Truffles
25. Do you have any secrets for making great truffles?
Start with a well-balanced recipe like this one [link]. Follow the instructions for letting the ganache set up for 12 hours at room temperature and for scooping and dipping in tempered chocolate. I like to dip them twice letting them start to crystallize in between dippings. Store them at room temperature in airtight containers.
26. I have managed to develop a truffle with good texture and flavour. However, I am having trouble with oozing fillings and cracking chocolate coatings when I hand dip the fillings. What am I doing wrong?
It is important to have your centres at room temperature when coating the truffles. Cold centres expand as they warm up and tempered chocolate contracts as it cools, so the result is chocolate that cracks and fillings that ooze out of those cracks. You might also want to read the answer to question 25.
27. Can you decorate truffles with coloured cocoa butter?
I tend to use colored cocoa butter with chocolates molded in shiny polycarbonate molds. I am not sure that you can successfully use coloured cocoa butter with truffles. Truffles decorated with contrasting tempered chocolate can be very attractive. You can also touch them with a bit of gold flake or fluff with a bit of luster dust or interference powder.
28. The ganache I made for my truffles has been in the fridge for 4 hours and it still is not firm enough to roll. What is wrong?
I usually let my mixture sit at least over night before trying to scoop it into truffles, and I leave it at room temperature. If you mix the chocolate and cream together at about 30C and 40C respectively and are using a reliable recipe - the mixture usually hardens up at room temperature within a few hours and is easily scoopable by the next day. It should not need to be refrigerated under most circumstances.
29. No matter how hard I try I cannot make my truffles round. What is the secret to round truffles?
Truffles are not meant to be round like marbles. They should be rustic and resemble the truffles dug up from the ground from which they get their name.
30. If I want to dip my chocolate-coated truffles in coconut or crushed nuts, should I wait until the chocolate is dry?
No. You will need to do it while the chocolate is still wet in order for the coating to adhere.
31. I made some chocolate-coated truffles and noticed that in a few days they became grainy. What would cause this?
There are three possibilities:
- the chocolate of the shells wasn't in temper and it has taken a few days for the bloom to appear
they were refrigerated and condensation formed on the surface and caused sugar bloom
the filling contains a lot of fat and the fat has migrated through the chocolate and you have fat bloom on the surface.
32. We make chocolate truffles and dip them. We form the balls, refrigerate them for 30 minutes and then drop them into the melted chocolate. At the bottom in the center of each dipped truffle is a hole where the middle has oozed onto the wax paper. How can we avoid this?
Having your truffles at room temperature instead of putting them in the fridge will probably help more than anything with this issue.
Start with a well-balanced recipe like this one [link]. Follow the instructions for letting the ganache set up for 12 hours at room temperature and for scooping and dipping in tempered chocolate. I like to dip them twice letting them start to crystallize in between dippings. Store them at room temperature in airtight containers.
26. I have managed to develop a truffle with good texture and flavour. However, I am having trouble with oozing fillings and cracking chocolate coatings when I hand dip the fillings. What am I doing wrong?
It is important to have your centres at room temperature when coating the truffles. Cold centres expand as they warm up and tempered chocolate contracts as it cools, so the result is chocolate that cracks and fillings that ooze out of those cracks. You might also want to read the answer to question 25.
27. Can you decorate truffles with coloured cocoa butter?
I tend to use colored cocoa butter with chocolates molded in shiny polycarbonate molds. I am not sure that you can successfully use coloured cocoa butter with truffles. Truffles decorated with contrasting tempered chocolate can be very attractive. You can also touch them with a bit of gold flake or fluff with a bit of luster dust or interference powder.
28. The ganache I made for my truffles has been in the fridge for 4 hours and it still is not firm enough to roll. What is wrong?
I usually let my mixture sit at least over night before trying to scoop it into truffles, and I leave it at room temperature. If you mix the chocolate and cream together at about 30C and 40C respectively and are using a reliable recipe - the mixture usually hardens up at room temperature within a few hours and is easily scoopable by the next day. It should not need to be refrigerated under most circumstances.
29. No matter how hard I try I cannot make my truffles round. What is the secret to round truffles?
Truffles are not meant to be round like marbles. They should be rustic and resemble the truffles dug up from the ground from which they get their name.
30. If I want to dip my chocolate-coated truffles in coconut or crushed nuts, should I wait until the chocolate is dry?
No. You will need to do it while the chocolate is still wet in order for the coating to adhere.
31. I made some chocolate-coated truffles and noticed that in a few days they became grainy. What would cause this?
There are three possibilities:
- the chocolate of the shells wasn't in temper and it has taken a few days for the bloom to appear
they were refrigerated and condensation formed on the surface and caused sugar bloom
the filling contains a lot of fat and the fat has migrated through the chocolate and you have fat bloom on the surface.
32. We make chocolate truffles and dip them. We form the balls, refrigerate them for 30 minutes and then drop them into the melted chocolate. At the bottom in the center of each dipped truffle is a hole where the middle has oozed onto the wax paper. How can we avoid this?
Having your truffles at room temperature instead of putting them in the fridge will probably help more than anything with this issue.