Since we've learned about tempering, we've been wanting to make various things and dip them in chocolate! We tried making these truffles a little while ago. The centers were made with milk chocolate, and we dipped them in semisweet chocolate. We were quite proud of how pretty they looked!
We followed the recipe for the centers here, and it was really good, but I think I like my old recipe a little bit better! The one we made this time was just slightly too sweet, or something. It's been a couple years since I've made the old ones, though, so I'll have to make them again soon to make sure I remember. :) Here is my usual recipe for truffle centers:
Truffles
1 c. heavy cream
2 T. butter
2 tsp. light corn syrup
1 pound finely chopped semisweet chocolate, plus 12 oz for dipping
Bring cream, butter, and corn syrup to a boil over medium heat. Turn off heat. Add 1 pound chocolate; gently swirl pan to cover chocolate with cream, but do not stir. Let stand 5 minutes.
Slowly whisk until combined. Refrigerate, stirring every 16 minutes.
After 45 minutes, mixture will thicken quickly, so stir every 3-5 min until thick enough to scoop, 10-20 min more. Form into one-inch balls and place on parchment-lined cookie sheet.
Chill centers until firm, but not hard (about 15 min).
Dip into melted, tempered milk chocolate, and if desired, roll in cocoa powder to finish.
This is a (very bad) picture of a time when we made the old kind of truffles (from 2008!)---you can see that I didn't know what I was doing with the dipping at all, and the chocolate wasn't tempered---though that cocoa powder covers a multitude of sins! :)---but the taste was very good.
Back in the present day . . . the boys roll truffle centers
We dip with great seriousness
Truffles drying!
Okay, WHY didn't I know you were going to do this??? My mom makes the best chocolates in the world (I'm not making this up) and every year for Christmas she spends hours bundled in her coat so that her house is cool enough for the chocolates to look perfect. They are amazing. I know how to make the centers, although I've only ever stuck with vanilla and haven't played around with flavors like she has, but I always massacre the chocolate rolling part. My chocolate is always too hot or too cold. Her method is . . . complex and nobody lets me roll the chocolates anyway because my hands are too hot and make everything spiky.
ReplyDeleteIn short--I could have (or still could) taken you to her house for a demonstration OR you could teach me how to keep the chocolate at the right temp since maybe your system is easier??? I promise the chocolate centers will be better than anything you've ever tasted in your life. Pinky promise, even.
PS Your comments on my homeschooling blog made me laugh. That isn't why I came snooping around yours. I was acting on the advice of a certain Swiss sister who told me to copy your chocolate unit exactly when she's around to benefit. :)