Pre-made Truffle Shells

[lebowits]

As I've embarked on my chocolate odyssey, I've always thought that one way to distinguish myself would be to perform all the labor manually. From making the ganache, tempering the chocolate, decorating the pieces, etc.

Of course, the first thing to go was to always temper the chocolate by hand. The addition of a small tempering machine to my list of toys, err, "tools" changed that.

Notably, however, I have always formed my truffles by hand. While the product has varied a bit in size and shape, I got pretty good at over time and I was always proud of my work.

Now I find myself in a position to make a significant quantity of truffles (and other confections) and see if people will actually BUY them (what an amazing concept).

In order to meet my time line, I find myself forced to try out pre-made truffle shells. This will allow me to focus on the flavors and textures, achieving a consistency of size and shape, while avoiding the drudgery, excuse me, meditation of hand rolling each piece.

I would like to ask the confectioners for your opinions. Am I sacrificing my "art" for convenience, reducing quality, and taking away part of what makes my product unique? Or am I just finally realizing what all professionals already know, that using such things is what enables us to actually sell our products for a price that people are willing to pay while allowing us to make a profit?

Ultimately, I'm asking; Have I been a bit of a snob about it?

[alex chef]

Having used bought in shells at michelin star level with very good results, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't go ahead and use them for your venture.

It is all in the sourcing of the product, of course. I am not sure what is available in the US but callebaut do cups and spheres to fill and there are also sheets to aid the filling and closing af the sheres available. A company in the Uk called Keylink (keylink.org) will ship but I don't know to where.

Hope you find this useful.

[lebowits]

Having used bought in shells at michelin star level with very good results, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't go ahead and use them for your venture.

It is all in the sourcing of the product, of course. I am not sure what is available in the US but callebaut do cups and spheres to fill and there are also sheets to aid the filling and closing af the sheres available. A company in the Uk called Keylink (keylink.org) will ship but I don't know to where.

Hope you find this useful.

←

Thanks for your thoughts. I happen to live near Albert Uster Imports which is where I buy my chocolate. They offer shells in milk chocolate, semi-sweet, and white along with the filling and sealing plates. I've decided not to use the filling plate but did break down and get the sealing plate.

[alanamoana]

i think you definitely have to look around to make sure that the product you're getting is satisfactory to you. it is all subjective, after all. i think albert uster products are pretty decent, but one thing to check out is the thickness of the shells. sometimes, lower quality shells are thick and they use chocolate that you wouldn't normally eat out of hand. if your fillings are delicate, flavor-wise, this wouldn't accomplish what you're attempting to do - offer a better tasting product, faster.

factor in the cost (which i'm sure you've already done) of the shells as they can add up pretty quickly. of course, you can balance that with the labor you've saved by not hand rolling.

of course, there are ways to speed up hand rolling: piping, scooping with melon baller (we used to make thousands this way if you have the right consistency base), etc. at least with the shells, you can make a much more liquid base. if your base is pretty firm at room temp, you don't even have to bother with sealing if you're going to roll the truffles in tempered chocolate to finish.

lots of different ways to skin a truffle, eh?

[gap]

I think pre-made shells are fine. I seem to remember they're used extensively in Europe (Germany more precisely) and they really do allow for a more consistent final product. There are plenty of ways to finish them as well to add interest to the final product and (as alanamoana mentioned) they allow some "gooier" centres as well.

[lebowits]

of course, there are ways to speed up hand rolling: piping, scooping with melon baller (we used to make thousands this way if you have the right consistency base), etc.  at least with the shells, you can make a much more liquid base.  if your base is pretty firm at room temp, you don't even have to bother with sealing if you're going to roll the truffles in tempered chocolate to finish.

lots of different ways to skin a truffle, eh?

←

There are most certainly many ways to skin this truffle. I've tried the melon baller trick before with mixed success. You would definitely need a firmer ganache (perhaps refrigerated for a few minutes) to pull this off consistently. In my experience, the ganache doesn't want to "let go" of the tool. I'll have to give piping another try. I didn't have much luck with it previously, but that was simply due to lack of experience.

As for the quality of the chocolate and shells, I've had good results with the AUI chocolates. The shells don't appear to be very thick. I'm reasonably sure that they use chocolates similar to their couveture. I'll taste them and see.

