Christmas is in the air

Truffles are one of my favorite guilty pleasures; in fact Sydney was barely walking when she had her first truffle. She adored the truffles so much she shared a truffle with my closest nephew. She proclaimed they were to die for and he must try one. My nephew, who was three at the time, announced wide eyed he loved them and now was going to die soon. It took Sydney and I a few moments to finally realize he believed that the delectable truffle was going to cause him to pass on. It took hours of explaining it was a metaphorical description, and he was not only going to be fine, but have more scrumptious truffles to eat.

Every place I took him people would stop me to say how good looking his was; he is still quite handsome

Sydney and I relished every moment of eric’s childhood, he was the sweetest little boy who LOVES chocolate.

Sydney was so protective of baby Eric

Christmas truffles always bring me back in time; that is what food and the holidays are for… memories

These little white balls are irresistible

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White Chocolate Current-Raspberry Truffles:

Truffle Shells:

• 453 grams/ 2-cups white chocolate chopped fine

In a double boiler/or Bain Marie, over medium heat, melt the white chocolate gently stirring often. Temper the white chocolate and prepare a paper cone.

Filling the Truffle Trays:

Place the white chocolate in the cone, half way filled, and pipe into each side of the truffle trays. Place the trays in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. Once the shells have set, fill with ganache (recipe below) and place the trays in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Carefully remove the truffles from the truffle tray.

Ganache:

• 330 grams white chocolate
• 84 grams/ 3/8-cup heavy cream
• 84 grams/ 3/8-cup crème Frâiche
• 7 grams/ ½-Tablespoon framboise
• 7 grams/ ½- Tablespoon cassis
• 1 Tablespoon Glucose
• 1 vanilla bean

White Chocolate Truffles:

Prepare your mise en place.

Mise en place

In a small saucepan pour the heavy cream.

Leave the heat off till all ingredients are added

Place the crème frâiche into the saucepan that has the cream.

The créme frâche will liquify in the infused cream mixture

Add the glucose.

You may substitute corn syrup, though the infusion will be sweeter and will result in a sweeter ganache

And  place ½ of a vanilla bean in the sauce pan.

Turn the heat on medium-low

Bring the infusion to a kiss of simmer. Remove from heat, allow to infuse for 10 minutes, remove and  scrape the vanilla bean, adding only the  seeds into the cream mixture (save the skins for another use). Bring cream to a simmer again, stirring frequently.

Infused cream coming back to a kiss of a boil

Pour the mixture over the chopped white chocolate in a medium bowl, allow the cream mixture sit for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir well with a whisk, until chocolate is smooth. If the chocolate does not melt smoothly, you can heat it for a few extra seconds in the microwave.

Smooth and shiny

Add the créme de cassis and créme de framboise.

It is amazing the flavor the liqueur adds

Whisk the liqueurs into the ganache till completely combined.

Start from the center and work out to the outer edge

Remember to remove the truffle with a light hand, they tend to crack easily (description above).

Want one?

Allow the truffles to come to room temperature before serving. The truffles should be stored in a plastic container in the refrigerator.

Viola!