Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Coating Chocolate Truffles


taylor214

Recommended Posts

Looking for tips and advice on coating truffles after making the softer interior of the truffle. Anyone have any clear recipes that are trustworthy for a newbie at making truffles? I'm most interested in the best way to coat the truffle with the second layer of chocolate to form the harder exterior shell???

Thank you very much!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Taylor,

the easiest thing you can do to get a nice coating on your truffles is to dip them in melted, preferably tempered chocolate.

Make your truffles, roll them or cut them in squares, as you wish. Place them in the fridge to set the outside again, as the heat of your hands will melt the chocolate ganache.

Then, melt 2/3 of the finely chopped chocolate you will use to coat the ganache over a bain marie, until it just melts. Stir the chocolate around from time to time, to make sure even melting. Remove from the bain marie and add the remaining chocolate to the bowl, stirring around, until all the chocolate melts and reaches room temperature. (Tempering the chocolate first is best, because it will set very quickly.)

Then, with a truffle fork (or a regular fork), dip the truffles into the chocolate, taking care to remove the excess. Dip them into cocoa powder, roll around and remove. Place in the frigde to set.

Hope this helps.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You may find that dipping cold ganache centres results in a cracked chocolate shell, so beware that the ganache doesn't get too cold.

Also, though a fork certainly works well for some, I prefer just getting in there with my hands. Cup one hand, which will serve as the chocolate 'bowl' while the other hand is used to dip into your melted chocolate and drizzle chocolate into your 'bowl' hand (not too much, mind. there should just be a film of chocolate on your 'bowl' hand, not a pool of it). Then, use your dipping hand to grab a centre and roll it around in the 'bowl' hand. Finally, roll the truffle off your 'bowl' hand onto your prepared storage surface (waxed paper on a sheet pan, perhaps?), allowing the truffle to roll across all of your fingers so that excess chocolate is caught in your finger grooves - this will reduce the amount of excess chocolate on your truffle, and so reduce the occurance of 'feet' which result from the excess chocolate running off the truffle onto the waxed paper.

My descriptive abilities do not properly explain this, I'm sure. Anyway, fork or by hand, simply a matter of personal preference.

Also, in my opinion, tempering the chocolate (certainly a tricky prospect for someone who hasn't done so before!) may be safely skipped if you are going to roll the truffles in cocoa afterwards. Tempering results in a crisp shell, as well as a glossy, streak-free surface. These last two hardly matter if the truffle is covered in cocoa powder.

Also, be sure to tap off excess cocoa powder, as too much can be rather unpleasant and result in a mess for the eater.

Simon

Taylor,

the easiest thing you can do to get a nice coating on your truffles is to dip them in melted, preferably tempered chocolate. 

Make your truffles, roll them or cut them in squares, as you wish.  Place them in the fridge to set the outside again, as the heat of your hands will melt the chocolate ganache. 

Then, melt 2/3 of the finely chopped chocolate you will use to coat the ganache over a bain marie, until it just melts.  Stir the chocolate around from time to time, to make sure even melting.  Remove from the bain marie and add the remaining chocolate to the bowl, stirring around, until all the chocolate melts and reaches room temperature.  (Tempering the chocolate first is best, because it will set very quickly.)

Then, with a truffle fork (or a regular fork), dip the truffles into the chocolate, taking care to remove the excess.  Dip them into cocoa powder, roll around and remove.  Place in the frigde to set.

Hope this helps.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Taylor:

If you don't already have a copy, I can recommend "The Chocolate Bible" by Christian Teubner. In addition to covering the basics of working with chocolate it gives a number of recipes with step-by-step instructions with pictures. You can probably find what you're looking for in here. This is not a replacement for a book like Jean-Pierre Wybauw's excellent "Fine Chocolates Great Experiences," but you'll probably find it easier to get comfortable with the basics as outlined in The Chocolate Bible before tackling Wybauw.

An alternative to The Chocolate Bible might be The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Chocolate, but there's much less emphasis on the basic techniques of working with chocolate to make enrobed ganache-centered truffles.

:Clay

Clay Gordon

president, pureorigin

editor/publisher www.chocophile.com

founder, New World Chocolate Society

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I want to add that I have found it easier to work with a partner when coating chocolate truffles. One person does the coating, then drops the coated truffle into the cocoa powder (or crushed nuts or whatever), and the other rolls it around in the coating. Less excess chocolate gets into the cocoa powder that way.

"I just hate health food"--Julia Child

Jennifer Garner

buttercream pastries

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...