Traditional French Wild Truffle Chocolate Confection

Contributed by Chef Michael Antonorsi, Chuao Chocolatier

Ingredients

Filling:

2 ¼ cups (530 ml) of fresh heavy cream

4 oz. (120 ml) corn syrup or honey

1.5 lbs. (680 grams) of dark chocolate (Around 60% cacao content)

1 oz. (28 grams) of softened whipped butter

Dipping/Coating:

4 cups (500 grams) of melted dark chocolate

4 cups (500 grams) of cocoa powder

Procedure

• Boil cream together with the corn syrup.
• Chop the chocolate and put into a bowl.
• Add the hot cream to the chocolate and let sit for half an hour until it cools down to around 95ºF (35ºC). Mix softly to incorporate into a smooth chocolate ganache.
• When the mixture is cooled down to around 90ºF (32ºC), add the softened butter and mix in well.
• Leave the mixture to cool down and set overnight.
• With a melon baller, scoop out the individual amounts desired per truffle.
• Using cocoa powder as a nonstick agent in the hands, roll the scooped amount into a small ball.
• Temper 4 cups (500 grams) of melted dark chocolate. (See Notes below.)
• Dip the balls halfway into the chocolate and roll them between the hands to have an even, thin coating all around the truffle. Place the dipped balls on the parchment paper again and let crystallize.
• Dip the balls a second time with an even thinner coating of chocolate. This time roll over the cocoa powder and cover completely. Let set for a few minutes.
• Store the finished product in an airtight container.

Makes about 70 truffles

Shelf life: 2 weeks

Notes

On Tempering the Chocolate:

The simplest way to temper chocolate for truffle making is to use the seeding method. This consists of using a ratio of 75% melted chocolate and 25% solid chips or chopped bar of chocolate.

For this example:

• Melt 3 cups (375 grams) of dark chocolate in a double boiler. Make sure not to heat it too much, but just enough so that all of it is melted.
• Remove from the double boiler and add 1 cup (125 grams) of solid chips or chopped chocolate bar.
• Mix slowly and let the chips melt as much as they can. Do not worry if not all of it melts. The incorporation of the solid chips will slowly seed the melted chocolate and temper it.
• Once most or all of the solid chocolate has melted, proceed with dipping the truffles in the chocolate.
• If the chocolate begins to thicken, then put the bowl back on top of the double boiler and heat slightly. Do not overheat because the temper will be lost.

On Infusing Flavors:

• Wild truffles are very versatile and one can infuse the cream with anything that can infuse it, including tea leaves and rose petals, or herbs such as basil, rosemary, and others.
• Bring the cream to a boil and add the leaves. Let steep for 10 minutes, then strain. Measure the cream and add more cream to return to the initial measure. Bring to a quick boil again and use.

On Using Alcohol as Flavoring:

• Using an alcoholic beverage as flavoring is always a great idea because it extends the shelf life of the truffles.
• Use alcohol that has a distinctive flavor such as Rum, Whisky, Amaretto, Grand Marnier or Kahlua.
• Substitute an amount of cream that is equivalent to the alcohol used. For example, if 2 ounces (60 ml) of cream are required, remove 1 ounce (30 ml) of cream and add 1 ounce (30 ml) of alcohol.
• Always add the alcohol at the end after all ingredients are mixed.
• Boiling alcohol with the cream will boil away the alcohol.