Thanks to everyone who has posted opinions. This has been a big help. I'm planning on producing at least 2 different pieces this weekend, Peter Greweling's "Chai Tigers" and a variation of his Earl Gray ganache.

[mrose]

You could also try a small portion/ice cream scoop. It seems to work better for the release of the ganache. A size 100 give approx a 1" finished truffle.

[tammylc]

Another option is to do a slabbed ganache instead of balls. I find it much easier and more consistent to cut instead of roll. There's still all that dipping, though. I turned most of my production over to filled chocolates rather than dipping centers, and that makes me a much happier camper. Which is basically what you'll be doing with premade shells.

[lapin d'or]

I have used the Callebaut dark and milk shells and I found the quality of the chocolate a bit of a problem. I am trying to get some Valrhona shells but my supplier can only do these special order which means I have to wait for their next Valrhona order to go in before I can get them. I could be waiting a few weeks.

My Callebaut dark shells are labelled as 56% cocoa min. The only added fat is cocoa butter but I still think they taste a little waxy. I would say this is really not the sort of chocolate you would eat out of hand.

[Kerry Beal]

I use a 1 tsp scoop made by Norpro, and because it is a disher, it's easy to get the ganache out of the scoop. It makes what I consider the perfect sized truffle. Some folks like the bigger size and for those you can use a 5/8 inch disher.

[lebowits]

Another option is to do a slabbed ganache instead of balls.  I find it much easier and more consistent to cut instead of roll. There's still all that dipping, though. I turned most of my production over to filled chocolates rather than dipping centers, and that makes me a much happier camper. Which is basically what you'll be doing with premade shells.

←

I will be doing both truffles and slabbed pieces. This weekend I'm going to make the Earl Gray ganache in Chef Grewewling's book. Previously, I've done slabbed gianduja and marzipan pieces. One of these days, I'm going to scrape up the money for a guitar to make cutting painless. My ability to cut a straight line freehand could use some work.

I've done a few filled pieces and plan to get back to that as well. I'm taking a bit of a winding journey with the idea of building my skills. In the end, I expect to be able to choose from a range of products and techniques.

I'm also going to get hold of a disher per Kerry's suggestion and give that a try.

The great thing about experimenting with chocolate is that there are usually plenty of folks around who are willing to help you get rid of the results, whether YOU like them or not.

[tammylc]

I don't have a guitar either. When I do my slabbed pieces, I basically pre-score them - I have a ruler that's 1 inch wide, and I lay it on top of the ganache, mark it, then move it one spot over, mark again, etc. Rotate the sheet, do it again. I don't try to cut against the straight edge/ruler, i just score. I'm usually working with an 8 inch square of ganache, and I'll cut it in half, and then work on the smaller sections, so i'm not making really long cuts - that's what always causes my cuts to go askew. I've been pretty happy with the consistency of my pieces since I started using this method. (Although I still covet a guitar.)

I think you'll like the disher - it works well and gives you consistent sizing. My forearm muscles get pretty sore after about the first hundred though...

Good luck!

[lebowits]

Well, my first attempts were pretty awful. First, I tried using a ganche that I normally would hand roll after tabling it to encourage crystallization and a firmer texture. I quickly discovered that piping even this softer version caused me to watch very carefully so as to avoid leaving air gaps anywhere. It was also difficult to fill the shell completely.

I then looked for a formula specifically tailored for use in these shells. This gave me an extremely loose ganache which piped to the tops of the shells very easily.

The real trick came in sealing the shells. The sealing plate, using melted, untempered chocolate turned out to be very frustrating as the shells would stick to the plate. On those few pieces that needed to have a bit of space filled in, this mostly worked.

I'm now about to embark on enrobing the shells in tempered chocolate.

While I expected this to require a bit of practice, I truly didn't think it would be this difficult. I'm thinking to asking one of the chefs at Albert Uster for a demo.

[Kerry Beal]

Don't forget the first time you do something is always the hardest. You learn a little more each time and before long you wonder why you ever had trouble doing it.

[lebowits]

Don't forget the first time you do something is always the hardest.  You learn a little more each time and before long you wonder why you ever had trouble doing it.

