My 52 Weeks With Christie

This Week’s Recipe: Chocolate Coffee Truffles

This Week’s Recipe: Chocolate Coffee Truffle

Inspiration: On a recent trip to a kitchen supply store, I picked up a truffle mold they’d had on sale. Blending this acquisition with the knowledge that not everyone is as keen on lemons as my husband’s former co-worker and I are, I decided to make something for the chocolate lovers attending their going-away party.

So I started hunting for a chocolate coffee truffle recipe….and couldn’t find one that combined all the elements I was looking for. So I decided to use one recipe for the filling, another for the shells, and a distant memory of Henry, from the Great British Bake Off, using a silicone mold.

It was weird, but it worked!

First: I used steps 2-4 of this recipe for the filling, and rather than putting it into a pan to cool, as instructed, I poured the concoction into a zip-top bag instead. As I intended to fill the chocolate shells, rather than coating the filling when it stiffened up, this cut down on the waste and mess. When the ganache was room temp but still pliable, I cut one of the bottom corners of the zip-top bag and squeezed the filling into the shells.

A Helpful Tip From Me to You: Don’t put it into the molds when the filling’s hot — otherwise, you’ll melt the shells. Also, make the ganache first, so it’ll start cooling as you work with the mold. It’ll save you time overall.

From The Office of Minor Mistakes: Do not put the filling into the fridge to cool — it will become way too stiff to use, and you’ll need to set it on the counter (in a sunbeam if there’s one handy) to warm back up to room temperature so it’s pliable enough to use.

Second: I used steps 8-14 of this recipe to form the shells.

From The Office of Minor Mistakes: DO NOT place the mold open side down while it cools — otherwise, the chocolate will try very hard to stick to your drying rack.

It seems like common sense, but when you’re buzzing around the kitchen making all kinds of other stuff and have never attempted these before, these subtle nuances can slip right over your head!

My other deviations: I used a double boiler for making both the ganache and the shells. It gives me much better control over the melting chocolate chips than a microwave. To keep the sweetness of the confection in check, I used a 60% cacao chocolate chip for the filling and a 72% dark chocolate chip for the shell.

Okay, from this write-up, these sweets appear tricky.

But they really aren’t.

The three major parts of this recipe requires rest time. Meaning you’ve got built-in time to either accomplish other bakes/chores/take a nap or, if you don’t have enough time to do everything all in one, you can do one part a day over three or four days.

Seriously, these candies look impressive but are so simple!

Christie: For once, I can see a certain Belgium detective actually enjoying one of my bakes! These bite-sized morsels of chocolate and coffee turned out perfectly from the molds and were really shiny!

And are perfect to give out to friends on Halloween!