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22
Marzipan Truffles
December 22, 2008 |
Every December I usually make dark chocolate espresso truffles to distribute to friends and family.
The first year I made truffles, I just dipped the ganache in melted chocolate. Delicious, but for the glossy exterior the chocolate needs to be tempered. It’s a pain in the butt, but totally worth it.
This year, I wasn’t planning to, but Shankari sent me a huge amount of dark and bittersweet Belgian chocolate. I considered the possibility of melting it down to make enough glossy paint for two good-sized rooms. My fav room in the house is chocolate brown and I’ve often wondered what it would be like if it was real dark chocolate you could lick off the walls. Next year, maybe.
So I made truffles again. I was toying with the idea of a nut or marzipan (almond paste) filling. Much like Ritter Sport Marzipan - creamy almond paste surrounded by dark chocolate. When I lived in England, these were my favourite (along with Thorntons Ginger Chocolate).
In the U.S., I was thrilled to find Ritter Sport Marzipan at Cost Plus. One bite and I was extremely disappointed - dry, mealy and nowhere close to the German original. I wanted to make my own version at home. I always find store-bought marzipan to be borderline rancid with a lot of sugar and other fillers. Even when you can actually taste the almond, it’s from the extract and bitter almond oil rather than the subtle flavour of the nut itself.
Marzipan usually has egg whites. I didn’t have any eggs at home. Last week, Jai made some fantastic kaju katli (cashew marzipan diamonds) with just two ingredients - cashews and sugar.
Taking my cue from him, I made the almond version with a few tweaks. I was about to set the chocolate on the double boiler for tempering, when I remembered a fabulous twist on truffles from Bri. She and Marc had made a mountain of truffles in over half a dozen flavours last year. The one I had bookmarked at the back of my mind was the Marzipan Snowballs. It’s the Ritter Sport Marzipan bar inside out.
I know, they don’t look like ‘truffles’ (the real fungus deal) unless they’re brown outside, but I’ll call them that anyway.
Bri (like moi) adored marzipan and this concept of enrobing ganache in it is sheer genius any way you look at it. I am a diehard chocoholic and have no complaints against the traditional all-chocolate truffles, but marzipan+chocolate is even better.
Plus, it avoids the tempering process, which is … well … Bri described it best as “trying not to lose my temper“. I’ve had a success rate of 60% when it comes to tempering chocolate, with a lot of spills and wastage. Putting the marzipan outside the chocolate instead of inside does away with the tempering process and is so easy.
And Bri’s simple tip of rolling them in granulated sugar makes them all festive and sparkly. These are the simplest truffles I’ve made and so so good.
MARZIPAN TRUFFLES
(Makes about 36 truffles about 1 inch in diameter)
Ganache
I had about a third of the ganache leftover after making these truffles. It stores well in the freezer.
If you have leftover ganache balls,
1. melt them in milk for hot chocolate (for hot chocolate or frosting, you can skip the butter in the recipe)
2. or roll them in cocoa powder or nuts and enjoy
3. coat them in tempered dark chocolate for traditional truffles
If you don’t want leftover ganache, you can try reducing the chocolate quantity to 6 oz and the other ingredients proportionately.
** If you find organic creme fraiche (French-style sour cream), use it instead of cream. It adds a nice twist and yields creamier truffles. I’ve made these with organic sour cream too.
8 oz good dark or bittersweet chocolate (at least 60% cacao. we used 72%)
1 cup minus two tablespoons organic heavy cream or creme fraiche
2 tbsp organic butter (salted or unsalted)
1 tbsp liqueur or flavouring of choice (I used Cognac)
a tiny pinch of salt (if the butter is unsalted)
1/2 tsp instant espresso powder
**else, use instant coffee powder
1 tbsp maple syrup (else, use honey)
Cut the chocolate fine with a serrated knife. If it’s not fine, it will not melt. And make sure it’s at room temperature.
If the butter is not at room temperature, cut it fine as well. Place everything except the cream in a wide bowl with a lid.
Heat the cream and just when it comes to a boil, pour it over the remaining ingredients. Stir it gently until everything melts and it’s smooth and glossy. Let it sit open until the steam evaporates and it’s warm, not hot. Then cover with cling wrap, put the lid, and refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours.
Scoop out with a melon baller or teaspoon or pipe on parchment into little kisses. Then flatten the top of the kisses gently. Place the parchment on a metal pan and freeze (there’s no need to cover) for an hour until they turn rock solid.
Vegan Marzipan
3 cups skinned, slivered almonds
2 cups sugar (we used organic raw cane sugar)
2/3 cup water
1 tsp orange blossom water (or rose water)
1/4 tsp natural almond extract
1 tbsp lemon juice
a tiny pinch of salt
about 1/4 cup extra almonds in case you need to grind up some more almond flour.
