Truffles: molded vs hand dipped

[brokenscale]

I am making a ton of truffles and someone recently asked me why i dont pipe my ganache into predone molds and then roll the top in chocolate in the palm of my hand. Anyone have experience in this and is it worth looking into

[RobertM]

I make the majority of my truffles using polycarb molds - a dome shaped mold with different decorations for each piece - but, you must first coat the mold with chocolate, allow it to cool, pipe in the center and then cap -

Because of the ingredients in a center, they would not release from the mold if you just piped the ganache directly into a mold - maybe a silicone mold - I haven't tried that...

[Darienne]

If you are overwhelmed by the amount you have to do, why not just slab your ganache, foot it, cut it into squares and go from there. Once I learned of that technique, that was it for me for the most part. Not to mention that my dexterity left my hands long ago...

[justDeb]

I'm guessing that you're referring to pre-made truffle shells, not molds in the sense of polycarbonate molds. If so, there is a discussion about them here.

[lebowits]

For my "traditional truffles" I use pre-made truffle shells, which are very thin, and provide a vessel to pipe ganache into. Once the ganache has become firm enough to support more chocolate, I cap the shells and dip them. I can do far more of these per unit of time than I can hand rolling, pre-coating, and dipping or finish coating.

[brokenscale]

two questions then. 1 where can i buy pre-made shells. and the videos i saw are all using polycarb molds, i dont mind the time of waiting for the molds to set are they difficult to use. I have always just done them by hand and it takes a ton of time

[Edward J]

Oh there's no doubt about it, trufle shells are an enormous time saver, but...........

Even if I bought them in a case of 520, I'd still be paying almost 15 cents a piece for them.

So 15 cents for the shell, another 7 or 8 cents for the filling, maybe a half cent for plugging the tops, and then more enrobing the shell or covering it with curls, etc.

And we haven't even began with packaging.......

[lebowits]

Oh there's no doubt about it, trufle shells are an enormous time saver, but...........

Even if I bought them in a case of 520, I'd still be paying almost 15 cents a piece for them.

So 15 cents for the shell, another 7 or 8 cents for the filling, maybe a half cent for plugging the tops, and then more enrobing the shell or covering it with curls, etc.

And we haven't even began with packaging.......

For me, the labor savings is enormous. I can fill, cap, and dip a batch of 126 pieces (63 per tray) in much less time than I can hand roll.

The ingredient cost you pose is about what I get as well. I figure that the total food cost is less than $0.25 a piece which is certainly not the most expensive piece I make.

Of course, you have to be able to sell them for a good multiple of your total cost.

[bripastryguy]

Darienne<

Would you share your "slab" ganache recipe and method?

thanks,

Brian@sweetkarmadesserts.com

[Darienne]

Darienne<

Would you share your "slab" ganache recipe and method?

thanks,

Brian@sweetkarmadesserts.com

Brian, it's not my method at all. I am just a novice at this whole business and not very dexterous to boot. That's mostly why I used this method. It seemed simpler than the traditional ball shape and therefore less subject to failure on my part.

Recchiuti, Greweling and Shotts all describe this method and use it in some of their recipes. Perhaps I have used an incorrect word to describe it and that's why you are asking me about it. And I don't have a slab ganache recipe either. Any ganache which is a bit stiff is suitable.

I'm not sure what kind of information you want. You can find the directions for using slabbed ganaches in Peter Greweling, Chocolates and Confections, Andrew Shotts, Making Artisan Chocolates or Michael Recchiuti, Chocolate Obsession.

[pringle007]

"slabbing" ganache is a technique for making chocolates, not a recipe. As Darienne stated, any ganache that sets fairly firm can be used. You basically pour the ganache into frames or even a siran or parchment lined pan. some use a marble slab. Once the ganache sits, you basically have a thin brick, or slab of firm ganache. Flip the ganache from the frame or pan, and coat one side of it with a fine layer of chocolate. This is the footer. After it hardens, slice into desired shape and dip in tempered chocolate, using the footer as your base for your dipping forks! Viola!

[Darienne]

Well put, Mr. Pringle. One change I might make is to cut the slab into cubes before the chocolate bottom has hardened too much or the chocolate layer may not cut easily or straight. If I recall correctly, some chocolatiers do not even used tempered chocolate for the bottoming.

[lebowits]

All that is required for the foot is to let the chocolate be "dry to the touch". It isn't necessary to wait for it to fully crystallize. The goal is for the "foot" to be very thin. After many attempts to cut straight lines by hand, I broke down and bought a guitar, which admittedly is more expensive than most people are willing to pay unless you sell your product.