll on! I’d love to see what fun you had so please send me pictures!
~Lisa Mecray Rogers, award-winning Master Chocolatier and Founder of Luxx Chocolat® xquisite artisan chocolate, ChocoVin Chocolate & Wine Tastings® and Luxx Academy du Chocolat offering classes with adults in mind, Ridgewood resident, recognized as one of 2014 and 2013 Best Chocolatiers & Confectioners in America. Luxx Chocolat offers unique handcrafted works of art. Nothing artificial, no preservatives, not mass produced.
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