The Crucial Step When Prepping Chocolate For Truffles
Can we ever get enough chocolate? We love it drizzled into our mochas, chopped into our cookies, whipped into meringues, and frozen into ice cream. It is the heavenly mixture of dark, nutty cacao and sweet sugar that has enchanted us for decades. Countries have actually become famous for their chocolates, and dedicated museums to the dessert (via Investopedia). Needless to say, you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn't like a little chocolate in their life.
One of the richest, most exciting ways to indulge in the sweet is through truffles. No, not the mushrooms, though those are wonderful as well — the confectionery made entirely of ganache! They are easy to eat and you can choose just how dark you want them to taste and what to cover them in whether that be nuts or edible gold. Truffles are delicious, beautiful, and celebratory which makes them a must-have at birthdays, holidays, or family reunions.
Chipping at chocolate
But while truffles are simple to eat, they are much trickier to make. Truffles rely on using high-quality ingredients and proper preparation. And a part you absolutely don't want to mess up on is cutting the chocolate. Unlike other bakes, you can't get away with messily chopping a chocolate bar into any sized chunks you want. The consistency of your truffles is directly connected to how finely you cut your chocolate. If your chocolate is not cut small enough before being added to your cream, your ganache will become lumpy and unusable (via The Kitchn).
A great way to prevent this is by using the proper tools. The Spruce Eats suggests using one of three options: a chocolate chipper, a chef's knife, or a serrated knife. Odds are you don't have a specialty chocolate chipper lying around your kitchen, so your next best bet is a professional-grade chef's knife.
When using this kind of tool on chocolate, you must use your weight firmly to gradually cut away at the bar. This knife requires a lot of force so if you have weak wrists, try using a serrated knife. Using a cutting utensil with teeth will allow you to saw gently back and forth without using brute force, and will keep chocolate from flying everywhere with each cut (via Cuisine at Home).