The French chocolate truffles (truffes au chocolat) are traditionally served around the Holiday season and are a delicious little treat covered with bitter cocoa.
According to the legend, it was created by a pâtissier-chocolatier from Chambéry, Savoie in December 1895. One day the chocolatier was running out of ingredients and he had the genius idea to use crème fraiche, cocoa powder and ground coffee to create a new chocolate-based treat. This is a very easy recipe, and as always, the better your ingredients, the better your truffles will be!
Ingredients
- 250 g very good quaity dark chocolate 70% cocoa
- 1 dessert spoon fresh ground coffee
- 2 dessert spoons creme fraiche or double cream (pure, full fat and without thickners in)
- 2 egg yolks
- 75g unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup good quality cocoa powder (unsweetened)
Method
- Grate the chocolate (or do this in a food processor if you have one)
- Put the chocolate in a mixing bowl with the coffee granules and 1 spoon of the creme fraiche and melt in a bain marie.
- Once melted, use an electric mixer and add the butter, the egg yolks and the rest of the crème fraiche.
- Cover the bowl with cling wrap and leave in the fridge for 4 hours until very firm.
- Make small balls of the mixture a little under the size of a walnut and roll in the cocoa powder.
- Keep them in the fridge before serving.
- You can perfume them with your favourite licqueur and exchange the coffee granules for other ingredients; candied orange pieces with grand marnier, rum, brandy etc. You can also roll them in different things; grated white chocolate, icing sugar, vermicelle etc.