Eating Well in the Northwest: Di Vero Mocha Truffles

Crack the crisp shell and the warmth of your mouth instantly melts the silky center, bathing your senses with a heady combination of flavors – The roasty, bitterness of espresso opens, quickly followed by the sharp yet sweet tang of the Bhorgetti espresso liqueur. The fats in the cream and chocolate coat your mouth, offering a buttery mouth feel, and that’s just in the first 10 seconds.

We like a truffle with a brilliant flavor that rises above the chocolate, and a smooth, creamy interior. The challenge with the flavorings is to find complimentary tastes that will stand up to the strength of the chocolate and deliver that flavor without compromising the texture. The challenge with the texture is to get just the perfect consistency by balancing the cream, chocolate and other flavorings. Not enough cream and the ganache will be stiff, hard to work and not as pleasant in the finished product. Too much cream or other liquids and the center will be too soft to work with. This is the point that requires some experimenting, based on your materials. The higher the percentage of cocoa solids, the firmer and crisper the chocolate and the more milk fat will be required to smooth it out. Using heavy whipping cream adds more fat and less liquid than regular whipping cream which can be a big benefit if you are adding additional liquids, like liqueurs, alcohol or juices.

Our mocha truffles consist of Medaglia d'Oro Espresso Powder added to the heavy whipping cream to form a smooth coffee colored paste. Heated just to boiling, it is mixed into the melted chocolate with a spatula, working it carefully to make certain it is thoroughly mixed. If you don’t get it fully mixed, you’ll get lenses of harder chocolate in the smooth ganache once it has cooled. Once the cream and chocolate are mixed, add the liqueur and mix it carefully, then let move the ganache to a covered bowl to set. In our experience, chilling it in the fridge comes out with a courser texture than allowing it to slowly cool to room temperature, usually 8 hours to overnight. Once the ganache has set, you can roll the centers into balls, loosely cover them with plastic wrap and let them “dry” overnight or until they get firm and the outer layer dries a little to the touch. Then they are ready to coat and finish.