So I talked about them on Twitter. I posted about them on Facebook. I even put up just a picture of them on Wednesday!
hey, it was wordless…
After all the teasing, I’m [finally] going to tell you how to make truffles.
It’s
so
easy
I’m sure this has been done before, but I woke up one morning with this idea. People sub in various other kinds of milk for cow’s milk all the time so why not in truffles? And what milk would be a good sub for the heavy cream?
Coconut Milk
And buy the full-fat kind. Coconut milk is good fat and it’s actually quite healthy so don’t bother with the no fat, part skim, skinny, half twist nonsense.
What You Will Need
Edibles
3 good dark chocolate bars (70% cocoa or higher) – roughly chopped
1 can Coconut Milk
Pinch of salt
Splash of Vanilla
Chopped, shredded coconut (optional)
2-3 good semi-sweet, white and/or milk chocolate bars
Toppings of your choice (nuts, toasted coconut, cocoa powder, etc.)
Equipment
Double Boiler or a Soup Pot with a Glass or Metal Bowl that fits nicely on top
Whisk
Small Ice Cream/Cookie Scoop or Melon Baller
Parchment paper lined Baking Sheet
Two spoons
Small bowl
To Begin
I used the soup pot and bowl method which is easy and is great for melting chocolate or making various sauces that need indirect heat. Fill your soup pot about 1/3 of the way with water. Place the bowl on top. Lift the bowl to make sure the bottom isn’t wet. If it isn’t, you’re good. You want the steam from the boiling water to heat the bowl instead of the water itself.
Once that’s good to go, add your vanilla, pinch of salt and Half the amount of coconut milk as there is chocolate. If you have 12 oz of chocolate, use 6 oz of milk. 18 oz of chocolate, 9 oz of milk. Etc.
Heat it over medium until you see little bubbles forming around the edges and there is steam slowly wafting off the top.
Chop your chocolate with a good sharp knife and add it to the milk mixture, while whisking simultaneously.
Whisk, whisk, whisk until it’s all melted and the sauce is shiny and smooth.
Congratulations, you just made ganache.
If you had little mini cupcakes or a larger cake, this makes a wonderful easy, awesome frosting.
Here, I folded in about a 1/2 cup shredded coconut that I roughly chopped into finer bits. You don’t have to, but I thought it added a nice texture.
Cover your bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge until set. It will only take a couple of hours, but I let it firm up overnight.
When you pull it out, you have play-dough ganache.
Refrain from just eating this bowl with a spoon.
I know, it’s [hard].
Take your melon baller or small scoop and scoop out a small ball. Dump it in your hand and quickly roll it into a ball and place it on a parchment paper lined sheet. The warmth of your hands will begin to immediately melt the ganache so you have to work fast. Continue until you have a tray filled with little mini ganache balls and your hands are covered in sticky chocolate. Don’t worry if they aren’t perfect – truffles are supposed to be lumpy and a bit misshapen.
Put your sheet back in the fridge for the truffles to firm back up. Takes only about an hour or so.
Now, I coated some of mine in chocolate. You don’t have to. You could simply roll them in cocoa powder, shredded coconut, chopped nuts, etc and be done.
If you want to coat yours in chocolate, it’s pretty easy and very messy.
Break up your chocolate of choice into a microwave-safe bowl. Yes, you can use the double boiler method here but this is a trick I learned from Ina Garten that ensures your chocolate is tempered to the right temperature.
Microwave the chocolate for 10 seconds at a time, stirring it after every single time. This is important. Even if it looks like it isn’t doing anything, stir it anyway. Keep going until the chocolate is all smooth and melty and shiny. Takes about a minute, depending on how much chocolate you have.
Here’s where you have to work kinda fast since you have hot chocolate and cold ganache.
Scoop up one of your truffles with one spoon. With the other spoon, ladle some chocolate on it. Roll the truffle from spoon to spoon until it’s pretty well covered. Dump it back on the sheet.
Repeat.
Put it back in the fridge to harden. Takes only a half hour.
Enjoy the rich decadence.
Now that you know the basics, experiment. Fold things into the ganache before you set it like reduced liquors, nuts, nut butters, etc. Coat them in one chocolate and drizzle them with another. Roll them in multiple toppings. I’d love to hear what kinds of truffles you come up with.
