Homemade Chocolates and Fudgey Cognac Truffles

So this is kind of funny . . .

And yes, this is my FOURTH dessert post on my blog. What is even happening right now. Alert the authorities.

 

So a couple of weeks ago we were exchanging Christmas wish lists with ze family, and my Father-in-law made this hilaaaarious suggestion of bringing down some fancy chocolates from this local place that everyone in the universe knows and loves whatever whatever.

Which is great! On paper.

 

Me, “OH HE THINKS I CAN’T MAKE CHOCOLATE?”

Aaron, “Um, what? No I don’t think he’s thinking that at all. It was just a suggestion.”

 

Me, “WHAT, IS THIS BLOG CALLED BEV COOKS EVERYTHING BUT CHOCOLATE DOT COM OR SOMETHIN’?”

Him, “Whoa. Hey, calm down. I’m sure you can make chocolate. He was just throwing it out there as something easy and fun for everyone. That’s it.”

 

Me, “YOU’RE TELLING ME . . . THAT THIS WISE GUY THINKS I’M INCAPABLE OF MAKING ITTY BITTY BITES OF CHOCOLATE HAPPINESS FOR NIBBLING ENJOYMENT?”

Aaron, “Why are you chest butting me right now? And is that seriously your best Jersey accent?”

 

Me, “I’M GOING TO MAKE HIM AN OFFER HE CAN’T REFUSE!”

Aaron, “What does that even mean?”

Me, “I have no idea.”

 

Aaaaaand this is what happens when you’re not a professional. I kind of like it though. It works for my life.

And p.s. That arm does not belong to me. Thank you.

I think what I’m trying to tell you is that we made chocolates. Like, a lot of them. Some were spiced with cayenne, some were filled with pistachios, some had flavored salts in them, some were T-R-U-F-F-L-E-S.

Wait, I’m not done. W-I-T-H-C-O-G-N-A-C-I-N-T-H-E-M.

Wait I’m still not done. F-O-R-T-H-E-R-E-A-L.

 

Bad news bears.

Also known as OH MY DEAR LORD.

The clock starts now.

Homemade Chocolates and Chocolate Ganache Truffles:

What it took for like 5 hundred billion:

* 20 oz chocolate (roughly 8 bars) – you can mix and match darknesses to your liking
* 1 tsp cayenne
* 3/4 cup heavy cream
* flavored salts (I used chile and rosemary)
* roughly 25 shelled pistachios (or whatever nut you prefer)
* 1 shot cognac (or whatever liquor you dig)
* about a cup of cocoa powder

tools:

* any fun candy molds you can find
* pastry bag

Okay, give all that chocolate a good chop. And I mean good. Divide among 4 different bowls with 1 1/2 cup chopped chocolate in each bowl.

Now, you can melt the chocolate two different ways. You can pour it into a glass measuring cup and melt it in the microwave for about a minute. Maybe a minute and a half. Stir to fully melt. OR, you could bring a little bit of water to a light simmer in a large pot with a glass bowl in it. Faux double boiler, yo. Simply pour the chopped chocolate into the bowl and stir until it melts. That’s that for the chocolate.

Now, let’s flavor!

For the ganache truffles, simply pour the cognac into the cream and heat it to the point where it’s right shy of a simmer. Pour the cream into the melted chocolate and whisk to combine. Place some parchment paper in a rimmed baking sheet and pour the creamy chocolate into the sheet. Tilt the sheet so the chocolate evenly spreads out. Stick it in the freezer for about 20 minutes.

When you’re ready to make the truffles, pour the cocoa powder into a large bowl. Take a pizza cutter and cut the cooled ganache into small squares. Get your hands good and dusty with the powder, then pull each square from the sheet and quickly quickly roll it into a small ball. That stuff melts FAST, dudes. Toss the ball around in the cocoa powder and set aside. Keep your hands good and dusty (trust me) and repeat with the remaining truffles. Stick tray back into the freezer until you’re ready to eat!

For the spicy chocolates, melt the chocolate (as mentioned above), and stir the cayenne pepper right into the melted chocolate. Then pour it into the pastry bag. Carefully squeeze out the chocolate into the mold of your choice. When complete, slide the mold tray into the fridge for quicker hardening. This should take about 15 minutes.

For the salted chocolates, melt the chocolate like mentionnnnned above. Okay, now one thing I learned through this experiment: next time I’ll go ahead and squeeze the chocolate into the molds, and THEN lightly sprinkle the tops with the salt. But in my photos I placed a little salt in the bottom of the molds and squeezed the chocolate on top. The salts pretty much disappeared. It will be a nice surprise when you bite into it, but if you want to SEE the salts, just sprinkle them on top. Sweet. And mean salty.

For the pistachio-filled chocolate, melllllt the choooooocollaaa, yeah, you know. Squeeze just a LEETLE bit of chocolate in the bottom of each mold. Nestle a pistachio down in the chocolate, and then squeeze a little more on top. Done. Chill. Eat.

