Make somebody’s Easter with a box of handmade dark chocolate and vanilla truffles. No hidden ingredients or mysterious methods in this simple but delicious recipe.
Chocolate truffles
Makes about 20 truffles
For the ganache:
125ml fresh double cream
2 whole vanilla pods
250g dark chocolate, finely chopped
For the shell:
200g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
200g dark chocolate, grated 50g unsweetened cocoa powder
1. Place the cream in a heavy- based pan and bring to a simmer. Meanwhile, run a very sharp knife along the vanilla pods to open one side, add them to the cream and continue to simmer for 5 mins.
2. Take the pan off the heat and remove the pods. Using your thumbnail, gently push out the seeds from the pods into the cream. Cover with a cloth for a further 5 mins.
3. Put the chocolate in a bowl, pour over the still-hot cream and stir until fully blended. This is your vanilla ganache. Put in the fridge.
4. Next, prepare the shell. The tempering process is tricky for beginners, so this is our easy version. It takes about 10 mins; time it so the ganache has had 30 mins in the fridge by the time the tempering is complete.
5. Melt two-thirds of the roughly- chopped chocolate and leave for 5 mins. Now add the remaining pieces and stir with a spatula until they are smooth and melted. Test by putting a spot on your lip - when it feels neither hot nor cold it is ready for coating the ganache balls.
6. Remove ganache from fridge and scoop out small amounts for hand-rolling into balls. Do this quickly so it doesn’t soften too much in your hands. Use a fork to dip them into the shell chocolate and then roll in the chocolate gratings, or leave them to harden at room temperature and roll in cocoa powder.
7. Leave the balls to set.
This was first puclished in our April 2015 issue. The recipe is from Montezuma’s Chocolate Cookbook by Simon and Helen Pattinson
(Kyle Books, £16.99.)
Buy this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe
