French Chocolate Truffles

By Shash

Ingredients

• 1 cup Crème Fraîche (or heavy cream)
• 14 oz. Dark Chocolate (use very high quality, 70% cocoa, chocolate - or very high quality unsweetened baking chocolate.)
• 8 oz. Additional Dark Chocolate
• 11/2 cups Cocoa Powder (the highest quality you can find)
• 3 tbsp. Butter (optional)

Preparation

Step 1

Batter (Ganache): 1. Break chocolate into small pieces and put in a large bowl. 2. Bring cream slowly to a light boil. 3. Pour boiling cream over chocolate and keep stirring until all the chocolate has melted and the batter is homogenous. 4. If you want to add butter, do so now, before the batter cools, and thickens. This batter is called Ganache and is the base for all French truffle recipes! When the ganache is warm it is very creamy. You can thicken it 1. by whisking it (the oxygen causes it to thicken) or 2. by putting it in the refrigerator. You want the ganache to be just thick enough to easily form the truffle balls… Forming Truffles: 1. Using two spoons (or a baking sac) form even and round balls. Place them on parchment or wax paper. 2. Melt the rest of the chocolate in a bain-marie (double-boiler). 3. Dip each ball in the melted chocolate and then roll it in the cocoa powder. Voilà!