Keep a saucer (or two) in the freezer to chill.
Grind 3 cups of the almonds in a spice grinder in 1/4 cup batches at a time to a fine powder. It may turn a little pasty with the released oils, but that’s fine. Feel through the powder/paste with your fingers to make sure there are no pieces. If there are, remove the pieces and add them to the next grinding batch. Be patient ‘cos this takes a while.
Heat the water in a wide, heavy-bottomed pan. When it begins to simmer, add the sugar.
On medium heat, stir until all the sugar dissolves. Add the powdered almonds, orange blossom water/rose water, almond extract, salt and lemon juice.
Stir on medium heat and cook for a few minutes. Please do not leave the stove unattended, or it may burn. Cook it until it thickens and starts coming together into a paste.
Test a tiny bit on the chilled saucer. If it forms a soft ball that holds it shape, take it off the fire (about 240 F). Let it cool a bit uncovered and knead it into a soft, glossy ball.
Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for a couple of hours if you have the time. Else, let it cool completely. If it’s too loose, grind up the reserved almonds and add a couple tablespoons of the powder to the marzipan. Knead it in and leave it alone for half an hour. If it’s too dry, a bit of kneading will make it more pliable, or use a drop of water.
Assembling the Truffles
Marzipan
Ganache
granulated sugar (we used organic raw cane sugar)
Make sure the marzipan is at room temperature and soft at all times. If you think it’s drying up, knead it a bit until it becomes soft and glossy with slightly moist fingers. Else, the balls will crack while shaping.
Make sure the ganache balls are very cold. Else, they will ooze as you are folding the marzipan over them. If you sense them softening, stick them back in the freezer for five minutes.
Pinch out small pieces of the marzipan and roll them into balls slightly larger than the ganache balls. The softer and more pliable the marzipan is, the less you will need. So roll each ball between your palms until it is soft and shiny before spreading it with your fingertips into a round big enough to fit the chocolate centre.
Place the ganache ball in it, tuck up and seal the edges, and roll the whole thing between your palms until you have a smooth truffle.
Dip it in a bowl of sugar on all sides and place it in a box or mini-muffin paper liner. When they are all done, place them back in the refrigerator.
Marzipan Truffles is our entry for Food in Colour: White hosted by Lubna @ Yummy Food.
- bee
Almond, Chocolate, Coffee, creme fraiche, Dairy/Cheese, espresso, ganache, marzipan, truffles, vegan marzipan, vegetarian recipes
Painting the walls with real chocolate seems like a gr8 idea :)..This is comment that I cut & paste for all posts ok??
I will come help you paint Bee!!!
This should be illegal! They are so pretty. Those are bound to get created in my kitchen soon… looks amazing.
Painting the wall with chocolate… LOL. Sounds great to me!
LOl…painting walls with chocolate? Count me in if you need help. This recipe looks amazing. I have been disappointed with marzipan every time I’ve tried it but this home made version sounds absolutely delicious.
Thanks for the wishes…Happy 2009 to both of you. I wish you all the happiness!
That box looks lovely. What is it?
it’s a decoupaged wooden box.
Paintng the wals!! hehe! Good idea!
The truffles look lovely… & the box is very pretty too!
Hey Jai - bee ,Wishing you a Merry Christmas and A Very Happy New Year too!
Truffles looks temptingly mind blowing and so does the box !
And btw where is kajukatli?
Ps:Painting the walls with chocolate sounds funny ,but it will be scary for me here, coz b4 i get to lick that, ants will go berserk…wht say huh?
Wow painting the walls with choclate reminds me of chocolate factory movie.
Thank you for sending down these yummies to FIC.
Love the idea of painting the walls with chocolate! Atleast in my dreams, I am sure I can… These are so yummy, and I must admit I have never tasted them. They looks sinfully delicious, and I wish I’d get some as gift or something for X-Mas! Wonderful entry to the event. Wishing you a Merry X-Mas and a Happy New Year ahead:-)
Ooh, wonderful job you did there Bee! I kind of gagged when you described the marzipan as borderline rancid (I’ve never bought marzipan myself, it’s so expensive, though blanched almonds themselves are also quite expensive at about $3.50 per 100 grams). Thank you for the vegan marzipan recipe, yay! I ground some almonds for macarons recently– a fine-ish sieve also does a good job of speeding up the large-particle sorting process, though I still had to grind a fair few times for only a hundred grams
Fantastic! The marriage of choc and almonds can never get better! Send me a box bee or I will lick the screen. And mmm licking th choc covered walls is quiet a fabulous idea
Wishing you and Jai and peaceful and love filled year!
