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The Truffle Lab

FoodDay, The Oregonian
February 8, 2005

Summary: Kids warm up to making decadent chocolates, just in time for Valentine's Day
A box of gourmet chocolates makes a fine Valentine -- especially if they're truffles from your own kitchen. Although making hand-dipped candies may sound daunting, it's easy enough for kids to do. We had no trouble with truffles, thanks to lessons from two of Portland's world-class chocolatiers.

Our classrooms were Bernard C Chocolaterie in Lake Oswego, (voted Grand Prix International Artisan Chocolatier in 1998) and Moonstruck Chocolates in North Portland (named No. 1 truffle in the world by Consumer Reports in February's issue). Our young students, David Cooper, 17, Sally Larkins, 15, Lauren Faulkner, 17, Camille Faulkner, 15, and Lee Faulkner, 9, went elbow-deep into vats of chocolate to learn the tricks of the trade.

History, ganache and the truth about chocolate
Ron Cameron, co-owner of Bernard C, began with a serious lecture and slide show on the history and production of chocolate. He dispensed cocoa facts including its roots in Aztec culture; Christopher Columbus' introduction of chocolate to Europe; and today's still-primitive ways of growing and harvesting cocoa. Surprisingly, the kids ate it up. This was history they could use. And it backed up what we've long suspected: Chocolate is health food! It's a vegetable. Duh, cocoa BEAN. Next, Cameron brought out pre-made ganache, melon ballers, finely ground hazelnuts, grated white chocolate and unsweetened cocoa for a lesson in scooping ganache into balls and then rolling and coating them. Truffles, he said, require a decadent ganache, the heavenly mixture of chocolate, cream, butter and optional flavorings that create a melt-in-your-mouth filling. Truffles can be rolled in a coating or coated with a shell of hardened (tempered) chocolate. While trying to make balls, Lee battled the slippery chocolate and promptly dropped ganache on the floor. Cameron gave Lee another scoop, which he rolled in hazelnuts, popped into his mouth and pronounced the "best thing I've ever tasted." Cameron coached Sally and David to "roll quickly" so they didn't warm the ganache with the heat from their hands. We headed home to practice with a recipe and a pound bar of semisweet chocolate destined for truffle greatness.Home teams warm upThe novice chocolatiers split into teams to compare technique and chocolates. Lauren and David pulled rank as juniors and grabbed the more expensive Bernard C's semisweet chocolate ($12 per pound), while sophomores Camille and Sally got the less expensive Trader Joe's Pound-Plus bittersweet chocolate ($3.49 per pound).The recipe instructions -- "Melt chocolate in a double boiler" -- were slightly unclear. "But what do you do with it first?" David asked. "Chop it, break it up or what?" David and Lauren broke theirs into pre-scored squares while Camille and Sally chopped theirs. Both melted easily with no significant differences. Instructions to stir constantly provided lessons in patience and sharing.The next step -- "Heat cream to warm but not hot and melt butter in cream" -- was also vague. The teams debated stove top vs. microwave but decided against microwaving, which might produce inconsistent heat and scald the cream (a definite no-no, according to Cameron). The melted chocolate stirred into the butter-cream mixture formed a thick syrup to pour into color-coded baking pans: Green for Bernard C's and clear for Trader Joe's. The ganache was cooled on the counter, then covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for 24 hours until it was hard enough to roll.The next evening, the students decided a melon baller worked slightly better than a measuring spoon to form the ganache balls. They coated balls in ground hazelnuts and grated chocolate. Bernard C's chocolate produced a creamier texture; the Trader Joe's ganache was firmer and sweeter. Both were so good, we couldn't decide which was truly best.

