Dark Chocolate Truffles

Let me paint a picture for you of what my house looks like. There are dirty dishes in the sink, unopened mail on my kitchen counter, a mountainous pile of laundry on my upstairs landing that’s waiting to be washed, a master bedroom with an unmade bed and clothing strewn across the carpet, and I don’t even want to think of looking in the kids’ rooms. Just in case you don’t know me, this is a highly unusual state of affairs in my house. I’m one of those “there’s a place for everything and everything in its place,” classic Type A personalities, and I can’t stand a mess. Nonetheless, earlier tonight, right after dinner, was my one and only chance to finish making my annual holiday food gifts. A clean house would just have to wait.

This year I decided to make dark chocolate truffles. I had found a great recipe last month for “Chocolate Espresso Sambuca Truffles” on epicurious.com from the February 1996 issue of Gourmet magazine. Since Sambuca is not my favorite liqueur (bad college experience involving a night of worshiping the porcelain goddess, if you must know), I decided to follow a suggestion made by an online reviewer to substitute Kahlua instead. I made the truffles for a party I hosted in late November and also brought them to a friend’s house for a Sunday night family dinner. In both cases, the candies were a big hit so I decided last year’s “Double Chocolate Walnut Biscotti” (recipe in the blog index) would be replaced in their favor.

Earlier in the day I ran around the county gathering my ingredients. At Chef Central in Hartsdale I bought Scharffen Berger bittersweet chocolate with 70 percent cacao. (Don’t skimp on the chocolate; get the good stuff and make sure it’s high in cacao -- at least 65 percent, but try to find 70.) While I was there I also picked up a couple bags of coated paper candy/party cups to hold the truffles, just like when you buy them in a chocolate store.

My next stop was the Container Store in White Plains, where I chose adorable red paper boxes with bows on top, the smaller ones able to hold three truffles, and the larger ones, six. After stopping off at the grocery store to pick up some heavy cream and butter, I came home and got to work on phase one of my truffle escapades.

First, I used a sharp knife to chop the bars of bittersweet chocolate into little chunks and slice the butter into small pieces so they would both melt more quickly in my double boiler (if you don’t have one, simply set a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water). I put the chocolate and butter, along with the heavy cream and some espresso powder dissolved in hot water, in the top pan, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon as the boiling water below melted the mixture into a smooth, dark brown cream. Of course, it smelled so rich and sweet that I had to dip my index finger in -- just to make sure it tasted okay!

After removing the top of the double boiler from the heat, I added a couple of tablespoons of Kahlua and then let the mixture cool. In the late afternoon, right before I left to take my younger son, Spencer, to get his haircut, I covered the bowl and followed the advice of the online reviewer known only as “Chris from Toronto, ONT.” According to Chris, “Covering the cooling mixture requires sealing the plastic wrap against the chocolate mixture. Otherwise the exterior hardens substantially vs. the softer mix below, and they become difficult to roll.”

When we got back home, it was as if my prayers had been answered. I had been so busy thinking about the truffles that I had forgotten about getting dinner ready for my family. But there, right in front of the garage, was a brown cardboard box with a return address label from The HoneyBaked Ham Company. God had answered my prayers and delivered dinner right to my front door! (Well, at least to the garage door.) What else could a nice Jewish girl ask for?

After our “gourmet” ham dinner, I set to work on phase two of the truffles. I pulled out the ganache (combined chocolate and cream), which had been chilling for several hours in the refrigerator. The directions said to “form rounded teaspoons of mixture into balls,” but this was not as easy as it sounds. While some bakers use a pastry bag to pipe the ganache out (after it’s cooled to pudding consistency), I found scooping out the chocolate with a melon baller was the way to go. I also followed the advice of Jacques Torres from his book, Dessert Circus at Home. He said to wear surgical gloves when rolling the chocolate into balls. You can buy these disposable gloves at your local supermarket (or beg your local deli to give you a couple, as I’ve been known to do). I loved this because my hands didn’t get all messy and coated in chocolaty “goo.”

I felt like I was rolling chocolate balls for an eternity, but in reality it took 20 to 25 minutes to make the 40 truffles (the recipe promised 50 but I guess mine were big). I laid them out on a sheet of wax paper on top of a cookie sheet. For the grand finale, I filled a small bowl full of chocolate sprinkles and another with a mixture of half unsweetened cocoa powder and half powdered sugar. Then I picked up each ball and rolled it in the mixtures, the first 20 in the sprinkles and the second batch in the cocoa powder/powdered sugar combo. The last time, I managed to convince my husband, Bob, and Spencer to help me out (try this with your family at your own risk), but on this go around I was on my own. I've got to say, the truffles turned out beautifully, and I was extremely proud as I enrobed each one in its little white candy cup.

OK, so what are you waiting for? Get going and you, too, can be delivering chocolate truffles to your favorite friends, family, the kids’ teachers, your manicurist, your hairdresser, your personal trainer… HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!


Chocolate Espresso Sambuca Truffles (or my version, Chocolate Espresso Kahlua Truffles)
Adapted from www.epicurious.com
Gourmet, February 1996
Makes 50 truffles

Ingredients
12 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), chopped
½ stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
¼ cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder dissolved in 1 tablespoon boiling water
2 tablespoons Sambuca or other anise liqueur (I used Kahlua)
About 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder for coating truffles (I used ½ cocoa powder to ½ powdered sugar and also used chocolate sprinkles)

Preparation
In a double boiler or in a metal bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, melt chocolate and butter with cream and espresso, stirring until smooth. Remove top of double boiler or bowl from heat and stir in liqueur. Cool mixture and chill, covered (read my notes about this above), at least three hours, or until firm.

Form rounded teaspoons of mixture into balls (I suggest using a melon baller and wearing surgical gloves) and roll balls in cocoa powder or other suggested toppings, to coat them. Truffles keep, layered between sheets of wax paper and chilled in airtight containers, for two weeks.