Making truffles is no trouble
A gift of chocolates for Valentine's Day ranks high on most people's wish lists. Since the days of the Aztecs, who believed it conferred sexual prowess, chocolate has been not just a food, but a passion.
This year, instead of merely shopping for them, why not try making chocolates for your Valentine? Truffles are an ideal choice: They're elegant, intensely rich and can be adapted to individual tastes — milk or bittersweet chocolate centers, for example, wrapped in cocoa powder, flaky coconut or chopped nuts.
Chocolate truffles are such a sophisticated, high-priced treat you might assume they are complicated to make. You'd be wrong: All you need is time (about 1½ hours), patience and a good recipe.
My recipe couldn't be simpler — just chocolate and heavy cream (a mixture called a ganache) enriched with butter, plus cocoa powder for dusting. When finished, the truffles look like their namesakes, freshly dug from the earth.
The recipe can easily be adapted. For a touch of citrus, add orange zest to the cream. For a hint of mint, add peppermint extract to the chocolate-cream mixture. Instead of coating the truffles with cocoa powder, try rolling them in ground pistachios or lightly toasted, ground pecans or hazelnuts. (Pulse 1 cup nuts with 1 tablespoon sugar to a fine powder in a food processor.)
If you don't own a pastry bag with the proper-size tip and haven't got time to shop for one, form truffles with a melon baller or roll them between the palms of your hands.
Here are tips for top truffles:
Start with the best quality chocolate. Check the label for the percentage of cocoa solids — the more solids, the more intense the chocolate flavor (and the less sweetness).
Adding a small amount of moisture to melting chocolate (even using a wet spoon to stir it) will cause it to "seize," turning it into a dry, unworkable paste. But adding a relatively large amount of liquid (¼ cup liquid to 6 ounces chocolate) works perfectly well. If the chocolate should seize, it usually can be corrected by stirring in 1 tablespoon vegetable oil per 6 ounces of chocolate, then re-melting and stirring until smooth.
Because chocolate burns easily, it must be melted at a low temperature. Use a double boiler or a microwave at medium power. You can make your own double boiler by placing a medium-size metal bowl over a small saucepan.
Break or chop the chocolate into small pieces first to speed melting. To avoid burning, stir the melting chocolate constantly, and remove it from the heat before it is fully melted. A few final stirs will finish the process.
<B>8 ounces top-quality bittersweet or milk chocolate, chopped coarselycup heavy cream4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened1½ tablespoons Cognac, Grand Marnier or dark rum1 cup top-quality cocoa powder</B>Melt chocolate in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of almost-simmering water. Bring heavy cream to a boil in a small heavy saucepan.Stir cream into melted chocolate. Add butter and liqueur, and stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Don't beat, or you'll incorporate air.Let stand at room temperature until thick enough to hold its shape, about 1 hour.Using a pastry bag with a-inch opening or tip, pipe chocolate mixture (ganache) into mounds aboutinch high and 1 inch wide on parchment-or silicone baking sheet-lined baking sheets. As you pipe, finish off each mound with a flick of the wrist to soften and angle the point.Place in freezer until firm, about 15 minutes. Pour cocoa onto the baking sheet and toss the truffles to coat. Shake them in a sieve to eliminate excess cocoa. Truffles can be refrigerated, tightly covered, up to 5 days, or frozen for 2 to 3 months.Makes about 60.<I>Nutrition information per truffle: 45 calories (73 percent from fat), 4.2 g fat 2.5 g saturated, 0.7 g monounsaturated), 7.6 mg cholesterol, 0.6 g protein, 2.6 g carbohydrates, 0.5 g fiber, 1.6 mg sodium.</I>
