Ingredients
Makes about 60 truffles (do not double recipe)
Step 1
Finely chop 8 ounces of the chocolate and put in a bowl.
Step 2
Bring heavy cream to a boil in a small heavy saucepan. Make sure your pan is small, so you'll lose the least amount of cream to evaporation, and heavy, which will keep the cream from scorching. Linxe boils his cream three times — he believes that makes the ganache last longer. If you do this, compensate for the extra evaporation by starting with a little more cream.
Step 3
Pour the cream over the chocolate, mashing any big pieces with a wooden spoon.
Step 4
Then stir with a whisk in concentric circles (don't beat or you'll incorporate air), starting in the center and working your way to the edge, until the ganache is smooth.
Step 5
Let stand at room temperature until thick enough to hold a shape, about 1 hour, then, using a pastry bag with a 3/8-inch opening or tip, pipe into mounds (about 3/4 inch high and 1 inch wide) on parchment-lined baking sheets. When piping, finish off each mound with a flick of the wrist to soften and angle the point tip. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.
Step 6
Meanwhile, melt 3 more ounces of the same Valrhona and smear some on a gloved hand. Gently rub each chilled truffle to coat lightly with chocolate. The secret to a delicate coating of chocolate is to roll each truffle in a smear of melted chocolate in your hand. Linxe always uses gloves.
Step 7
Toss the truffles in unsweetened Valrhona cocoa powder so they look like their namesakes, freshly dug from the earth. A fork is the best tool for tossing truffles in cacao. Shake truffles in a sieve to eliminate excess cacao. Store truffles in the refrigerator.
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Reviews (37)
Back to TopRecipe halved beautifully. Did not have time for making balls. Poured hot chocolate and cream mix into a cling wrap filled cake pan, put in freezer for 30 minutes, the unwrapped chocolate onto a cutting board where I cut it into squares. Tossed squares in cocoa powder and they were ready to serve. Delicious!
agasque
12/17/2017
一个很好的松露!我翻了一番配方,brought to a boil 3 times just for kicks, and divided into 4 parts for variety. I made lemon and tyme, cinnamon and cayenne, Chambord and espresso with Baileys Irish Cream. The Baileys truffles resulted in a creamier ganache which, when chilled, was easiest to form into a ball for dipping. I found the best way to coat in melted chocolate was to use surgical gloves and keep hands independent. Roll the chilled ganache in one hand, coat the ganache ball with chocolate using the other hand.
sandramhunter
Waterford, VA
12/26/2010
有很多巧克力酱食谱,bmanbetx苹果下载ut this really is the best. I've tried quite a few, and I even like this over the recipe my head chef gave me at the restaurant I work at. I convinced him to change it after I brought him truffles from home. hehe. There are many varieties to play with. I like to add cinnamon and cayenne as another reviewer mentioned, as well as hazelnut butter, seedless raspberry jam, etc. But I always use the same 2/3c cream to 11oz chocolate as my base for the smoothest, best truffles ever. If your truffles aren't holding up at room temperature and you coated them with chocolate, your chocolate coating was not properly tempered. Tempering chocolate is a pain and a half, but its worth it if your chocolates will be hanging out at room temp for long periods of time. If you just roll the little balls of ganache in cocoa powder, however, I've always found that they hold up quite nicely.
zippyfigs
1/29/2010
Fussy, but amazingly wonderful. Note: I added some cinnamon, a small bit of sugar, and cayenne pepper to the cocoa, which was a smashing success with the dark chocolate : )
sweetiebee
Cali
12/14/2009
This is one of those recipies that has very few ingredients and very few instructions, but it requires a lot of thinking about how the ingredients are behaving. Some people have tried this recipe and ended up with a chocolate mess, which is easy to see how they got there! First step is to get the ganache into "truffle shapes", not necessarily perfect little balls. Chill the ganache until just firm enough to handle. Use the refrigerator, not the freezer. Monitor carefully. Form into little shapes and then put into the freezer for a bit. Second step- if you want to smooth out the ganache balls before coating, do it now using gloved hands. Roll the ganache around in your hand, it will melt a bit, smooth it out. Back into the freezer. 3rd step- assembly line! Melted chocolate (double boiler), ganache balls, bowl of cocoa, another bowl with a small fine strainer. Smear warm chocolate on left hand (if right handed), pick up a ganache ball, coat with chocolate, drop into cocoa. DON'T USE YOUR HAND, use chopsticks or little tongs to roll the truffle around and to move it into the tea strainer. remove excess cocoa and drop into little decorative paper candy cups. Once you get the hang of it, you can do 100s of these at a time! :-)
pauloregon
Portland, OR
11/22/2009
I will be traveling and can not keep them chilled. will an airtight container at room temp be ok?
