Holiday Truffle-Making

At Christmas, we naturally gravitate towards family and friends. We go out of our way to make time for those dear to our hearts. We communicate, once again, with people whom we've lost touch with, though they're memories have lingered on the peripheries of our minds all year. There's something about Christmas which makes us want to try a little harder, do a little better, and be a little more open.

Well, if you're looking for a way to connect or reconnect with family and friends during this blessed season, making truffles might be a great idea! We usually spend inordinate amounts of money buying those gorgeously wrapped concoctions in the store, but they're so easy to make at home! Besides, it's much more fun to make them than to simply unwrap them! I've been doing them for two years now, and they've become one of those Christmas necessities, along with my mum's famous cinnamon buns which make their appearance only once a year on Christmas morning.

Now, before I give you my recipe, I should make it clear that by truffles, I don't mean the funghi! Yes, there is a type of truffle which is a relative of the mushroom family. Here's a nice definition for it (has anyone ever tried one?) and a picture:

Truffle: "An edible fungus which is found underground. It is round and can be black, white, dark brown or grey in color. The scarcity and decline in truffles has led this once widely used item becoming an expensive garnish. Probably the best and most expensive truffle is the black Périgord truffle. There are some 70 varieties of truffle. Truffles are also sold in jars and cans, truffle oil can also be bought and used to finish dishes with" (http://www.cookeryonline.com/Resource/GlossaryS-Z.html).

Obviously, the chocolate truffle (the subject of this post), derives its shape and appearance from the naturally-occurring truffle, right down to the soft sprinkling of cocoa "dust" which sometimes envelops these chocolate truffles and is meant to resemble the soil clinging to freshly-picked truffles. At any rate, chocolate truffles are a delicacy in their own right. They're centres are made up of ganache---that delightfully creamy substance I mentioned in my post on chocolate mousse cake earlier this year. The combination of heavy cream, real butter, honey, and your choice of flavourings, make truffles a delectable treat for the palate. What you do with the outside of a truffle is up for grabs! I usually dip the cold centres into couverture (melted chocolate). Some people simply roll the ganache balls in cocoa. The web has lots of ideas, so browse around, or experiment for yourself!

Whatever you do, though, make this recipe with someone else! Truffle-making is a multi-step process with rest times in-between: perfect for sipping tea with a friend or chatting over a glass of wine or simply hanging out together in the kitchen and sharing stories. If you're making them with children, it's a great way to help the kids develop their motor skills---not to mention their patience (but do be prepared for messy faces, hands and walls!).

A hard-won tip: When it comes time to rolling the balls of ganache, sprinkle cocoa on your hands. The cocoa acts like a wheat-floured surface when kneading bread: it prevents sticking! It also means that your hands will be a little less messy when you're finally done---not to mention that you'll leave more chocolate for the truffles by following this simple step.

So, without further ado, here's the recipe. If you try it out, leave a comment and tell us how it went and what, if any, variations you made!

Truffles

Ingredients

Filling

1 large chocolate bar (400-600 grams)

450 mL whipping cream

3 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons butter

Flavourings, peanut butter, etc. (optional)

Couverture

1 large chocolate bar

Method

1. Make a double-boiler by placing water in a pot and putting another pot over it. Turn heat to medium-high.

2. Place chocolate in the second pot and melt.

3. While chocolate is melting, combine whipping cream, honey and butter and bring to a boil (either in microwave or on stove top). Remove from heat as soon as cream starts to rise.

4. Pour liquids into melted chocolate and stir vigorously with a wire whip until smooth and velvety (tip: pour liquids in stages)

5. If adding flavours or other ingredients, now is the time to do it!! If adding liquid flavours start with a few drops and test. Flavours will settle as the chocolate cools, so don’t over-flavour. If adding peanut butter, you may want to warm it for a few seconds in the microwave so that it is easy to stir into the chocolate.

