Truffle thoughts

[magid]

I made four batches of truffles with (some of) the last 4.5-lb bar of dark chocolate. I used vanilla egg nog instead of straight cream, since I already had the egg nog. This worked out fine (at least, no one complained :-). However, since the pieces I was able to break off were different sizes, and I didn't measure the egg nog, there were different proportions each time, which resulted in some batches being stickier than others. This meant rolling them in something. The obvious choice is cocoa powder, but I don't like how the bitterness of it is the first thing the eater tastes, so I have defaulted to powdered sugar, which doesn't look as nice and always ends up much more messy, somehow. Last night, however, a friend pointed out that there are sweetened cocoa powders. Aha! And then today I mention this to a cow orker, who has a container of sweetened cocoa she doesn't want (too sweet for her). Score. Perhaps this will give me impetus to start on the second bar of chocolate, which means getting more dairy product. If I get cream this time, I can make a variety of flavors, using booze or flower water (I have orange blossom and rose). Any other suggestions for flavorings?
t

Comments

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

Mint!
Raspberry.

I think rose would be really interesting - I'd definitely try it.

Hmm - maybe cardamom.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I used to have mint extract; wonder if I still do.

I suppose I'd have to get rasperry jelly to do raspberry. (Oh, no, sudden thought: using the clear part of the hot pepper jam and making spicy truffles!)

Cardamom: I'd have to figure out some delivery system - I think that powders are not what I want, but liquids (or things that are semi-liquid, like jelly). Any ideas?

This sounds like I should be making smaller batches (The last one ended up being 52 truffles (a whole deck!), which is perhaps more than I'd want for an experimental batch.). Which means figuring out how to break the thick chocolate more deliberately (not sure that's exactly the word I want, but can't figure out the right one).
a

[treacle-well.livejournal.com]

BTW, I ate the truffles as a snack at work yesterday. Very, very good. I want some more. And, as I have a great quantity of egg nog in my fridge, and the ability to purchase chocolate, I might try my hand at making some myself. But I'm clueless. Do you just add cream (or in this case, egg nog) to chocolate, heat it up, cool it a bit, form balls and roll? How do you tell when you've got the approximately right consistency--something that won't end being totally runny?

[treacle-well.livejournal.com]

Oh, no, sudden thought: using the clear part of the hot pepper jam and making spicy truffles!

I'd be willing to eat that experiment.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Woo-hoo! Passing on the truffle addiction!

Melt the chocolate completely first (I use a double-boiler), then stir in a quantity of egg nog. Since I haven't measured, the best I can give you is an approximation, like maybe 1/4 the amount of egg nog as you have chocolate, or less. Stir it until it's all uniform again; it should look thicker at this point. Take off the heat to cool for 24 hours (the guy who got me trufflizing insisted that there are changes happening that whole time, though not visible ones)(not in the fridge, just at room temp). It will be much more solid, and you can form spheroids at this point.

The more egg nog, the stickier the end product, I think. Still, I haven't had a batch that didn't firm up at all, and the results have always *tasted* good. Oh, and it goes without saying that the quality of the chocolate makes a big difference in the end product....

[magid.livejournal.com]

One volunteer already! I may have to do this.

It means opening my last jar of hot pepper jam, which might mean inspiration to do another batch of jam, too, though unfortunately without peppers from the farm. Why did I not grab more of them when I had the chance?

[jbsegal.livejournal.com]

Earl Gray

[magid.livejournal.com]

Tea-Meister!

I hadn't thought of teas. I think I would have to make tea-essence to have it strong enough. I think in the Magic Tea Bag there is some Earl Grey, too.

Oh, and that could get me a cardamom delivery system, too.

(Perhaps another 4.5 pounds of chocolate won't be enough for the project experimentation after all!)
t

Cardamom

[magid.livejournal.com]

JB's suggestion for tea flavoring might work for cardamom, too. Or I could try using Bengal Spice, something like that.

I've made bread with tea as the base before. Sounds like I could have a tea with tea bread and tea truffles...
u

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

There are raspberry-flavored liqueurs . . .

Re: Cardamom

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

Yeah - perhaps either leaving some cardamom (whole or large pieces able to be strained out) in milk for a while would impart its flavor - or maybe you'd have to gently heat the milk/liquid . . . I don't know.

Re: Cardamom

[magid.livejournal.com]

Cardamom-infused cream.
That sounds like something from a Brian Jacques Redwall book's feast, somehow. Definitely decadent. Perhaps I shall even rouse myself from my usual laziness to be able to make it, too.
e

[magid.livejournal.com]

True; I'd not thought about that. I'm likely to use some of the booze I already have before investing in more, however.
o

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't mind sharing a part of the investment (mmm, raspberry . . . ) in some Chambord or whatever it is. THis reminds me that raspberry was one of the many flavors I thought about doing for the chocolate rum balls (in place of the rum).

[gingicat]

I picked up some raspberry chipotle jam at Costco this weekend because it tasted wonderful -- sweet, spicy, and smoky. I wonder how that would work in truffles? Must check for hechsher.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Chambord: all I think of is the goofy plastic crown on top of the most-spherically-shaped bottle I know of. Who designs these things, anyway?

(I may be interested in going in on one, but I'm definitely holding off until I start the Truffle Experimentation, which might not be for days yet.)

[magid.livejournal.com]

I'd only use jelly in truffles, for texture issues: jam has actual fruit, which would be disruptive in a truffle, I think (though I dislike jelly in most other contexts, since I like chunky fruit things).