Earl Grey Chocolate Truffles

By The Canadian Living Test Kitchen

26 people added this to their Recipe Box

This recipe makes 36 servings

Nutritional Info
Per truffle: about	-
cal	105105 cal
pro	1 g1g pro
total fat	8 g8g total fat
sat. fat	5 g5g sat. fat
carb	9 g9g carb
fibre	1 g1g fibre
chol	11 mg11mg chol
sodium	10 mg10mg sodium
% RDI:	-
calcium	22 calcium
iron	22 iron
vit A	33 vit A

Infusing cream with loose tea leaves gives these ultra chocolates a subtle floral flavour.

Ingredients

2/3 cup whipping cream 2/3 2/3cup cupwhipping cream
2 tsp Earl Grey loose tea 2 2tsp tspEarl Grey loose tea
1 strip orange rind 1 1strip orange rind
1/4 cup unsalted butter , cubed1/4 1/4cup cupunsalted butter, cubed
8 8oz ozgood-quality milk chocolate, (such as Lindt) finely chopped
Coating:
6 6oz ozgood-quality milk chocolate, chopped
6 6oz ozgood-quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
Piping:
1 1oz ozgood-quality bittersweet chocolate or milk chocolate or white chocolate, melted

Preparation

1. In saucepan, heat cream over medium heat until bubbles form around edge; remove from heat. Stir in tea and orange strip; cover and let steep for 1 hour.

Strain though cheesecloth-lined sieve into clean saucepan. Add butter; heat until melted and bubbles form around edge.

2. Place chocolate in heatproof bowl. Pour in hot cream mixture; whisk until smooth. Cover and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

Using melon baller or teaspoon, drop by heaping 1 tsp (5 mL) onto 2 waxed paper–lined baking sheets to make 36 pieces. Gently roll each to round off. Freeze until hard, about 1 hour. If desired, reroll to smooth edges. Return to freezer. (Make-ahead: Cover and freeze for up to 24 hours.)

3. Coating: In heatproof bowl over saucepan of hot (not boiling) water, melt milk and bittersweet chocolates, stirring, until instant read thermometer reaches 115°F (46°C).

Place bowl in larger bowl of cold water, being careful not to get water in chocolate. Stir until temperature falls to 80°F (27°C).

4. Return bowl over hot water or place on heating pad; stir until temperature just reaches 88°F (31°C). Hold between 88° and 92°F (31° and 33°C).

Using candy fork or 2 forks, dip each truffle centre into chocolate, tapping forks on edge of bowl to remove excess. Place on waxed paper–lined baking sheet. Refrigerate until coating is hardened, about 2 hours.

5. Piping: Make paper cone for piping. Put chocolate in cone. Pipe monogram or swirl onto top of each truffle. Refrigerate until hardened, about 30 minutes. (Make-ahead: Layer between waxed paper in airtight container and refrigerate for up to 1 week.) Place in paper candy cups.

Additional information : Variation
Chai Tea Truffles: Replace Earl Grey with Darjeeling or Assam tea. Add ginger slice; 1 tsp (5 mL) each aniseed and cloves; 1/2 tsp (2 mL) black peppercorns; and half cinnamon stick, broken, to hot cream steeping.

Omit piping. Garnish just-dipped chocolate with slices of candied orange peel.

Tip: Because you need enough chocolate for dipping and to keep it warm enough, you'll have some left over. Just let it harden to store and reuse another time.

Source : Canadian Living Magazine: June 2008