Valentine’s Day will be here before you know it. I, personally, get really excited about February 14th every year. There are two reasons for this: first, Valentine’s Day is my birthday, and second, I LOVE chocolate!
When I was a little girl I actually thought the world celebrated my birthday. Remember, I was a kid, and all I saw was that everywhere I looked businesses were pushing that special day. Why, even every school brought out all of their finest pink and red cards, posters, hearts and valentines and best of all- CHOCOLATE!! All sorts of chocolate. Hearts and candies in milk, bittersweet, semisweet and white chocolate was EVERYWHERE!
In school, we all had to create valentines for every child in the class. No one was ever left out. I thought this was a beautiful celebration of everyone loving each other, getting along and eating yummy candy together. What could be bad? Love and candy will always go together as far as I am concerned, even if the holiday was concocted by Hallmark, candy makers, and other savvy businesses.
For Valentine’s Day, I love to show those that I love how I feel about them. That means I make truffles. Rich, creamy, dark or white chocolate truffles. The best part is they are the easiest candy to make, and you can even make them ahead and freeze them before the big day. Truffles are just ganache with a little something extra added.
Here is a very easy recipe for truffles that you can make no matter what your skill level is as a baker or candy maker. Are you ready? Here goes.
In a medium saucepan, bring 1/2 cup heavy cream and 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter to a simmer on the stove. Once you see that the mixture is almost at a boil, remove the pan from the heat. Then gently whisk 2 cups of finely chopped, any type you want, chocolate into the hot cream. Be sure that the chocolate has mostly cocoa butter in it, and not vegetable shortening. Whisk until the chocolate is melted and everything is creamy and smooth.
At this point, you can add some flavorings if you want. Perhaps a tablespoon of cognac or liqueur of your choice, or even a teaspoon of pure vanilla or almond extract.
Now pour the mixture into a small bowl and place it in the freezer until it thickens and can really hold its shape. Line a sheet pan with foil and dust it with unsweetened cocoa powder. Take a small ice cream scoop and place small scoops of the truffle mixture onto the cocoa powder. Do not try to roll them into balls yet. They will be too soft at this stage. Place the sheet pan into the freezer until the truffles firm up enough so that you can roll them between your hands to create balls. Roll the balls in the cocoa powder keeping them coated so they do not stick. Place them back onto the sheet pan. Freeze them until they are hard. This will take several hours or overnight.
Once you have your truffles hardened, you can just give them another roll in the cocoa, box them up and give them as a gift, OR you can dip them into melted chocolate and let them harden in the refrigerator. To melt chocolate for dipping, heat a saucepan with about 1 inch of water to a boil, and fit a heat proof bowl into it, such that the bowl does not touch the water in the pan. Add about 2 cups of finely chopped chocolate to the small bowl and allow the chocolate to melt.
Once the chocolate has melted, using a fork, dip each frozen truffle into the chocolate until it is well coated and give the fork a light tap to allow any excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl. Set the truffle onto a clean, foil covered sheet pan. You can leave the truffles to harden as they are, or you can sprinkle them with chopped nuts or coconut or even drizzle them with a contrasting melted chocolate. My favorite combo is a dark chocolate truffle drizzled with melted white chocolate. Placed strategically in a pretty box they are not only delicious, but pretty stunning to look at too!
I suggest you keep all of your truffles in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They will keep for up to 2 weeks.
So make some truffles for your sweetheart! No one knows what might happen when you give someone homemade truffles on Valentine’s Day. At least you will be making someone VERY happy.
Happy Baking, Happy Truffle Making and Happy Valentine’s Day!!!
Chef Gail