Valentine’s Day may be upon us but it isn’t too late to make some handmade chocolates for your loved one.
This is a variation on a basic water ganache recipe from Paul. A. Young, one of Britain’s best chocolate makers. No visit to London is complete without popping into one of his shops. His book, “Adventures With Chocolate” is a great resource for anyone wanting to dabble in chocolate making and he has a handful of handy chocolate making videos on his YouTube channel.
Water ganache is made with just three ingredients: chocolate, sugar and water, so is dairy free, and you can tweak the liquid to your heart’s content, so instead of water you can experiment with wine or beer or whisky or in this case, coffee. I used one of my favourite blends from my local coffee shop.
You simply bring your liquid of choice plus the sugar to a simmer until the sugar is dissolved, pour it over chocolate and then stir until it is melted into a smooth ganache. To turn the ganache into truffles you simply chill it and roll it into balls. In this case I finished the truffles by rolling them in cocoa powder, or you can get fancy and roll them in chopped nuts, coconut, chocolate sprinkles…….the only limit is your imagination.
They are pretty straightforward to make but the results not only look good but are smooth, intense and delicious.
Coffee Ganache Truffles
7oz dark chocolate (chopped into small pieces)
1.5oz dark muscovado sugar
1/3 cup strong black coffee
Put the chocolate pieces in a heatproof bowl.
Put the coffee and the sugar in a pan and bring to a simmer over medium high heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Pour the coffee and sugar mixture over the chocolate and whisk until the chocolate has melted and the ganache is smooth.
Let the ganache cool for a few minutes and then place in the fridge for a couple of hours to set.
Use a teaspoon to scoop walnut sized pieces from the ganache and roll into balls.
Roll the truffles in cocoa powder to finish. Shake off excess powder using a sieve.
Store in the fridge in an airtight container.