Issue 21 - "Valentine's Day" - How to Make Chocolate Truffles

My husband is a true chocoholic. I try to make sure we always have chocolate in the house for him, but there is sometimes the rare slip, when I have had hard deadlines to meet with work, and I have forgotten to replenish his stash. I’m reminded of my erring ways when I hear him rummaging through the kitchen cabinets and drawers, searching hopefully for a bit of chocolate from MY stash for baking. I’ll be making him a box of chocolate truffles for Valentine’s Day.

If your sweet Valentine is a chocoholic, a box of homemade chocolate truffles is the perfect gift. In case you have been wondering, chocolate truffles get their name from the rare and expensive mushroom, the truffle, found at the base of oak trees in France. The comparison comes from the rugged shape of the hand-formed balls of filling that are coated in cocoa or chocolate and which resemble their mushroom namesake.

Cocoa-covered truffles are a smooth, creamy delight, a melt-in-the-mouth sensation that is at once ethereal and emotionally uplifting. What makes chocolate-coated truffles so especially sensuous is the contrast of the crisp, thin chocolate shell with the smooth, creamy texture of the truffle center.

Truffles are easy to make, and it adds a special touch that you took the time to make them yourself. Put your favorite music on your iTunes player and spend a morning or afternoon awash in chocolate. Let the music set the mood, relax, and be one with the chocolate. Use the best, smoothest chocolate you can find or your efforts will be for naught.

This issue of How the Cookie Crumbles includes recipes for Chocolate Truffle Filling; information on how to coat them in cocoa and how to coat them in tempered chocolate; how to temper chocolate; and variations for flavoring the filling using liqueurs, oils, zests, nuts, candies, and juices.

You’ll also find information about tempering chocolate, melting chocolate, hand-rolling truffle filling, and coating the rolled filling in chocolate or cocoa. And remember to check the Baking Hints page for answers to many baking questions, and the Recipes page, for easy-to-make recipes for all occasions.

I hope your Valentine’s Day is filled with love, happiness, and warmth.

Eileen

Never been to How the Cookie Crumbles before?

I'd like to welcome you to How the Cookie Crumbles - a webzine for Home Bakers, where you will find excellent recipes, baking hints, and sensible information on baking equipment and ingredients that make the process of baking from scratch easier and more fun. No heavy technical jargon, no confusing lingo. Just good advice and helpful information.

This site is dedicated to the joys of home baking. But just what, exactly, is a "home baker?" Home bakers have a passion for baking, or the strong desire to learn how to bake from scratch. And "from scratch" is the key to defining home baking. Real home bakers don't use mixes or canned frostings or store-bought baked goods. They understand that the soul of their efforts comes from using wholesome ingredients of the highest quality, and paying attention to detail. While it's true that anyone can learn to bake, not everyone understands there is a huge difference between package baking and home baking. This site is for those of you who know the difference. As we go along we'll be talking about baking a variety of items, both sweet and savory. Periodically I'll be adding additional cookie recipes, muffin recipes, biscuit recipes, cake recipes, filo pastry recipes, tart recipes, cobbler recipes, pie recipes and much more. (Each issue will have a different theme.) These are all from-scratch recipes using wholesome, quality ingredients. All of the recipes you find in this site have been personally developed and thoroughly tested, so you can count on them to be delicious and successful. Most of the recipes are truly easy to make, so don't feel you need to be a professional pastry chef to use this site. You just need to be a passionate Home Baker.

Kids can learn so many things by baking: fractions, following directions, how to measure, how things in the kitchen work. It will help improve their self-esteem and fine motor skills. And they will think you are amazing for doing this with them. Enjoy all of the recipes in this issue and in the Recipe section of this web site, and have a great time baking with your family!

Check out my Links page for more sites that talk about baking with children.

I would love to hear about helpful techniques or gadgets that you use when baking. Helpful ideas will be included in our Baking Hints page, with your name. Thanks for your interest in How the Cookie Crumbles, and enjoy home baking!

- Eileen Talanian

All recipes and text found in this site are copyright 2003-2007 by Eileen Talanian.

I'm Eileen Talanian, and I have baked since I was 5 years old. My lifelong passion for baking led me to start a European-style mail order and wholesale cookie company called An American Kitchen. I headed the award-winning, and nationally acclaimed, company for more than 10 years, then sold it so I could spend time with my two children and my husband. My passion for baking has not diminished at all and I am currently working on my third cookbook. (My first cookbook, Chewy Cookies, has been completely revised and updated and is now available. It includes step-by-step directions, and chapters on holiday cookies, butter-free macaroons, bar cookies, home-style favorites, kids' favorites, and cookies for chocolate lovers. Great recipes from an award-winning baker. Buy it now.) My second cookbook, Marshmallows: Homemade Gourmet Treats, will be published in March 2008. It includes step-by-step instructions for making homemade marshmallows and marshmallow fluff in many delicious flavors, and it includes dozens of ways to use them. Order it now.