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Chocolate truffle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chocolate truffle
TypeConfection
Place of originFrance
Main ingredientsChocolate ganache, chocolate or cocoa powder

A chocolate truffle is a French chocolate confectionery[1] traditionally made with a chocolate ganache centre and coated in cocoa powder, coconut, or chopped nuts. A chocolate truffle is handrolled into a spherical or ball shape.[2] The name derives from the chocolate truffle's similarity in appearance to truffles, a tuber fungus.[2] It was created in the city of Chambéry by the pastry chef Louis Dufour.[3][4]

Varieties

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Chocolate truffles with peanut butter filling

Over the years, many varieties appeared under different names :

  • The French truffle, made with fresh cream and chocolate, and then rolled in cocoa or nut powder.[5]
  • The Swiss truffle, made by combining melted chocolate into a boiling mixture of dairy cream and butter, which is poured into molds to set before sprinkling with cocoa powder. Like the French truffles, these have a very short shelf life and must be consumed within a few days of making.[6]
  • The Spanish truffle, prepared with dark chocolate, condensed milk, rum (or any preferred liqueur), and chocolate sprinkles.[7]
  • The typical European truffle, made with syrup and a base of cocoa powder, milk powder, fats, and other such ingredients to create an oil-in-water type of emulsion.[8]
  • The American truffle, a half-oval-shaped, chocolate-coated truffle, a mixture of dark or milk chocolates with butterfat, and in some cases, hardened coconut oil. Joseph Schmidt, a San Francisco chocolatier and founder of Joseph Schmidt Confections, is credited with its creation in the mid-1980s.[9]

Other styles include:

  • The Belgian truffle or praline, made with dark or milk chocolate filled with ganache, buttercream, or nut pastes.[10]
  • The Californian truffle, a larger, lumpier version of the French truffle, first made by Alice Medrich in 1973 after she tasted truffles in France. She sold these larger truffles in a charcuterie in the Gourmet Ghetto neighborhood of Berkeley; then, in 1977, she began selling them in her own store, Cocolat, which soon expanded into a chain. Medrich is largely credited for starting the American craze for truffles.[11]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Chrystal, Paul (June 30, 2021). The History of Sweets. Pen and Sword History. ISBN 978-1-5267-7886-4.
  2. ^ a b "Truffle". chocolateglossary.com. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
  3. ^ Esser-Simons, Myriam (January 9, 2019). Balade culinaire à travers les siècles illustrée de nombreuses recettes - Tome VI (deuxième partie): Depuis l'Antiquité jusqu'à nos jours - Les entremets sucrés et les desserts (in French). Editions Edilivre. ISBN 978-2-414-30942-9.
  4. ^ Larousse Gastronomique: The World's Greatest Culinary Encyclopedia. Clarkson Potter. 2001.
  5. ^ Franklin, Rebecca. "Totally Indulgent Traditional French Dark Chocolate Truffles - Yum". The Spruce Eats. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  6. ^ Chocolate, Cocoa, and Confectionery: Science and Technology by Bernard W. Minifie (1999), page 545.
  7. ^ Kroeger, Tim (June 4, 2021). "Spanish Trufas de Chocolate Recipe (Chocolate Truffles)". SpanishFoodGuide.com. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  8. ^ "Chocolate Truffle - Homemade Chocolate Truffle Recipe". cult.fit. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  9. ^ "Sweet surrender", Los Angeles Times, February 8, 2006
  10. ^ "Pralines VS Truffles". Makingchocolates.wordpress.com. April 16, 2011. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
  11. ^ Barron, Cheryll Aimee (September 25, 1988). "Madam Cocolat". The New York Times.
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