Chocolate Truffles - Belgian Version

Chocolate truffles, making people happy since 1895!

This Instructable will show you how to make truffles that fits many tastes. I have been doing these for more than 12 years now and I would like to share my recipe with other people to enjoy it too. No particular skill is required, besides maybe breaking eggs :)

The truffles described here are crunchy first, with your favourite taste (cacao, coconut, almonds, etc) dusted on the outside of the first hard layer, a pure dark chocolate shell. You will then reach the third and last layer which is the truffle heart itself which is the traditional chocolate truffle taste taste that should be familiar with if you already tried chocolate truffles. OK, let’s get to it!

The heart of the truffle is called the ganache; for this, we will use the traditional chocolate truffles recipe from the Larousse Cuisine. We will then make a chocolate shell around the ganache. Finally, we will add a more personal touch around it, cacao, almonds, coconut, or any other option that you feel appropriate to personalize your truffles.

For approximately 30 chocolate truffles (2 times the values on the attached image), you will need

• 900g dark chocolate (500g for the inside, 400g for the shell)
• 2 Tbsp milk
• 200g butter
• 4 egg yolks;
• 10cl whipping cream
• 250g powdered sugar
• 2 Tbsp of your favorite alcohol (rhum, whisky)
• Cacao powder, coconut powder, sliced almonds, ..... only your imagination can end this list!

Pick your favorite ingredient for the finishing. Mine is coconut powder and sliced almonds (so crunchy!)

The key ingredient here is the chocolate. Use cheap chocolate and you will get poor results. I recommend using Côte D’Or dark chocolate that is at least 54% and strait from Belgium.

You will also need your fingers to lick the pan.

The center of the truffle, the ganache, is made using the traditional Larousse Cuisine’s recipe. Follow the steps described here:

• Break the first 500g of chocolate into small pieces.
• Put a saucepan in a water-bath on medium heat and put the chocolate in it. Add the table spoons of milk for the chocolate to melt more easily. Mix from time to time until the mixture is smooth.
• Put the chocolate in a bowl. Add the butter progressively in small pieces until it melted into the chocolate. Add the egg yolks, cream, sugar. Always stir until smooth before putting the next ingredient.
• You can optionally add vanilla extracts or an alcohol such as rhum or whisky (whisky goes well with dark chocolate).
• Whisk until smooth. Put the bowl into the fridge and wait for 2 hours for the dough to be cold enough.

I usually make this step during the evening and let it in the fridge the whole night. Once it is cold enough, the next step is to shape the truffles. Use a large plate with an aluminum foil on it (not in the pictures) to put the truffles.

• With a spoon, take a bit of dough and knead it with your hand so as to make a round shape. You can actually make the shape you want; I personally do not reshape it too much as I like the rock-style shape it gives.
• Put back the truffles in the fridge for another two hours.

At this point, you made the basic chocolate truffle recipe.

Tips: If you have multiple plates, you can use shot glasses to put then one on top of another so as to take less place in the fridge.

Please note that for the pictures, I used 2 times the quantities to make more truffles

The crunchy layer is quite easy to make.

• Take out the truffle dough from the fridge. Gently get off the truffles so they do not stick to the plate.
• Put the other part of the chocolate on a water-bath on medium heat and add a spoon of milk. Wait until smooth.
• With a spoon, put a small amount of the now liquid chocolate and put it on top of the truffles. Spread the chocolate using the back of the spoon with round movements so it goes around the truffle.

If the chocolate happen to be cold too soon, put it back to the water-bath and repeat the operation.

Once you made the truffles, choose your favorite ingredient. Many fits:

• cacao powder
• coconut powder (without sugar)
• almonds (powder or slices - so crunchy!)
• crushed nuts
• etc.

Sprinkle that on the truffles directly on the plate with a spoon using an oscillatory movement. That's it! No wait, you gourmand. Put it back on the fridge immediately! Two last hours in the fridge and your truffles will be gorgeous and ready to release all its flavor.

Once it is cold, it is Amazing to taste. Do not hesitate to adapt the recipe to fit your own tastes. There are many variants: with or without the chocolate shell. With cacao, coconut, almonds, pistachio, etc. on the shell. You can add rhum, whisky, vanilla extracts, etc. for the inside of the truffles to give it some stronger taste. Have fun with it!

I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did. Do not hesitate to show the recipe you tried or picture of your own results.