Peanut Butter and Strawberry truffles

[yvegeny]

I have some really excellent belgian chocolate that I would like to use to make truffles. One of the requests that I have had is for peanut butter and strawberry. Does anyone have any ideas on how to make these? I would appreciate some guidance.

Thanks

[Moopheus]

separately or together?

[Wendy DeBord]

Have you ever made truffles before or molded chocolates? I'm not sure how much info. your looking for exactly.

There's several ways you can make these. Do you want white, milk, semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate as your base ganche? Is your chocolate semi sweet? Do you want that type of chocolate inside and outside?

You can add peanut butter to any kind of chocolate ganche, they are compatible. If you add a good portion of peanut butter to white chocolate it will really become more of a peanut butter ganche then a white chocolate ganche. It really doesn't take alot of peanut butter to flavor your ganche and how strong you want to make each flavor is up to you. Do you want it mainly chocolate with just a hint of pb and strawberry? Or do you want it intensely pb & sb?

I like molded truffles verses hand formed, dipped and coated in cocoa powder (but thats more involved then rolling them in cocoa, what do you want?). If I was to mold this flavor combo I would probably make a white chocolate peanut butter ganche and then pipe a dab of strawberry preserves for my strawberry accent. (I like to taste test my inside ganche with all my coating options before I choose which type of chocolate I'm going to en-robe it in. I might choose a semi sweet to contrast with the sweetness of the rest, but until I taste it I'm up in the air deciding.)

You could also make a strawberry gelee instead of using preserves or use strawberry sauce in place of your cream in your ganche to express your flavor.

So theres several ways you can achieve this flavor combo. Give us some more details about your skills and what your looking for and we can help you further.

[chocophile]

How are you with making pate de fruit and palet-style enrobing? If you are, why not make a strawberry pate de fruit and put down a thin layer and let set (don't sugar it). On top of the pate de fruit layer, put a thicker (but still thin) layer of peanut flavored ganache. Let set before putting a thin layer of tempered chocolate on the top (which will become the bottom), let set and then cut on a guitar and enrobe. -- BTW. This is a technique that Drew Shotts of Garrison Confections is very accomplished with.

If you want to go the shell-mold route, place a dollop of strawberry preserves or jam (probably seedless) as the first ingredient in the shell. Fill the remaining space in the shell with a not-too-sweet peanut praline, a peanut "gianduja," or perhaps a smooth unsalted organic peanut butter (or a peanut paste made for this purpose) and incorporate a crunchy element such as feuilletine or maybe caramel corn "praline."

For my taste, I'd use a milk chocolate for the peanut butter element and dark chocolate for the enrobing. I'd want something fairly neutral in flavor profile for the shell, picking a sweetness level that balanced the sweetness of the strawberry element (the sweeter the strawberry, the less sweet the shell). For the peanut element I'd choose a milk chocolate with a strong milk caramel note to complement the peanut flavor.

Finally, to make sure that this really works well, Do Not Forget to add salt to the peanut element.

:Clay

[yvegeny]

The flavors would be together. I have some white chocolate and dark chocolate. I've never done anything with pate de fruit, so I don't know about that. I can mold chocolates, though. The peanut butter/white chocolate ganache sounds good. I think he would like that the best. If I could get the measurements for this, that would be great. I will try it like that. The peanut butter and strawberry needs to be kind of intense, he likes that better than the chocolate, really. I just wasn't sure how to make the peanut butter and strawberry into a center. Thanks.

[culinary bear]

Pate de fruit is really simple in concept - it's merely a pectin-set fruit/sugar syrup. If you can get your hands on commercial apple pectin it's very easy to make.

Edited February 17, 2005 by culinary bear (log)

[Wendy DeBord]

Peanut Butter Truffles

2 cups heavy cream

2 lbs. white chocolate

2 cups peanut butter

Melt your chocolate, because the hot cream won't be enough to melt it completely. Bring the cream up to a boil add it to the chocolate, then add in peanut butter and stir.

I'd mold these in a dark chocolate shell. You can pipe a dab of strawberry preserves into the center of each before you close them.

I love salt with chocolate (as previously mentioned). After I've unmolded these I'd put a dab of chocolate on the top of each and sprinkle it liberally with fleur de sal.

To do the pate' de fruit I would do similar, injecting it into my ganche center with a pastry bag. Just because thats the easiest way. Of course you have to make sure your pate' is almost set otherwise it's totally liquid and impossible to pipe.

[JustKay]

I'd mold these in a dark chocolate shell. You can pipe a dab of strawberry preserves into the center of each before you close them.

Wendy, this sounds like something I'd want to try too. I've been doing quite a bit of molded chocolates lately.

Can these truffles with the strawberry preserves in the center be kept at room temperature or must they be refrigerated? TIA.

[Wendy DeBord]

I always keep my truffles refridgerated for storage. I take them out and bring them up to room tep. before serving.

You can keep truffles un-refridgerated but that shortens their shelf life.