1/2 lb Dark semisweet chocolate*
1/2 c Heavy cream
1 1/2 tb Finest Kentucky bourbon
Droste cocoa or
Shaved chocolate Drayettes
*Callebaut, Lindt, Tobler or any fine imported
chocolate.
Break chocolate into small pieces. Combine it with
the cream in the top of a double boiler over simmering
hot water (not boiling). Stir the chocolate and cream
constantly until chocolate has melted and ganache is
smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool. When the
ganache has cooled, stir in bourbon.
Pour the mixture into a small bowl. Cover with foil
and refrigerate overnight or several days if desired.
When ready to make the candy, line a baking sheet with
foil.
Working with a small amount of the ganache at a time,
using about 1 1/2 tsp. each, form into balls. Place
them on the sheet. (Work quickly, using your
fingertips and not the palm of your hands to help keep
the mixture from becoming overly soft.)
Keep the chocolate balls cold, if possible, by placing
them a few at a time on a tray in the refrigerator.
Leave the chocolate balls lightly covered in the
refrigerator for several hours or overnight, if
desired.
Sprinkle a pastry sheet with cocoa or chocolate
shavings or Drayelle. Roll each ball into the cocoa or
shavings, covering them well. Refrigerate at once and
leave until the truffles are quite firm - several
hours or overnight.
Place each truffle in a fluted silver or paper cup in
a tin box and keep refrigerated.
Serve very cold. Will keep several weeks under
refrigeration.
Glenn writes: "All the world loves chocolate, and
chocolate truffles are the world's most luscious
trompe l'oeil. We have no clue as to the name of the
clever cook who first created these candies so
beautifully camouflaged in the shape of a truffle, but
it would be a very safe bet that he was a Frenchman -
and from truffle country.
"In contrast to most hand-dipped chocolates, which, to
a great extent belong in the province of the
professional candy maker and should look precisely
turned out, chocolate truffles are supposed to look
somewhat rugged. If they looked too neat and evenly
rounded, they wouldn't resemble their namesake - the
knobbly real-life Perigord truffle.
"No pig is needed to sniff around in the deep forest
of the Perigord to find where these truffles grow!
All one needs is a small kitchen space, a
double-boiler of sorts, a spoon or two, a baking
sheet, and a cold spot to let the candy chill."
"In every phase of the culinary arts, flavor is
everything; and premium ingredients must be used to
achieve the subtle counterpoint of flavors that are
possible with the candies given here.
"The ideal way to store or to prepare truffles as
gifts is to place each one in a tiny fluted silver or
paper cup made for the purpose, then fit them in
single layers in a tight tin box. Wrap the box as
happily as you wish. Few gifts could say 'Have a
Merry Christmas!' any better.
"Bourbon whiskey has a great affinity for chocolate;
however, no whiskey or liqueur can be added directly
to any chocolate; it hardens it beyond repair. In
using liqueurs when making chocolate candies,
frostings, etc., the alcohol must be combined with
cream first. The French call the combination of
chocolate and cream a 'ganache' and that is the base
of many candies, especially truffles."
From Camille Glenn's 12/01/93 "Flavor to Taste" column
called "Visions of Sugarplums: These Truffles and
Candies Just Shout 'Merry Christmas'" in "The
(Louisville, KY) Courier-Journal." Pg. C1. Typed for
you by Cathy Harned.
