Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Callebaut truffles

A recent project we've been working on is making truffles using a mold, rather than just dipping the centers in chocolate as we usually do. Last weekend was our first attempt, using ganache that had been cut into circles about 1/4 inch tall, and using various methods to surround these with chocolate in the mold - dipping then placing in the mold and filling it the rest of the way with chocolate; putting chocolate, then center, then chocolate in the mold. None were ideal, and the shell-to-center ratio was high.

So this weekend we decided to try a new method: Coat the mold in a thin layer of chocolate, let it set up, then pipe in soft, unset ganache. We use Ghirardelli 60% chips constantly; they're easily the best value in terms of quality per dollar that we've found ($3/11.5 oz at Target). This time we decided to try something better, just to see how it went, so we got some bulk 70% Callebaut from Whole Foods.

The verdict: Thumbs up on the new truffle-molding technique. Worked like a charm, the ganache set up nicely inside the truffles and the shell was thin and crispy. We still need to work on making the bottoms of the truffles smooth, but the rest is shiny and pretty!

Thumbs waggly, however, on the Callebaut. It is a better-tasting chocolate than the Ghirardelli, but not necessarily twice as good (it costs about twice as much, $8/lb). It was also harder to work with, which I wasn't expecting. It was very goopy at the low temperatures required for tempered chocolate. I'd read that chips are to be avoided because they're formulated not to melt well (as you want them to hold up when baking), but the Ghirardelli 60% chips definitely melted better than this bulk chocolate.

I noticed that WF has Callebaut semisweet chips on sale for $4/lb, so maybe we'll try those sometime soon.

2 comments:

  1. I know that Costco sells very big bags of chips, though I'm not sure the brand. Next time I'm there will with make sure to check it out so I can give you the price/size and hopefully save you some money!

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  2. All I've found at Costco is Nestle semisweet chips, which aren't great. I tried making ganache with Hershey dark chips a few weeks ago, just to see if I could save money on practice batches, and it came out goopy and weird - tasty enough, but not a good texture at all. So I'm staying away from the cheap stuff. However, if you ever see anything else at Costco, let me know - if they ever have store brand (Kirkland) chips I'd be willing to try them b/c Kirkland is usually pretty good.

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