One of my favorite memories of my parents, not surprisingly, involves food. One winter break during high school or junior high, my mom brought home a box of incredible dark chocolate truffles. The ganache center was impossibly smooth and tasted strongly of peppermint and cocoa. The white chocolate coating snapped when you bit into it, perfectly balancing the rich, creamy filling, and each truffle was rolled in crushed candy canes.
There’s something about girls and good quality chocolate that just takes forever. My brothers could probably eat six in the time it took Mom and I to finish the first bite. Which is probably why we neglected to tell them we had chocolates. Another strategy is to buy a couple of Twix bars and hope they get distracted.
As expensive sweets go, seconds couldn’t come until Dad got to try one. I remember leaning on the counter when he got home, my eyes fixed to that box, watching Mom pick out the nicest one. She fed him his first bite, then he held the second half, chewing. Mom and I were silent and grinning, excited to share our treasure.
“Hmm… I’d rather have a jelly bean.”
I don’t think Dad will ever live it down. This year for Christmas, I made Mom a box of reproductions and bought Dad a bag of Jelly Bellies. We can’t find the original truffles anywhere. Jelly Belly jellybeans, on the other hand, are likely available near you...
This recipe is from memory and estimations. I’ll try again to verify the amounts, but I think the best part of this trial is step 3. I have never before seen such easy to work with truffles, and believe me I’ve seen truffles. I thought I’d never ever want to hear the word “truffle” again after helping produce over three thousand white and regular chocolate truffles in our school bakeshop. You will need to start a day before you want finished truffles.
Peppermint Truffles
Ganache:
12 ounces dark chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
Peppermint extract to taste (start with 2 tsp and don’t be afraid to add!)
Coating:
12-16 ounces white chocolate
2 boxes candy canes
1. Bring the heavy cream just to a simmer. Meanwhile, chop the chocolate into small pieces. Take the saucepan off of the heat and add the chocolate. Stir until smooth.
2. Once the ganache is cool (like paste or peanut butter), you can shape the truffles. I used a pastry bag with a round tip, but you can probably use a plastic bag with a corner snipped off to make a hole with a ¼ inch opening. I set out parchment paper and piped balls that were a little smaller than truffle size. You can also form balls with two spoons or your fingers if they aren’t warm. Don’t worry if they aren’t perfect. You can roll them in your palm a bit on day two.
3. You have to believe me on this next one. Leave them out overnight. Not near heaters, direct sunlight, kids, dogs, husbands (my Dad is OK, though), or best friends, but leave them out. This dries out the surface and keeps them at a moderate temperature. They will be much easier to handle and coat. It’s easier to fix their shape when they are malleable but have a dry surface than when they are cold and hard and possibly sweating from the temperature changes between the fridge and the room.
4. Crush the candy canes the next day.
5. Quick temper the white chocolate in small batches. I melt about 4 ounces white chocolate in the microwave, stirring every thirty seconds until all of the chunks are gone, then add about an ounce of chopped chocolate to bring the temperature down and to at least try to get the look and snap of properly tempered chocolate.
6. My best advice for coating is use relatively cool coating chocolate, drop the ball in, be quick, use a thin pronged fork or a truffle fork, and tap off most of the excess. I’ve seen people keep melted chocolate in the palm of one hand and roll the truffle there, but it’s messy and takes a few to master.
7. Roll the truffles in the crushed candy canes, then let them dry and cool.
Remember: The first truffle is the practice truffle. It will most likely be the ugliest truffle. This is the best truffle, though, because this is the one you eat guilt-free once you are done. I actually ended up with quite a few practice truffles, which I am not complaining about.
Jelly Bellies
1 bag Jelly Bellies
1. Buy a bag of Jelly Bellies.
2. Dad’s happy.