Couverture and the chocolate factory
The following week we drove to Moonstruck Chocolate's factory under the St. Johns Bridge. Our students donned hairnets and lab coats before Robert Hammond, Moonstruck's master chocolatier, led us into his lab-kitchen gleaming with stainless steel and marble counters. Hammond covered the proper techniques for tempering and molding chocolate and dipping and decorating ganache that he had pre-made and cut into hearts and squares for the lesson. Hammond alleviated concerns that hairnets could come off before pictures were taken and then dove into the mystery of couverture -- coating chocolates.Solid bars of chocolate are already tempered, that is they've been heated and cooled (recrystallizing the sugars) to mold them into shape. When you want to mold tempered chocolate into another shape such as a heart-shaped box or coating for truffles, you have to retemper using a three-part process: melting, cooling and recrystallizing.To melt chocolate, Hammond filled a saucepan with an inch of water, heated it to simmering and turned off the heat. He placed a stainless steel bowl of chopped milk chocolate over the water, and Lauren stirred until the chocolate melted smooth and creamy (between 115 and 120 degrees). Hammond explained two methods for tempering chocolate: tablier and inoculation. Tablier is best for small quantities of chocolate, inoculation for larger ones.The tablier method involves ladling melted chocolate onto a flat, smooth surface and using a flat-blade spatula (Hammond recommended a clean putty knife) to scoop and stir until the chocolate is slightly warm on your skin (89 degrees). Hammond emphasized, "Never temper chocolate on aluminum. It will leach into your chocolate."Inoculation involves adding unmelted chocolate (we used a 3-inch chunk of bittersweet) back into the just-melted chocolate and stirring with your hands until the added chocolate is fully melted and the mixture is just warm to the skin.Both Cameron and Hammond demonstrated the same technique for gauging proper temperature. They stuck a finger into the tempered chocolate then dabbed it on their lip. If it felt a little bit warm, it was perfect. Both quickly wiped the dabs away, but left a little chocolate "soul patch" on their chins. Hammond said you could use a candy thermometer, but the kids thought the chocolate soul patch was cooler.

Mold and splatter paint
For the next lesson in molding, Hammond brought out molds to create heart-shaped boxes. He cut triangles from parchment paper and twirled them into minipiping bags for decorating with small amounts of warm chocolate -- easier than using cake-decorating bags.Hammond filled the cones with warm, tempered white chocolate, made a tiny cut in each tip and had the kids drizzle and splatter it into their molds. The drizzling would later result in a marble pattern on the completed mold.Next, the molds were filled with tempered bittersweet chocolate. Plastic paint brushes stirred away air bubbles, and then the molds were inverted over the vat and lightly tapped to pour off excess chocolate. The molds were placed upside down on a cake rack over parchment (for easy cleanup) to cool and harden. After a few minutes, the chocolate was hardened enough to scrape away any chocolate outside the molds. Hammond whisked the molds off to the factory's custom chocolate cooler. "Normally, you never refrigerate tempered chocolate because condensation forms a gray discoloration," he said. For those of us lacking professional chocolate coolers, leave the mold in a cool place on the counter for 24 hours.It's all in the dipTime for dipping lessons. Hammond hand-smeared a thin coat of melted chocolate on the precut ganache bottoms so they wouldn't cave in when being dipped. He used a dipping fork to dredge the squares and hearts through tempered melted chocolate, transferred them to parchment paper to harden, and turned the kids loose to decorate with sugar-pearls, tiny candy hearts, delicate almonds and red icing.The heart-shaped chocolate boxes were returned from the cooler. They easily popped out of the molds, showing off the white chocolate marbling. The students filled them with their own dipped truffles along with some from the racks of professionally decorated heart and square truffles. We left Moonstruck with confidence that we could, indeed, re-create this at home.Even without professional supplies, the kids managed to produce mountains of great truffles at our home-decorating sessions. We tried both tablier and inoculation tempering and decided tablier is more fun, but inoculation is easier to clean up.In the end, we concluded that the more expensive chocolate produced a somewhat better truffle, that Bernard C's and Moonstruck chocolates were prettier than ours and, bottom line, that truffles were remarkably easy to make. And the less-expensive chocolate allowed starving students to give heavenly Valentines without going broke. Priceless.

Jeanne Faulker is a Portland writer.

Bernard Callebaut's Truffles
Makes about 40 truffles

• 1 pound semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, broken or chopped into small pieces

• 1 cup whipping cream

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces

• Unsweetened cocoa, powdered sugar, coconut, crushed nuts or other light coating of your choice

Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Heat cream and butter in a medium saucepan over very low heat until butter melts, stirring slowly. Add the melted chocolate to the cream while you stir. Pour mixture into a 9-by-11-inch baking pan (the mixture will be 1 inch thick). Let cool in fridge until the mixture is hard. Scoop out small pieces with a melon baller or a teaspoon. Roll pieces by hand into round or oval shapes. Roll the truffles in cocoa, powdered sugar, coconut, crushed nuts or any other light coating.
-- From Bernard C Chocolaterie, Lake Oswego

Tempering Chocolate
Using a double boiler, melt chocolate over hot (not boiling) water. Then use either method: The tablier method: Cool the chocolate by spreading it out on a marble slab or smooth countertop. Stir continuously with a flat-blade spatula. When it feels just warm to the upper lip (90 degrees for semisweet or 84 degrees for milk or white), return chocolate to the bowl. The inoculation method: Remove chocolate from heat. Stir continuously and gradually add small amounts of chopped chocolate. Continue until the above-mentioned temperatures are reached. To test chocolate, spread 1 tablespoon onto wax or parchment paper. If the chocolate hardens quickly (2 to 4 minutes), it is tempered. Room temperature should not exceed 70 degrees so the chocolate will set up properly.

