Buying candy for your Valentine? Don’t get lost in the truffle! Before candy prices shoot up in stores or even worse, candy cannot be found on shelves due to the busy season of love, choose to make truffles yourself. It’s so easy! Plus, making homemade candy is a heartfelt gesture that will not go unnoticed by your sweetheart.
Best tips and tricks to making your best homemade truffles:
Let Ganache Cool Before Rolling
Truffles are chocolate candies made from a chocolate ganache center and then encased in dipping chocolate. Let the ganache cool in a shallow baking dish for about 30 minutes in the fridge to make it easier to form into tablespoon-sized rounds.
Add Flavor to Your Truffles
Inside of each truffle’s centers can include fruits, liqueurs, coffee, and more. For a delicious and unique spin to your truffles, add flavor with LorAnn’s Super-Strength Flavors! LorAnn’s flavors are 3 to 4 times stronger than typical extracts and can withstand the high temperatures of candy making like truffles. For dark chocolate truffles, bold and robust flavors like peppermint and royal raspberry are very complementary. Subtle flavors like amaretto, cookies and cream, and sparkling wine pair nicely with milk or white chocolate truffles. When flavoring chocolate or coatings, make sure you are using an oil-soluble flavor, so your chocolate does not seize.
The Secret Ingredient to Cream Centered Truffles
Invertase is the secret ingredient for cream-centered truffles. Creamy confections are often highly desirable for their rich taste and creamy texture. Invertase is a naturally occurring enzyme extracted from yeast and is used to convert sucrose into a liquid. When added to sucrose (table sugar) or foods that include sucrose, invertase splits the sugar into glucose and fructose, to transform it into a liquid form. Inverted sugar is frequently used in commercial candy recipes because it keeps treats fresh for longer periods of time.
Have The Right Equipment
With the help of a Dipping Tool Set, creating eye-catching, sweet treats is a breeze. With a tool set you can easily and securely dip fruits, candies, nuts and more into melted chocolate, cheeses, or other coatings. When coating truffles, use the dipping fork to seamlessly dip melted chocolate and then place truffle on wax paper for it to set.
***RECIPE***
Simple Chocolate Truffles
Ingredients
14 ounces good quality chocolate (milk, dark, or white), chopped
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon LorAnn Super-Strength Flavoring appropriate for use in chocolate like Peppermint, Orange, or Royal Raspberry.
Coatings:
½ cup ground pecans or pistachios
½ cup cocoa powder
12 ounces confectionery coating, melted
Directions
- Line an 8-inch square pan with wax paper.
- In a 2-quart saucepan, heat cream over low heat until just boiling. Remove from heat. Add butter and chopped chocolate; stirring until completely smooth. Add flavoring and stir to combine. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 ½ to 2 hours (or overnight).
- Remove from refrigerator. Using a teaspoon or melon baller, scoop out small balls of the firm mixture and place on heavyweight dipping paper or wax paper. Once all of the mixture has been scooped, form each portion by hand into a round ball.
- Roll truffles in cocoa powder, ground pecans, or coat with confectionery coating. To coat, use a dipping tool to dip each truffle into melted confectionery coating, then place on wax paper. When coating has set, place truffles in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. Serve at room temperature.
*Makes about 30 to 40 truffles
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