Earl Grey and Chai Tea Truffles
Now’s as good a time as any to tell you how simple it is to make a batch of truffles. At 4 sleeps until the Big Day, the last place you want to be is in a mall. If you have anyone left on your list, they will more than likely be thrilled with a batch of homemade chocolate truffles.
Here’s all you need to remember: 1 part cream to 3 parts chocolate – dark or semi-sweet is best.
Heat the cream, take it off the heat, add the chocolate and let it sit a few minutes. In less than five you can stir it until smooth, then pop it in the fridge. Once chilled, roll it into balls and roll the balls in cocoa, crushed candy canes, chopped nuts – you name it.
But the most fun part is the flavouring. As you heat the cream you can steep loose tea (a teaspoon or so of Earl Grey or spiced chai is nice), or ginger, or orange zest, or pepper… anything chunky can be scooped out or strained before you add the chocolate. Of course there’s always the option of adding extract (vanilla, peppermint) or swapping some of the cream for Bailey’s. Truffles are about as easy as it gets, which is a very good thing when you’ve spent the day painting Vanilla Custard over Ointment Pink (for real – that’s the name of the paint colour), the kitchen looks like someone picked it up and shook it, the kids need a hands-on project and Santa is coming very, very soon.
Simple Chocolate Truffles
Add flavourings other than extract as you bring cream to a simmer, then let it steep for a bit off the heat (you don’t want to cook the cream down too much) and strain it out, then rewarm it enough to melt the chocolate.
1 part cream
3 parts semi-sweet or dark chocolate (chopped or chips or nibs)
cocoa or finely chopped toasted nuts, for rollingIn a smallish saucepan, bring your cream to a simmer and then turn off the heat. If you’re using extract, add it now, then dump in the chocolate and let it sit for several minutes. Give it a stir until it’s smooth and chill until firm. Roll into balls and roll the balls in cocoa to coat. Store in the fridge, but serve at room temperature (chocolate should never be served cold).
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