Chocolates are for every holiday. Christmas, New Year, Valentine’s Day, Easter and Mother’s Day – every occasion finds a new meaning thanks to the dark, gooey, messy and lovely melt-in-your-mouth goodness. Chocolates can elevate any special day and fill everyone’s heart with joy.
However, the art of chocolate making is not easy to master. That is why some chocolatiers know how to capture the hearts of all chocolate aficionados, and others still struggle to catch the market’s attention. We have all heard that adding a personal touch to gifts makes them a lot more special than buying something off the shelf. You can make the upcoming event special too if you pay attention to the fine details of chocolate making. Turn any simple evening into a romantic affair with your chocolate making skills.
Chocolate truffles are expensive, and people all around the world love them equally. You cannot go wrong with gourmet chocolate truffles for your friends, family, and the special someone. While making your own choco-confections, you must remember to be extremely careful so as not to screw up the basic textures that make these chocolate truffles so unique and lovable. Here are the faux pas you must never make while creating your own chocolate confections –
- Using poor quality chocolate
Although truffles sound fancy, they are simple to make. They do not use a lot of ingredients, and the recipe is quite basic even for the novice confectioners. They use chocolate and cream. So the texture of the finished product comes from these two materials only. You need to ensure that you use the finest chocolate, vanilla, and cream. Using choco chips will result in a gritty and uneven texture, so forget them while DIY-ing your chocolate truffles.
2. Working with cream that’s too hot
Heat the cream, but never pour boiling cream directly onto the chocolates. Your aim is to melt the chocolate without separating the cocoa butter from it. So use hot, but not boiling cream. Break the chocolate down into tiny bits, which will help you melt the chocolate easily. You should use a heat-proof, flat spatula to melt the chocolate. Stir from the center towards the outside. Do not fold in too much air, or the texture will become too crumbly.
3. Adding too many flavors
Mint, vanilla bean, chili, cognac, and almond extracts are all great additions to your truffles, but putting them all together in one batch of chocolates will do little justice to the complex flavors. So go with one flavor per batch only. You can choose fresh mint sprigs or fine vanilla extract for this batch. The easiest way to incorporate the flavor is by gently heating the sprigs with the heavy cream for a couple of minutes and straining then straining the cream before melting the chocolate with it. If you are making a flavored ganache for the filling, always make sure that the flavored coating does not clash with the ganache inside. If you are doing this for the first time, making a trial batch might save the day.
4. Forgetting the salt
Always remember that salt brings out the flavors of any pastry, candy, chocolate, and baked goods. You can pick any salt you have handy. Even a dash of table salt will work, but the best bakers and confectioners in town are partial to original sea salt. Their flaky texture and the unique mélange of flavors make them perfect for adding a tiny pinch to each truffle. Ideally, beginners should add the salt after melting the chocolate to prevent the cream from separating. Be very quick about this process. You do not want the chocolate to set in the bowl.
5. Trying to temper your own truffles
We are not saying it is impossible to temper chocolates at home. We are saying it is difficult for those who do not have experience working with molten chocolate. Chocolate has the annoying habit of getting everywhere and making everything sticky. Have you noticed how the store-bought chocolate truffles have a hard shiny layer outside? That is the result of tempering – a complicated process that hardens chocolate due to rapid heating and cooling. You can skip that insanity and roll your handmade chocolate truffles in flakes of almond and pistachios, crushed pretzels or chocolate sprinkles.
6. Serving them right out of the fridge
When you make simple 2-ingredient or 3-ingredient chocolate truffles, the idea is to eat them fresh. You can refrigerate them for 3-4 days, but you should never serve those stone cold. Chocolate truffles should melt in your mouth, and that is a little hard when it is rock hard. You should let them sit at room temperature for a while before you serve them. Make sure you leave them out for 30-minutes to an hour before you offer them to your guests.
7. Not practicing enough
Creating a batch of chocolate truffles for your special someone or someone’s party may seem easy, but without enough practice, you will end up in a mess with chocolate everywhere! Apart from checking out hundreds of YouTube videos of making chocolate truffles, you should get your hands dirty to understand the complexity of the process. Some ingredients are more challenging to handle than the others. You need to try some of them out before you can make the best choice. If you want to avoid all the confusion, you can just skip the ganache and make plain chocolate truffles with a single coating or sprinkle on top.
Apart from making your own batch of chocolates for any upcoming occasion, you can always turn to your trusted confectioners. Experienced chocolatiers can handle the most complex flavors and ingredients while churning out the best balance between them. Making chocolates is an art that these professionals have perfected over the last few decades. Some of them might even take in customized orders or personalized orders if you place your request with enough time in hand. Make sure to check out the best options in your locality before the holiday season rush begins!
