In recent years, truffles have become a very popular confectionery product, especially in the United States. There are three main types of truffles: American, European and Swiss types.
American truffles are usually a mixture of dark or milk chocolate with milk fat and hardened coconut oil, and the texture is adjusted by changing the amount of fat added. The mixture must be subjected to some conditioning before molding, which may be rolling, cutting, or (in some cases) extrusion. Because such a truffle contains virtually no moisture, it has a long shelf life.
European truffles combine syrup with a chocolate base of similar ingredients (i.e., cocoa powder, milk powder, fats, sugars, glucose syrup, and invert sugar). The finished truffle is a butter-in-water emulsion with a syrup phase adjusted to obtain a water activity of 0.7 or lower and a syrup phase concentration of 75% or more. Invertase may be added for this adjustment. When these conditions are met and the fat is well emulsified, a long shelf life of the product is achieved.
Swiss truffles are prepared from cream, dark chocolate and butter. Cream and butter are brought to a boil and then melted chocolate is added in approximately the following proportion: 60% chocolate, 10% butter and 30% cream. Sometimes an egg yolk is added. The ingredients are mixed in a whipping machine and then poured into trays to set. The aeration in the whipping machine helps to give the very soft paste some stiffness after solidification. Truffles are often sprinkled with cocoa powder and refrigerated to make them easier to handle; they can be rolled into balls or shaped. They can also be formed into glazed candies or rolled into “vermicelli”. These truffles are delicious but have a shelf life of only a few days, although freezing can extend this to several weeks.
This recipe is suitable for confectionery with a short shelf life – for example, “chocolate covered strawberries”.
In Europe, especially in Germany, truffles invariably contain alcoholic beverages such as brandy, cointreau and rum, which greatly increases shelf life (alcohol is a good preservative). A typical recipe for truffles with condensed milk instead of cream is given below:
Dark or milk chocolate 500 g
Condensed milk with sugar 500 g
The chocolate is melted and the condensed milk is heated to about the same temperature. Mix them in a planetary whisk for 3 to 5 minutes and then add 75 g of Quantro while stirring slowly. The mixture is poured into a solidification tray and then molded or piped as described above.