Friday, October 3, 2008

Vanilla BeanTruffles

I wasn't going to make more truffles so soon, but I got a bee in my bonnet to try a new technique for the ganache. It is the slab technique...the ganache is poured out into a slab instead of piped, and then cut with a knife when it has set. A professional would cut it with a fancy piece of equipment with strings called a guitar. This would make the squares nice and even, something I couldn't accomplish even though I used a ruler. The ganache is also mixed differently for the slab technique than when piped, supposedly resulting in a smoother ganache. Indeed, these truffles were the smoothest I've ever made...melting in your mouth like butter! (although Karen's not-so-pinapply truffles were square, they were not mixed with the slab method). The chocolate actually has to be tempered before adding the cream, which must be at 105 degrees. Tricker to make, but worth it.

The vanilla ganache is a divinely inspired flavor. I taste the vanilla the most during the first bite, after that it is not so distinguishable, other than adding to the complexity of the chocolate flavor. It is dipped in the Callebaut 36% milk chocolate, which has a nice caramely taste.
This is definitely one of my favorite truffles so far, right up there with the passionfruit. I sent some to Emily in Switzerland, and I was planning to give some to Georgia next week. But now there are only 3 left...hopefully I can be a good girl and keep my hands off the last 3 so that she gets a taste!