Truffles - such a great treat containing such few ingredients. I come from a family with a chocolate background. My great-grandfather was a Polish chocolatier, who fled with his family during the Second World War to South America and arrived in Chile. With the little money he had left he started to produce caramel candy out of three simple ingredients: cream, sugar and butter. Those he sold on the streets and step by step his business was growing and he started to produce cakes, jellies and of course - chocolate truffles. Already from a very young age my grandmother and her sister started to work in their father's factory called "Enrilo" , which they now still run and own at the impressing age of 85 and 86. When I lived in Chile for a few months during university, I was staying with my beautiful grandmother. We were talking a lot about the past but as well about the future and the plans I would have after graduating from university with a business degree. She encouraged me to really consider following my passion, which was and is pastry - and I did. So she was one of the greatest influences for my decision of becoming a pastry chef and I will be forever grateful for her never ending support and encouragment.
After this small excursus, here is the simplest recipe for chocolate truffles (makes around 12-15):
For the base:
120ml cream
100g milk chocolate
100g dark chocolate
Flavours and spices: Here you can get creative! I used Baileys, but any other sweet liquor such as Rum or Amaretto work really good too, vanilla pods, bitter almond aroma, cinnamon, chili flakes, nutmeg... all these spices are great partners for chocolate.
Method:
First bring the cream to boil in a pan with the spices or liquor. In the meantime, chop up all of your chocolate. Once the cream is boiling, take it off the heat and add all of your chocolate. Stir it together until all of it is melted and fully emulsified. Keep on stirring and let everything cool down to room temperature. When it is cold, take a whisk or hand mixer and whisk the chocolate until it has a lighter colour. Leave it there to fully set for at least 2 hours.
Then take out the chocolate and the fun part begins - here you can get creative too. Prepare some toasted nuts, cocoa powder, sprinkles... in different bowls. Grease your hands with some sunflower or vegetable oil, take a teaspoon of the chocolate mass and form a small ball in your hands. After that, roll it in your preferred topping. When all the chocolate is rolled, leave it again in the fridge for 30 minutes to fully set again. These truffles are a great idea for a present or a treat for your coffee time - simply try it out!
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