Pralines and truffles

“I can resist everything except temptation.”- “Versuchungen sollte man nachgeben. Wer weiß, ob sie wiederkommen!” (Oscar Wilde)

Truffles, a small luxury good for everyone and for all occasions.Whether they are filled with delightful chocolate ganache, nougat, nuts, marzipan (almond paste) or other ingredients, truffles exist in all thinkable shapes and varieties. They have unlimited flavors, smells and no matter for which kind you opt for juicy fruity, spicy or rather sweet creations, there are no limits to your imagination.

One thing is clear… truffles spoil.

Truffles are always an adequate gift. They are totally fancy, extraordinary and even more impressive when they are homemade. Especially during Christmas time and you would like to make other gifts for a change than giving away cookies as always, you can experiment making truffles. This year I decided to make cinnamon truffles, amarena cherry and chocolate covered apricot marzipan truffles.

Some advice, so everything will work out perfectly

It´s important to always allow for enough time to make these little works of art. Because the more attention they get the more beautiful they will turn out.
Always use good ingredients. Never use low fat or special diet products, because they consist of far to much water, which makes the truffles taste suboptimal.
Homemade truffles can be stored up to two weeks depending on their ingredients and their storage.
You should always keep your truffles stored in a cool place, at room temperature 14-18°C.
I personally advise against storing truffles in the fridge because the chocolate turns white and looses its taste very fast. I always store my truffles in my cellar or the coolest room of the house.

Here are 2 of my truffle recipes I have made

cinnamon truffles

300 g whole milk chocolate
100 g heavy cream
½ TL cinnamon
50 g butter at room temperature
150 g dark couverture
100 g cocoa powder
one piping bag

Remove from heat and stier in whole milk chocolate with a whisk. Cover chocolate ganache and let rest at pom temperature for around 6 hours or at its best over night.
Put your ganache in a piping bag and place 30 little balls on a baking sheet. If you want them to be perfectly round you can still shape them with your hands. Let your truffles dry for an hour. Put cocoa powder into a deep dish.
Cut whole milk chocolate into small pieces. Heat heavy cream and cinnamon and let cook for one minute.
Afterwards you can whisk your ganache and add soft room temperated butter.

Melt dark couverture over hot water.

Dip your truffles in the melted couverture and and roll them in the prepared cinnamon until the whole truffle is covered.

Set them on a parchment paper and let them dry for 15 minutes.

chocolate covered apricot marzipan truffles

100 g dried apricots
200 g marzipan
200 g whole milk couverture
3 dried apricots for decoration, cut very finely

Cut dried apricots into small dickes and knead into marzipan. Form mass to a ball and let rest for one hour. Roll out apricot marzipan to an rectangle. Cut small 1cm squares.

Melt whole milk couverture over Bowling water. Dip marzipan dices in melted chocolate until covered and set on parchment paper. Decorate with finely cut apricots right away and when you´re done with all of your truffles move them to a cooler place so they can dry.

This is how my little gifts will look like, aren´t they adorable?