Anonymous
5/14/2009
As many others have said, these are just heavenly. I've been making these for years, and they are always well received. Shaping them with a melon baller works best for me as well. If difficulty is experienced with the truffles holding up at room temperature, it's most likely due to the exterior "seal" not being complete... Making sure the warm chocolate completely covers the cold ganache center will alleviate "leakage". Don't add butter to these! Especially if expensive, high quality chocolate is used - there is no need, and it really takes away from them. :)
Anonymous
Sunny Florida
3/10/2009
I'm a cook, not a baker, so not often do I make anything that I have to measure. But with only three ingredients, this recipe became my dessert for my truffle dinner. EASY! and DELICIOUS! After using the melon ball and teaspoon to scoop them onto parchment, I placed the little morsels in the freezer while heating the chocolate. I'm too lazy (see above refusal to measure) to use gloves, so just used my hands. I found best results from rolling the frozen truffle in my hand to shape and warm, smeared with chocolate, then rolled in cocao - easy and they look great. So easy, I was inspired to pick oranges off the tree, grate the zest and roll 1/3 in that, then another 1/3 in crushed pecans. The orange is AMAZING! Now my menu features 'hand rolled Belgium chocolate truffles' to follow my truffle oil dinner.
brendakb
Scottsdale, AZ
2/27/2009
These truffles are absolutely lovely. Use excellent chocolate and it will do the work for you :)
klecapitaine
12/19/2008
melts in your mouth. best when eaten fresh. well worth the time. a fun project for a sun. afternoon.
Anonymous
7/13/2007
Very easy - although messy - and delicious! I wound up with two dozen truffles, though (rolled, rather than piped them)and promise I didn't eat the ganache by the spoonful, no matter how tempting! If you're counting on 60 pieces, you might plan on making more than one batch.
Anonymous
New Hampshire
2/4/2007
This is an excellent truffle recipe. Because it is so simple, you can certainly be creative with different flavorings if you wish. I wanted to make "Earl Grey" truffles so I infused a couple tea bags into the cream while making the ganache. The result was subtle but definitely lent a bit of spiciness to the chocolate flavor and the bergamot came through quite well. I was amused to find this recipe as I had just been the lucky recipient of a nice box of La Maison Du Chocolat ganaches from a French friend!
Anonymous
Cambridge, MA
1/28/2007
These are great truffles! I have made them many times and people love them. I do follow the recipe as-is, but sometimes I add Kahlua, espresso powder or cayenne pepper to the chocolate. Hmmm...I guess that really isn't "following the recipe." My next truffle adventure is to press something into the middle during rolling. I use bittersweet chocolate (Santander is good, so is Valrhona) for the ganache and either bittersweet, milk or white chocolate to "enrobe" the truffles. I don't care for white chocolate (because it's not chocolate!), but I have friends who do. I also like to roll them in cocoa powder or toasted coconut after the "enrobing." A friend of mine rolls hers in coconut she has soaking in lime juice. Sounds wonderful to me! Can't imagine adding butter or sugar to this - or any other - truffle recipe! I was looking for a recipe where the chocolate took center stage and this is it. I roll by hand with and without gloves. It's tedious, but the outcome is yummy. These should be kept cold as the recipe suggests.
Anonymous
MN
12/16/2006
Disappointing. I've made truffles for years and was attracted to the simplicity of this recipe. Unfortunately, it was impossible to get the truffles to hold up at room temperature. I would suggest using 1/3 C cream and 1/3 C unsalted butter to 12 oz chocolate. That yeilds a truffle which will stand firm at room temperature.
Anonymous
east bay
11/21/2006
Easy to make and excellent results! Wasn't sure what a gloved hand really meant in terms of kitchen tools, so used a plastic sandwich bag over my hand to smear chocolate and it worked well. Will definately make again.
Anonymous
12/8/2005
