What do you do with a bit of leftover dark chocolate ganache?  Make Dark Chocolate Truffles, of course! You can make these truffles in a snap and they make wonderful hostess gifts and they are also great additions to a cookie plate.  Besides, they are fun to make and a great activity if you have children helping in the kitchen.  There is no complicated tempered chocolate dipping with this recipe – the outside of the truffles are covered easily in Chocolate Vermicelli.  Anyone can make these – give them a try!

A ganache filling can be used for many things, including making truffles.  Other uses include top brownies or squares; layer in between a crumb crust; sandwich in between cookies or macaroons. I have used ganache to coat a cake and spread on a cake as a frosting. In other words, ganache is extremely versatile, so making a little extra is a good thing. You can freeze ganache in an airtight container or an airtight sealed bag using a food sealer.

DARK CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE GANACHE FILLING

CHEF TALK: I used Inaya 65% Dark Chocolate for this ganache from the Vanilla Food Company.  It has a unique taste with a great balance between bitterness and acid notes on the finish.  Any favourite dark chocolate couverture would work for these truffles.  For this recipe, I used an 18/8 scoop, which is about 1 teaspoon or 10 g. In my opinion, this makes the perfect sized truffle.

Makes: approximately 4 cups (1 litre) of ganache filling

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups heavy (whipping) cream (500 ml)

21 oz. semi-sweet or dark chocolate (600 g), chopped into small pieces

METHOD:

1. In a bowl, place the chopped chocolate.
2. In a medium saucepan, bring the cream to a boil. (Do not leave the cream unattended! When the cream is hot, it will come to a rolling boil very quickly).
3. Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate. Allow the cream to sit for a minute or two, then with a spatula, starting from the middle of the bowl, stir in small circles to incorporate the chocolate with the cream.
4. For truffles, cool the ganache to room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator in a covered container.  Using a small scoop, scoop balls of the cold ganache and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Roll each truffle lightly with your hands quickly to make a smooth ball.  Coat each truffle with a topping of your choice (chocolate vermicelli; cocoa powder, icing sugar, chopped nuts, etc.)
5. For spreading on cakes or to ice brownies, let the ganache cool at room temperature until a spreadable consistency is reached to ice brownies or cakes. If the ganache becomes too cool, reheat a small portion in a microwavable glass container. Then stir the warmed ganache into the cooled ganache until you get the consistency you need.

NOTES:

• To store: Refrigerate ganache in an airtight container. Reheat gently by placing the ganache in a bowl over a bain-marie.
• Freezes well

LEARNING TIPS:  

Please CLICK the link above to access my UrbnSpice LEARNING TIPS, which are listed alphabetically on the Learning Tips blog post under the following subheadings:

• Cream
• Ganache
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Similar Posts:

CRUMB TRUFFLES

Crumb Truffles! A Journey in Gluten Free Recipe Development

Want more chocolate?

More information about UrbnSpice cookbook series:

Chocolate Desserts Made Easy and Delicious