Makes about thirty 1 to 11/2-inch (2.5 to 3.8-cm) truffles

When you bite into one of these, it is so smooth that your tooth marks on the truffle are shiny, satiny smooth like dark glass. This is a slight variation of my truffle recipe in CookWise.



What This Recipe Shows
Egg yolks, nature's great emulsifiers, create sensual smoothness.

Egg yolks are diluted with cream and carefully heated to kill salmonella.

The 17 ounces (482 g) of chocolate in this recipe will require 81/2 tablespoons (128 ml) of watertype liquid to prevent seizing. This comes from the 5 yolks (between 2 and 3 tablespoons/30 and 45 ml), the butter (between 1 and 2 tablespoons/15 and 30 ml), the cream (about 3 tablespoons/45 ml), and the Chambord (less than 3 tablespoons/45 ml).

The chocolate is finely chopped for smooth, even melting.

Using nuts that are already roasted gives great flavor.


11 ounces (312 g) good-quality semisweet chocolate, such as Lindt, Tobler, or Guittard, or 4 king-size bars (2.6 oz/74 g each) Hershey's Special Dark, broken into 1-inch (2.5-cm) pieces
6 ounces (170 g) milk chocolate, broken into 1-inch (2.5-cm) pieces
5 tablespoons (2.5oz/71 g) unsalted butter
1/3 cup (79 ml) heavy cream
5 large egg yolks (3.25 oz/92 g) (see Note, page 104)
3 tablespoons (45 ml) Chambord liqueur
2 cups (9.3 oz/264 g) macadamia nuts, roasted and salted (those in jars are just fine)

1. Combine the semisweet and milk chocolates in a food processor with the steel blade and process until finely chopped. Set aside.

2. In an 8 or 9-inch (20 or 23-cm) skillet, heat the butter over low heat until just melted. Mix in the cream, and then the egg yolks, stirring constantly with a fork or spatula flat against the bottom of the pan. The split second that you start to feel thickening, remove the skillet from the heat and keep stirring. Stir in the Chambord. All at once, add the finely chopped chocolate. Stir constantly until the chocolate melts. Continue to stir for 1 minute.

3. When the chocolate is completely melted, place the pan in the refrigerator to cool.

4. While the chocolate is cooling, very finely chop the nuts, in 2 batches, in a food processor with the steel blade using quick on/offs. Set aside.

5. When the chocolate is partly firm, with a tiny ice cream scoop or a teaspoon, spoon up 1 to 11/2-inch (2.5 to 3.8-cm) balls and roll each in the chopped macadamia nuts. Keep the truffles covered and refrigerated. Serve in gold-fluted candy cups.


NOTE: Because of the threat of salmonella, the egg yolks and cream are heated together nearly to a boil to kill possible bacteria. If you use pasteurized yolks, or are confident about the safety of your eggs, you can simply mix together the yolks and cream and heat until just hot enough to melt the chocolate.

Excerpted from BakeWise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking With over 200 Magnificent Recipes. Copyright © 2008 by Shirley O. Corriher. All rights reserved.