How Deep Is Your Love... For Chocolate?

Posted by Unknown Posted on 2:52 م with No comments

How deep is your love (how deep is your love)... I really need to know....'Cuz we're living in a world of chocolate... (Gotta love the BeeGees!)

Today my friends and I played with chocolate, making some decadent chocolate truffles. We talked about chocolate ganache, infusing wine & other flavors into chocolate and tasted our way through all the flavors I had to offer. Everyone left with 10 different truffles, a small scoop and a FULL stomach. Here are pics of the event, along with the chocolate truffle "base" I used to create all the various truffle flavors.

Here's my recipe for Chocolate Truffles, adapted from Ina Garten's Chocolate Truffle Recipe:

2 cups semi sweet chocolate
2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons liquor, syrup, flavorings (optional)
1 tablespoon prepared coffee, cooled
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Place chocolate chips in a large bowl; set aside.
Heat cream in a saucepan over medium heat just until bubbles start to form around the edges.
Turn off heat and allow cream to sit for 30 secs to cool slightly.
Place a fine mesh sieve over the bowl with chocolate.
Pour warmed cream into the bowl with chocolate.
The sieve allow to catch any "skin" formed on the cream.
Whisk cream and chocolate until fully incorporated.
Add remaining ingredients and stir until it fully incorporated.
Pour the mixture (ganache) into a container & chill in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight.
To make truffles, using a small scoop, scoop out a ball of chocolate ganache and then roll into your preferred coatings.

To make the following truffle flavors, here are the items I used to create them (remember - 2 tablespoons of each!)

Mint = Frango Mint Liquor
Double Chocolate = Frango Double Chocolate Liquor
Strawberry = Strawberry Jam Preserves
Peanut Butter & Jelly = "Goober" or Peanut Butter & Jelly spread
Balsamic = Balsamic Vinegar
Matcha Green Tea = Steeped Green Tea & sugar, boiled down into a syrup
Shiraz. Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Port = wine reduction of each (boil wine until a syrup consistency, then cool