Truffles 101 - Introduction

When I started making truffles nearly ten years ago I was given this recipe for truffles: one part cream and one part chocolate.

I worked with this recipe like I would a cookie recipe. A cookie recipe basically has two types of ingredients--wet and dry. So I looked at the chocolate--a dry ingredient and the cream--a wet ingredient 50/50. Then when I wanted to add something like raspberry puree, I changed the recipe to be 50% chocolate, 10% raspberry puree and 40% cream. This approach to recipe formulation opens the doors to your imagination.


In the beginning I only crafted European-truffles. I used a hollow shell or mold to make the chocolates. Because I used a hollow shell, the ganache was allowed to be soft. The shell held the truffle together.

In other methods of making truffles the ganache has to be stiff to hold its own shape while being dipped. To produce a stiffer ganache, add melted chocolate 1 ounce at a time, allow the ganache to harden, test and if necessary add another ounce of chocolate and do it again until the ganache holds its shape when being dipped. This can be a timely process.

However, the ganache is usually stiff enough when the recipe is around 35% cream to 65% chocolate. Recipes vary depending on what type of chocolate being used. The viscosity of the chocolate and percentage of cocoa mass to other ingredients varies so the way the recipe reacts is different. It’s just another opportunity to play, make mistakes, make successes and eventually come up with your very own special truffle recipes.

In short, there are several ways to manipulate the ganache to make truffles--in a molded shell; scooped with a scooper; slabbed in a frame and cut into shapes; piped into a Flexipan mold; piped into a chocolate cup; and piped into shapes directly onto parchment paper.

One of the most important things about playing with chocolate is to have fun and make a mess. I have the most fun when I make the biggest mess. Even the recipes that don’t turn out as expected can still be enjoyed. I find it really difficult to make bad chocolate truffles—different sometimes—but not bad.

I view my relationship with chocolate as my relationship to life; a journey with successes and failures; creating and destroying; giving and receiving; teaching and learning; and taking the time to enjoy the moment and relish in the moment's joy. That is why working with chocolate is so much fun for me. It offers me a sweet life and it offers me the opportunity to share the sweet life with you!


It’s just me…..Enjoying this sweet life!