Ginger-Spiced Truffles
— About 40 one-inch truffles
Ginger and vanilla combine with bittersweet chocolate to create truffles with a spicy-hot kick. Serve the truffles at room temperature to bring out the full flavor of the spices, and accompany with chunks of crystallized ginger — the contrasting combination of pure, zippy ginger with the mellow, ginger-infused chocolate is ambrosial.
*Items marked in green are available from The Gourmet Corner.
Ingredients
- 8 fluid oz heavy cream (1 cup)
- 2 packed Tbs very finely grated fresh ginger (select plump, thin-skinned gingerroot, and peel before grating. The ginger should be almost a paste — a microplane-type grater works well for this)
- 1/2 vanilla bean
- 10 oz Cacao Noel Royale 64% chocolate calets (or other 60-65% dark chocolate, finely chopped)*
- 1 oz (2 Tbs) Échiré unsalted butter
- 2 Tbs brandy
- Cocoa powder
*Do not substitute a lower-percentage chocolate in the recipe — the reduction in cocoa solids will affect the texture of the finished truffles. To use a higher-percentage chocolate, such as Cacao Noel Noir 72% calets, increase cream by 3 Tbs.
Place the cream and ginger in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Split the vanilla half-bean lengthwise, then use the point of a knife to scrape the tiny black seeds out of the pod into the cream. After scraping, put the pod into the cream. Bring to a simmer (fine bubbles should be visible around the edge of the pan) then cover and let steep for at least 2 hours.
Use a fine-mesh sieve to strain the ginger and vanilla pod out of the cream, pressing the solids with the back of a spoon to extract as much liquid from them as possible. Return the spiced cream to the pan.
Cocoa, vanilla beans, fresh ginger, and bittersweet chocolate create a rich, spicy truffle!
Place butter in the cream, and bring the mixture to a simmer again. Remove from heat and gently stir in the chocolate and brandy with a heat-proof spatula. Avoid vigorous stirring, to avoid introducing bubbles into the mixture.
Transfer the chocolate mixture into a shallow tray or pan (a loaf pan works well), allow it to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate overnight.
Before shaping the truffles, chill a plate in the freezer for 20 minutes. Put a few tablespoons cocoa powder in a small bowl.
Use a small spoon or melon-baller to scoop half-tablespoon lumps of truffle mixture and place them on the chilled plate. After all the mixture has been portioned into lumps, dust your hands with cocoa and roll each lump into a ball and place back on the chilled plate.
After all of the truffles have been shaped, roll them a few at a time in the cocoa powder. Place in a tightly-covered container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or freeze until ready to serve.
Remove the truffles from the refrigerator/freezer 1/2 hour before serving so that they come to room temperature — if they are too cold, the flavor is muted. The truffles may need another roll in cocoa at this point.
July 9th, 2010 at 1:09 am
I never tried ginger + chocolate before, and the combination of flavors was just amazing. Sweet + rich + spicy + hot + floral. And super-easy, which is always good. More truffle recipes, please!