How You Should Be Heating Cream For Chocolate Truffles
One of the most decadent desserts, chocolate truffles are always a treat. Perfectly melting in your mouth, chocolate truffles are traditionally made by rolling a chocolate ganache, made from chocolate and cream, in cocoa powder (via The Nibble). Although sometimes the most basic truffle can be best, these days chocolate truffles come in a variety of flavors and can be found infused with everything from orange or green tea to amaretto and rolled in a variety of toppings such as toasted almonds.
It's a luxury to have a chocolate shop making delicious chocolate truffles nearby for a treat or to grab as a great gift, but why not try to making them yourself? Ganache made from chocolate and cream — what could be so difficult about that? They always seem so special when you buy them in a shop that chocolate truffles might seem a little intimidating to make at home, but they're absolutely something you should give a go in your own kitchen! A big key to perfecting your chocolate truffle recipe is heating the cream properly, so let's break it down.
A simmer is all you need
According to The Kitchn, there are two ways in which milk can negatively affect your chocolate truffle. When making your ganache, the cream can either be too cold where it fails to melt the chocolate or, alternatively, it is too hot and, in turn, burns the chocolate. Therefore, they recommend either using the microwave to heat smaller amounts of cream or heating the cream in a pot over medium heat until it reaches a simmer. After heating, cool the cream for one minute before pouring it over the chocolate.
Although this trick should work every time, if you let your cream cool just a tad too much and the chocolate is not melting, Sally's Baking Addiction recommends placing a bowl that is heatproof over a pot containing 1-inch of simmering water and stirring until the chocolate is melted. This is known as using a double boiler, sometimes referred to as a bain-marie, and will provide a very gentle heat allowing you to slowly melt the chocolate into the cream (via The Spruce Eats).
Once you've got cream heated properly, it's smooth sailing from there. See? Chocolate truffles just seem tricky.