Thursday, October 15, 2009

Orange Grand Marnier Truffles






3/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons (7 oz.) (200 grams) heavy cream
2 oz. (60 grams) light corn syrup or honey
1 orange, zested and juice reduced to a thick syrup
2 pinches salt

15 oz. (430 grams) dark chocolate (58%-65%)
1 Tablespoons (20 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 Tablespoons (60 grams) Grand Marnier, Grand Gala or any orange liqueur

Directions for ganache:
1. Mix cream, honey, zest and salt in a saucepan and bring to boil.
2. Pour the hot cream mixture over the dark chocolate and make sure the chocolate is submerged in the liquid. let it rest for 1 minute undisturbed.
3. Stir the chocolate with a whisk or wooden spoon in small circles from the center out until it emulsifies.
4. Add butter and mix to combine (room temperature butter will easily get mixed in the warm chocolate)
5. Add liqueur, reduced orange juice and mix until it is incorporated.
6. Prepare a small cookie tray with a film of plastic wrap in the bottom.
7. Pour ganache into the plastic wrapped tray and cover with another piece of plastic directly on the surface of the ganache.
8. Allow it to rest in a cool place (not in the refrigerator) until slightly firm. This will take from 30 minutes to 1 hour.
9. Pour the ganache in a clean bowl and agitate it with a rubber spatula until it thickens some more. This will take just a few minutes. At this stage you are tempering the ganache. Don't let it get to hard, otherwise it will be difficult to pipe.
10. Immediately transfer the ganache to a pastry bag with a plain tip and pipe small balls (truffles) into a parchment or wax paper.
11. Let them rest for a couple of hours or overnight in a cool place (again, not in the refrigerator) before you cover them in cocoa powder or a covering of your choice.


  • They may be dip in tempered chocolate before rolling them in cocoa powder.
  • For a variation try substituting the liqueur with one of your choice.
  • These proportions would not work with milk or white chocolate.
  • Other covering choices are:
    • Powder sugar
    • Crushed Rice crispies
    • Crushed potato chips
    • Finely chopped nuts
    • Graham cracker crumbs
    • Chopped or shaved dark, milk or white chocolate

5 comments:

  1. Hi Kir,
    We saw you at a truffle making demo a few weeks ago at the Chocolate show. We enjoyed it very much and will have to give this one a try! Do you have an berry truffle recipes to share (strawberry, blueberry, etc.)? Thanks!

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  2. For a strawberry, blueberry or any other fruit puree follow the next recipe which will be Milk Chocolate Truffle.
    Let me know the outcome.
    Thanks
    K

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  3. Hi Kir,
    I tried the Orange Truffle recipe and it was awesome! I also tried the Raspberry truffle recipe but with strawberry instead. I think the strawberry flavor was not very strong. What is your proportions for making puree? I was using 2:1 so I pureed 100g and reduce to 50g. Should it be 3:1? I think this is where I went wrong..
    Thanks again!

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  4. Hello, Happy Holidays

    For the strawberry truffle try using 200 grams of puree and reducing it to 100 grams. Use a lower percentage chocolate like 52% to 58% so the fruit flavor can come thru. It will definetly taste stronger if you use milk chocolate instead, but the proportions need to change. In the next couple of days I will write a milk chocolate truffle recipe to show here.

    Thanks
    k

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  5. Hi Kir,
    I was curious if this recipe could be modified to use a Guinness Foreign Extra Stout for a smoky and ashy flavor to be balanced by a milk chocolate - by reducing the stout to a syrup on low heat and substitute the stout instead of Grand Marnier (not sure if this would work). I purchased some Valrhona Bahibe 46% Feves for another recipe. I was thinking of trying a beer ganache. What do you think? Have you tried this or something like this before or have a recipe you can share? Instead of a stout, would a lambic be better suited for this chocolate? I am curious what you think.

    Thanks & Best Regards!

    ReplyDelete