6. Put in fridge (or freezer) until set. Test by inserting a spoon into the mixture. You should be able to make a ball with the chocolate. Could take up to two hours or more. Keep an eye on it!

7. When chocolate has set, remove from fridge and, scoop out about one teaspoon at a time. Roll into balls and place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet/tray. (Tip: use cocoa on your hands to prevent sticking. Work fast! Chocolate melts at body temperature!)

8. Place balls in fridge while you melt the chocolate for the couverture. Allow melted chocolate to cool.

9. Dip chocolate balls into melted chocolate and place on lined cookie sheet/tray. You may repeat this step as often as you wish. Allow to set in fridge. Enjoy!

10. Optional: decorate tops of truffles with chocolate designs or royal icing.

Nostalgia

A few weeks ago, I bought season four of the classic t.v. series, The Cosby Show. Now, if you had the good grace to have anything to do with the 80s, you knew this family intimately and, chances are, you still get a little nostalgic every time you hear the theme songs or stumble upon Bill Cosby's signature dance---maybe you've even tried it yourself (pursed lips and all!!). Bill, Clare, Sandra, Denise, Theo, Vanessa, and Rudy Huxtable. They were like real people to me. I still find myself wishing they were. But why is that? Why did I and so many other people wish to be part of the family?

For me, maybe it started with my dad's old LP of Cosby doing his stand-up comedy show entitled, Bill Cosby: Himself. I've tended to sentimentalize anything that once belonged to my father, appropriating his likes and dislikes, making them a kind of standard for my own life. Over the years, I've acquired more and more of his favourite things and made them my own. I suspect they'll all eventually make their way into this blog. Amongst them are the inimitable works of Charles Dickens, Homer and Shakespeare; a love for teaching and a belief in the importance of education as a life-long goal; the soulful, tribal, eclectic sounds of great African musicians such as Miriam Makeba; the joy of seeing things grow in a garden; of curling up with a good book; of writing. The list could go on....I guess my father gave me these loves like a legacy, and my mother refined them. Knowing that my father loved Cosby (and, incidentally, attended university with him in Philadelphia) makes me love him and his show too!

But I'd probably have loved the Cosbys anyway because of what they had to say about family life. The show strikes me more so now than it ever did, perhaps because present-day family life seems such a fractious thing. The Cosbys weren't perfect and they dealt with some tough issues---like when Clare found a joint between the pages of Theo's geography text book, or when a friend was battling cancer---but they seemed to deal with everything gracefully and, ultimately, with humour. Now there are a lot of comedies out there today, but they all pale in comparison to the Cosby Show---even my much-loved Seinfeld---because, in my opinion, their humour is aimed at ridiculing. Whether the ridicule is aimed at one's self or others, if you laugh at all, it's not because the joke is a hearty one but because someone's stupidity has just been showcased. I don't know if I'm able to express this well....I love The Cosby Show because it brought dignity forward. You felt that the members of the family truly cared for one another. The skill of the actors lay in their ability to bring out the very best about what it means to be part of a family.

And what about Cliff and Clare? Were there ever two more ardent on-screen lovers as they were? And yet, interestingly, there were never any steamy scenes or offensive innuendos. The extent of their love-making generally culminated in a closing scene in which Cliff, dressed in one of his many salwar-kameez-style pyjamas (ha ha!), turned up some jazz music on the old record player, and batting his eyes, sidled up to a smiling, gloriously garbed Clare. He would clutch her to him and the two would dance cheek-to-cheek as the lights faded and the audience applauded. Innocent, unassuming, beautiful, genuine.

There's not much that interests me on t.v. these days. Maybe that's a good thing. After all, there is so much to do in a day and so little time to do it! But, when I need to relax, the Cosbys are a sure bet every time. I suspect I'll be hunting out the other seasons in time---maybe putting them on my Christmas and birthday wish lists for the next few years (hint hint!). Anything which interests and inspires a person over decades is worth a little reflection. I like to think of it as being intentional about what I love and how I spend my time. I guess that's what this blog is, ultimately, for.