←

I've taken a bit of a philosophical view to this weekends efforts. I did wind up with a nice looking product in the end. This is my investment in education

I believe that my biggest issue is with capping the pieces. I used the capping plate and melted, untempered chocolate. The problem is that the heat from the chocolate seems to ever so slightly melt the top of the shell, causing the plate to stick. I used my tempering machine to melt the chocolate and was working with at at 108F. Once finished with the capping operation, I turned on the tempering cycle for dipping the pieces.

Now I have to mention that the shells come in a thin plastic tray and a top tray protects the shells during filling. It doesn't seem to matter if this top plastic tray is on or off when capping. The shells stick either way.

Does anyone have any other experiences and advice for me regarding capping?

[lapin d'or]

I fill and cap my shells off using a piping bag so I cannot help with the capping tray issue but I melt the capping chocolate in the microwave to a just melted temp not the higher temp you start with when tempering.

The shells can stick into the packaging a bit but I press down on either side of the packing to pop them out rather than trying to pull the shell out of the tray.

When hand piping the ganache into the shells to avoid air pockets I was taught to put the tip of the piping tube right into the bottom of the shell and draw it up as you fill. Also to keep the tube to the back of the shell so you can see what is going on. If I was good at following instructions I might be producing perfect shells but I'm still getting the odd air pocket and overfilled shell!

[Trishiad]

When I was at AUI we used the plates with tempered chocolate. 108 is too hot.

[lebowits]

When I was at AUI we used the plates with tempered chocolate.  108 is too hot.

←

Trishad - I tried using tempered chocolate but the chocolate solidified as I was spreading the capping coat since the plate was at room temp. How did you get the plate to come away cleanly?

[Trishiad]

be sure the plate is room temp, not cooler and work very quickly.

[Lysbeth]

Lebowits, since this topic died at some point you may no longer be needing this suggestion. But I too have struggled with the sealing plate. It's true your chocolate should not be in temper and it can't be too warm, but still I've always ended up with a mess. And once I sealed one tray, enough chocolate got stuck to the plate that I couldn't get a nice seal on the next tray (wanna buy a sealing tray, anyone?)

This past Christmas I decided to use tempered chocolate in a piping bag with a very small hole. I then placed a tray with truffles on a half sheet tray and I put that on my vibrating table. This was the best thing I figured out since working with truffle shells. I start the vibrating table (on low, otherwise the shells start to turn in their little cubbies, not fun!) and then, as I am capping the cavities, I can be sure that any possible air pockets will be filled in and all the bottoms looked nice and even. After the chocolate sets I usually take a minute to loosen all the shells in the tray by hand (I turn them a 1/4 turn) so that once I am coating them I know they will not stick.

Using the piping bag and the vibrating table took maybe only 2 minutes per tray, if not less, and the end result was great. Even the finished truffle looked nicer because I did not overfill the bottoms and have odd bumps.

I hadn't worked a whole lot with ready-made truffle shells before, but this past Holiday season I rented space without storage so I had to shuffle all of my equipment and ingredients back and forth. So I had no choice but to use the shells. I really don't think people cared at all. They just wanted my flavors and I actually had many nice comments on how the boxes looked when they were done (I was really worried about this, but I guess it worked out...)

Edited January 29, 2008 by Lysbeth (log)

[DianaM]

Hi everyone,

First off, apologies if this question has been asked previously. Please direct me to a link if that's the case.

I am curious: has anyone used this truffle mold?

http://www.dr.ca/truffles-chocolate-silicone-mould.html

The theory is that you fill the mold with ganache, and when the ganache is set, you simply pop the centres out of the mold, then pre-coat and dip as usual.

I want to make truffles in an efficient way, and have tried so far: piping them (unequal size), depositing with a small ice-cream scoop (they do not release easily). For both methods, they have to be hand-rolled, which is more time-consuming than I's like. I tried the truffle shells as well, but I'm not happy with their quality, and of course, I cannot claim my truffles are hand-made if I'm using machine-made shells.

I know many have switched to slabbed ganaches, and there's nothing wrong with that, except if you want to make a truffle-shaped truffle.

Thank you all, and happy baking and "confecting" for the holidays!

Diana