-- From Bernard C Chocolaterie, Lake Oswego

Moonstruck's Ganache for Truffles
Makes about 20 truffles8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (see note)

• 1/2 cup whipping cream

• 2 tablespoons liqueur or espresso (optional)

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

Line a 9-inch-square baking pan with plastic wrap. Chop the chocolate and place in the top of a double boiler. Place about 1 inch of water in the bottom of a double boiler. Bring the water to a gentle simmer and then turn off the heat. Place the top of the double boiler containing the chopped chocolate over the steaming water. Stir the chocolate until it has fully melted. Remove the top of the double boiler to the countertop. Bring the cream to a boil in a heavy saucepan. Stir the cream into the melted chocolate and mix until thoroughly combined. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes or until the ganache has cooled to 160 degrees. Stir in the liqueur or espresso, if using. Stir in the softened butter. Pour the ganache into the prepared pan. Cover with another piece of plastic wrap. Allow to set up overnight at room temperature. Remove the ganache from the pan. Remove the rest of the plastic wrap. Cut or roll into desired shapes. Dip into tempered chocolate (see accompanying recipe) and place onto a pan lined with parchment paper. Note: If you wish to use milk chocolate or white chocolate instead of the semisweet or bittersweet, use 12 ounces.

—From Moonstruck Chocolate Co.

Moonstruck's Decadent Chocolate Truffle Bars
Makes about 6 dozen 1-inch squares. As you peruse this recipe, this thought may occur: "Oh my! This must be terribly rich and full of calories." Well, you're exactly right -- but indulge yourself anyway with one of these divinely decadent confections. This is one of those ephemeral foods that after the first bite makes your eyes roll back in your head, make your body warm and tingle. Soon you'll be emitting oohs and aahs of sheer delight. This chocolate bar is quite easy to make. The base is made in one saucepan and the truffle topping in one bowl. —Moonstruck Chocolate Co.

Brownie base:

• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)

• 7 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

• 2 cups granulated sugar

• 4 eggs

• 1 cup all-purpose flour, unsifted

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1 cup walnuts, chopped

Truffle topping:

• 4 Moonstruck Dark Chocolate Bars (2 ounces each)

• 3/4 cup whipping cream

• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

• Shaved dark chocolate and unsweetened cocoa (optional)

To make brownie base: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 9-by-13-inch cake pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside. Place the butter in a heavy saucepan and melt over low heat. Remove from heat. Add the unsweetened chocolate to the melted butter, stirring constantly with a wooden or nylon spoon until the chocolate is completely melted. Add the sugar and stir to completely combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, stirring vigorously after each addition to thoroughly combine the egg into the batter. Add the flour and stir to combine. Add the vanilla and walnuts. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes only. The brownie may still look soft and shiny. Care must be taken not to overbake the base or it will end up being dry and crumbly. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Cool completely before adding topping.

To make topping: Chop the chocolate and place in a stainless steel or heat-proof glass bowl. Place 1 inch of water in a small heavy saucepan. Place the saucepan on the stove and bring the water to a simmer. Remove the saucepan from the stove. Place the bowl containing the chopped chocolate on top of the pan of simmering water. Stir the chocolate until it is completely melted. Remove the bowl from the top of the pan and dump the water out. Place the cream and corn syrup into the saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour the hot liquid over the melted chocolate and whisk to completely combine. Set the chocolate mixture aside and allow the ganache to cool for 5 minutes. Whisk the softened butter into the chocolate mixture. Allow the ganache to cool to room temperature. The mixture will have a thick, custardlike consistency. Whisk the ganache until it begins to lighten in color slightly. Spread the ganache evenly over the brownie base. If desired, cover the top of the bars with shaved dark chocolate. Allow the bars to sit at room temperature until the ganache firms up. Dust lightly with cocoa, if desired. Cut into 1-inch squares. Store the bars in an airtight container to prevent them from drying out. These are better eaten at room temperature. —From Moonstruck Chocolate Co.

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