Email to Cat      

Royal Chocolate Truffles

Source of Recipe


From "Pike Place Market Cookbook"



List of Ingredients



• 2/3 cup whipping cream
  
• 1 pound semisweet chocolate (couverture chocolate preferred), chopped fine
  
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder (natural process), for coating
  






Instructions



1. Pour whipping cream into a 3-quart saucepan and bring just to a boil. Remove from heat at once and cool to 120° F. Melt chocolate in a double boiler until it reaches 120° F.
   
   
2. Add the chocolate to the cooled cream (not the cream to the chocolate), and stir until the mixture is smooth. Scrape the mixture onto a cookie sheet, spreading it evenly. Refrigerate for about 1/2 to 1 hour, or until firm.
   
   
3. Remove from refrigerator and form into small balls with a melon-ball scoop. Put balls on a sheet of waxed paper. After you have formed 6 balls, roll them in cocoa powder. Arrange them on a handsome serving plate and put them back into the refrigerator. If the truffle paste gets too warm to hold its shape well, refrigerate briefly until it is again firm enough to work with. When entire batch is finished and stacked prettily on the serving plate, keep refrigerated until 15 minutes before serving.
   
   Makes 5 dozen truffles.
   
   ............
   
   NOTES
   
   This is a very versatile recipe that can be adapted in many ways to your personal tastes. Add as much as 1/4 cup of your favorite liqueur after stirring together the chocolate and cooled cream, then finish as in the master recipe. Use any flavoring extract or oil that appeals to you. Vanilla, almond and peppermint go well with dark chocolate, but add the flavorings a little at a time, tasting carefully as you go.
   
   If you want a fluffy texture to your Royal Chocolate Truffles, take the mixture out of the refrigerator just before it is set, scrape it into the chilled bowl of an electric mixer, and whip it with a rotary beater until it is fully aerated. Chill thoroughly and it will retain the air you whipped into it. When ready to form it into ball-shape pieces, work with a small portion at a time, keeping the remainder refrigerated. Don't roll in cocoa. When the entire batch is finished, freeze until solid, then dip (in white chocolate, if the flavor contrast appeals to you) to keep the air trapped inside the filling. After it has been whipped, do not let the truffle come back to room temperature until it has been dipped and securely protected by a solid shell of coating.