Painting the walls with chocolate! That gives me a lovely idea
For those of us who have adequately cold weather outside right now - we could line a window-pane with ganache, and then make patterns or write a wish with a chisel or a needle - an edible wish for the passerby
Who can resist those beauties? They look fantastic.
Wishing you Bee and Jai a joyful holiday season and a Very Happy New Year!
Are any of those truffles coming my way? ;-)..they look gorgeous.
Happy holidays to you and Jai….and have a wonderful New Year
How absolutely divine those truffles look… Lovely idea to use kaju/almond katli as a coating. Wishing you both a Fabulous New Year ahead!
You’re hillarious Bee! What a gorgeous looking box of truffles. I love the idea of almond-katli marzipan.
Happy Holidays to you and Jai!
I can’t handle any more sweets this year, but I am DEFINITELY making these next year. Consider this page bookmarked
Wow, these sound and look UNBELIEVABLE. Not sure I’d be up to the task of making my own marzipan but I make my own truffles all the time and wrapping them with marzipan is simply brilliant. Thanks for the recipe!
these look fantastic - love the idea of marzipan without egg white - have never thought about tempering chocolate but now you make me realise why! Hope both of you have a good Christmas
Dear Bee and Jai, wish you both a very happy holidays and happy new year. We wish all good things for you in the coming year.
Dear Bee, sorry I can’t paint the walls with chocolate..I willl lick it all off..lol
Love the truffles.
I love chocolate and marzipan (I prefer cashew though). Honestly, I wouldn’t mind being on that list of friends you made these for.:D
But I’ll have to settle for a visual treat, I guess.
Wishing you and Jai all the best this festive season and a very Happy New Year.
Believe me or not, last week while reading a recipe for marzipan, even I was thinking why do we need egg whites for almond paste and I was planning to try it in the following days. Now you’ve made my job easy Bee. Thanks and Happy Holidays to both of you.
Wonderful recipes for yummy marzipan treats… I will have to try to make some.
Happy holidays!
Warmest wishes,
Alexa
These look lovely, especially that you also have made your own marzipan. A very informative post for me. I had been wondering why my chocolate does not get this “glow”. I was thinking on the lines that it needs more fat (coconut or something), but now I know.
Ha ha ha! Painting the walls with chocolate. LOL! But, wow, you actually have a room with chocolate coloured walls. I would have loved to take a peep , how it looks.
Happy Holidays and a Happy new Year 2009!!
They look awesome Bee! How about sending some my way
Bookmarking this page. Happy Holidays!
I would be rather drinking than painting the wall. I love the dark choco but not great fan of marzipan, looks like snow balls… Happy Holidays to both of you
Bee and Jai, Happy Holidays and wishing you a very happy new year.
What a nice idea for using marzipan.. Sounds so easy.
Season Greetings!
Happy New Year, Bee & Jai!
Will paint with chocolate ….for chocolate.
Pretty box.
a lovely recipe! i love marzipan and together with chocolate disguised as truffles this is a dream! I look forward to your Monthly Mingle entry too!
that is gorgeous
Have a wonderful new year Bee and Jai, looking forward to many fabulous posts from you.
these looks great and so delicious , feel like eating it right now…
wish both of you a very happy new year 2009…….
hugs and smiles
i love marzipan.. that too vegan Wow! lovely recipe. will try out soon
I needed the vegan recipe for marzipan! Thanks!
They look so tempting…never thot this cud be so easy.Thanks for thr recipe!
Thesse look absolutely delicious! I love marzipan… I’m wondering if I can pull this off in time for the weekend.
Oh my god these look so delicious :-)!! I’ll have to try them even it seems a lot of work .. lol :-)! XOXO
I think truffles are the ideal party and gift food. They’re fun to make, pretty to decorate, and oh-so-satisfying to eat. White never looked so good Bee. Hope 2009 has started off brilliantly!
oh these look so divine…..wow yummy yummy yummy…. I love creating shapes with marzipan on cakes….
[...] Marzipan Truffles from Jugalbandi…don’t forget to check out their Click! Photo contest [...]
Made your marzipan, though haven’t got around to making the truffles yet. Maybe by Xmas.
Thanks.
[...] - Let the mixture cool until you are able to handle it, then simply roll them into balls and set them aside to cool. Roll them in sugar if you like for a sparkly finish. (Like our Marzipan Truffles) [...]
Love your vegan marzipan recipe. Tried it and got to admit - it tastes delicious! Gonna use it in a vegan Christmas fruit cake. Salut!