I’m a terrible mother. I’ve been neglecting my third child (Project Pastry Love). It was her 2nd birthday on the 12th of April and I didn’t even acknowledge it. No cringe-worthy singing of the Happy Birthday song. No gifts to open. No cake, for goodness sake! And I love cake–to bake and eat it too! In my defense, I’ve had a lot going on with my 2nd child, Wesley. He has been delayed in speaking for quite a while now, and we’ve been working with many doctors to figure out what might be going on. Some good news has come our way, however. We found out that Wesley has been accepted into a language-enriched preschool. Yippee! Hopefully, he’ll start speaking clearly, become very articulate, go to a pricey college on a full scholarship, study all languages, and become a world renowned professor of linguistics. Now, I just need to get Project Pastry Love to start talking to me again and then I’ll be good to go. Maybe these chocolate truffles (lemon white chocolate macadamia nut and bittersweet) will do the trick.
Chocolate truffles are made from ganache that have been rolled into balls. They were originally intended to look like the coveted mushroom truffle. The process for making ganache is simple. Cream is brought to a boil and then poured over chopped chocolate. It is then slowly stirred until it becomes glossy and smooth. I’ve a post on it here.
The white chocolate truffles were made a little differently, however. I got this recipe from Fine Cooking’s Make Your Own Truffle webpage. White chocolate is pulsed in a food processor until it resembles cornmeal. Then the hot lemon-infused cream is poured in, and softened butter is added. Finally, it is pulsed until smooth.
The white chocolate ganache is poured into a baking pan, covered, and refrigerated overnight.
It is then rolled into balls and then rolled in finely chopped macadamia nuts.
The bittersweet chocolate truffles were made by pouring a mixture of hot cream, butter, salt, and corn syrup over the chopped chocolate, letting it sit for a minute and then slowly stirring until smooth. I got this recipe from one of my favorite pie book, Gesine Bullock-Prado’s Pie It Forward.
Because bittersweet chocolate is firmer than white chocolate it doesn’t have to be refrigerated as long. Five hours should do it.
The bittersweet chocolate ganache is rolled into balls and then into good quality cocoa powder.
These lemon white chocolate macadamia nut truffles are lovely–sweet, nutty, and lemony.
The bittersweet chocolate truffles are just perfect. They are soft, smooth, and have a deep chocolate flavor. I’ve big plans for these little guys. More on that later.
- 15 oz. (424 g) White Chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup Heavy Cream
- 2 TBS Lemon Zest
- ¼ tsp. Sea Salt
- 2 TBS. (28 g) Unsalted butter, softened
- 1 and ½ cups (203 g) Macadamia Nuts, ground
- In a medium-sized sauce pan, bring the cream and lemon zest to a boil. Once boiling, remove the saucepan from the heat, cover, and let sit for an hour to an hour and a half. Strain the cream and discard the lemon zest. Pour the lemony cream back into the saucepan.
- In a food processor, grind the white chocolate until it resembles corn meal (about 30 seconds).
- Heat the cream up again. Once it is boiling stir in the salt, and then pour it into the food processor. Process until smooth (about 10 seconds). Add the butter and process another 10 seconds, or until smooth.
- Pour the white chocolate ganache into an 8-inch square baking dish, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
- Using a tablespoon-size cookie scoop, or melon scoop, scoop out balls of white chocolate ganache, and place each on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roll each ball into a bowl of crushed macadamia nuts. Refrigerate the truffles until ready to serve. Allow them sit out for 15 minutes right before eating.
- Food processor
- Saucepan with lid
- Parchment paper
- Baking sheet
- 8-inch square baking dish
- Tablespoon-size cookie scoop or melon scoop
- ¾ cup Heavy Cream
- 2 TBS (28 g) Unsalted Butter, softened
- A pinch of Salt
- 1 TBS Corn Syrup
- 8 oz. (225 g) Bittersweet Chocolate, finely chopped
- ¼ cup (20 g) Cocoa Powder
- Place the chopped chocolate in a large heat-proof bowl.
- Heat the cream, butter, salt, and corn syrup in a saucepan. Be sure that the butter melts completely. Once boiling, remove from heat, and pour it over the bittersweet chocolate. Let the cream/chocolate sit for 2 minutes, and then slowly stir until the ganache is smooth and glossy. This will take about 3 minutes, so be patient. Pour the ganache in a 8-inch square baking dish, cover, and refrigerate until firm (about 4 hours).
- Using a teaspoon-size cookie scoop, scoop out the truffles and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roll each truffle in cocoa powder. Refrigerate until ready to serve and set them out 15 minutes right before eating.
- Large heat-proof bowl
- Saucepan
- 8-inch square baking dish
- Parchment paper
- Baking sheet
- Teaspoon-size cookie scoop