Christmas gifts? I think so. Selfie mouth gift? Duh.

, , , , , , , ,

26 Responses to Homemade Chocolates and Fudgey Cognac Truffles

  1. Krissy @ Make it Naked December 14, 2012 at 9:54 am #
    Let's take bets on how many of those I can eat in 1 minute.
  2. Cassie | Bake Your Day December 14, 2012 at 10:32 am #
    You are on a roll with these desserts. Looks like you guys had fun!
  3. Shelly December 14, 2012 at 10:32 am #
    Those loot very yummy! If you want to calm down the melted chocolate mess you can buy squeeze bottles... they work wonders for me when I bake!
  4. Andrea @ Barbells and Buttercream December 14, 2012 at 10:34 am #
    You CRACK me up!!! I died when I read "those arms are not mine," and THEN saw the picture! And any arms covered in chocolate are FINE by me! They look delicious...the chocolates...not the arms.
  5. Jessica December 14, 2012 at 10:42 am #
    I'm still so pissed you didn't bring me any. ... kidding. sort of.
  6. Babs December 14, 2012 at 10:56 am #
    Those are some grand looking truffles you have made. I love making chocolate candies but I always seem to have trouble with tribbles, oops, truffles. Whoa! I just dated myself.
  7. Heather @ Heather's Dish December 14, 2012 at 10:58 am #
    5 hundred billion chocolate sounds like a gross understatement for what I'm requiring these days...maybe I'll double it ;)
  8. Stephanie @ Girl Versus Dough December 14, 2012 at 11:39 am #
    This is AMAZEBALLS. I'm so impressed! And also suddenly super hungry for chocolate.
  9. Bernadette @ Now Stir It Ip December 14, 2012 at 11:49 am #
    These look great. Truffles are on my list, but these look awesome.
  10. Michelle December 14, 2012 at 12:06 pm #
    AHMAZING!
  11. Averie @ Averie Cooks December 14, 2012 at 12:21 pm #
    Girl they look amazing. Between your truffles with cognac and Jessica's today - I could easily get drunk on chocolate. Love your dessert posts!!!!!
  12. Kelly December 14, 2012 at 12:23 pm #
    Umm yes please!!! You had me at cognac... :)
  13. Elizabeth@ Food Ramblings December 14, 2012 at 12:34 pm #
    amazing!! i want to reach my hand through the screen!
  14. Christina December 14, 2012 at 2:35 pm #
    I've made truffles and let me tell you missy, those are some dang good LOOKING truffles. And that is hard to do, especially on batch number 82,783, when it's midnight and you think if you have to look at chocolate for one more second you will run out into on-coming traffic. Nicely done, nicely done.
  15. Tracey @ Cooking with Love December 14, 2012 at 5:13 pm #
    I was looking at truffles on the Harry and David website today and I am thinking (no..... I know!)yours look a bazillion times more scrumptious! YUM! :)
  16. Katie @ Blonde Ambition December 14, 2012 at 7:32 pm #
    Ohhhhhh these look so good I need a chocolate mold immediately!!!
  17. Stephanie @ Eat. Drink. Love. December 15, 2012 at 12:49 am #
    Gurrrrrllll, keep the desserts coming! These are all amaze-balls!
  18. marla December 15, 2012 at 9:59 am #
    NICE!!! Love the blissed out chocolate.
  19. Vita @ Juicer Depot December 15, 2012 at 10:47 am #
    Bev, you seriously make me laugh. I love reading your blogs. If I were making this recipe I would be swimming in all that melted chocolate. Looks amazing.
  20. Sylvie @ Gourmande in the Kitchen December 15, 2012 at 6:34 pm #
    Now see that's what heaven looks like in my mind.
  21. Georgia @ The Comfort of Cooking December 16, 2012 at 11:38 am #
    Liquor, chocolate and cayenne? SIGN ME UP.
  22. DessertForTwo December 16, 2012 at 5:05 pm #
    I love when you get your sugar on :)
  23. Marina {YummyMummyKitchen.com} December 16, 2012 at 8:23 pm #
    Um, those are insane. In an amazing delicious way. And I'm glad to know that arm does not belong to you ;)
  24. Anna @ Crunchy Creamy Sweet December 17, 2012 at 10:38 am #
    OMG, it's like a candy store in your house! And a gourmet one at that! LOVE these truffles, Bev!
  25. Heather Christo December 17, 2012 at 10:52 am #
    Before I even opened this post, I thought: MORE DESSERTS FROM BEV?! And of course, like everything else you make they are inventive and beautiful (and VERY professional looking!)

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Create an Internationally Inspired New Years Party-France - TINSELBOX - July 17, 2016 […] Chocolate Cognac Truffles – BevCooks.com […]

Leave a Reply