Chocolate Class: Coffee Truffles

I'm a bit behind. Life has been crazy busy, haven't had a spare moment to blog.

In Wednesday's class, we learned how to make hand rolled truffles. The chocolate truffle is named after the fungus because of it's irregular roundish shape.

The simplest and traditional truffle is a thick ganache, rolled into a ball, and covered with a coat of tempered chocolate. The truffles we made are flavored with coffee, and garnished with some crushed coffee bean.

The procedure is fairly straight forward. The ganache is made by pouring hot cream over finely chopped chocolate, letting the heat of the cream melt the chocolate. That is whisked smooth, then a little butter is whisked in. The ganache needs to cool, and allow the fats to crystallize. That can be done by allowing the ganache to sit at room temperature for four to eight hours. The ganache can be cooled faster by tabling on marble in the manner of tempering chocolate. Place the thickened ganache into a piping bag with a large straight tip. Use the bag to pipe balls of chocolate about the diameter of a quarter onto parchment paper. Let solidify until stiff but moldable. This can be sped up by placing it is a refrigerator for a few minutes. While wearing food handlers gloves, roll the ganache pieces between your hands to make them closer to ball shaped. Do this quickly, the heat of your hands will melt, and possibly even break, the ganache. Have a towel handy to wipe your hands between truffles.

Once rounded, the tr8uffles can be let to stiffen completely. The truffles are finished by dipping twice in tempered chocolate. The procedure is reminiscent of the proper method of breading. One hand is kept clean, the other gets messy. You definitely want gloves for this.

With the dipping hand, pick up a little liquid tempered chocolate with the tips of the fingers. With the clean hand, pick up a truffle, and drop it into the dipping hand. Rub truffle with a thin coat of chocolate. Wipe any excess chocolate on the dipping hand off on the side of the bowl of chocolate, then carefully place the dipped truffle on clean parchment paper. Repeat for the rest of the chocolates. Once the first coat is set, repeat for a second coat. While second coat is still liquid, garnish with a few grains of crushed coffee bean.

All recipes courtesy of Chef James Foran.

Coffee Truffles

8 1.2 oz. heavy cream
1 1/2 Tbsp. fresh ground coffee beans
1 1/2 oz. corn syrup
1 oz. salted butter (softened)
14 oz. + 2 lbs. bittersweet chocolate
1/4 cup crushed roasted coffee beans

Finely chop 14 oz. chocolate, and place in a metal bowl.

Combine cream, coffee, and corn syrup in a sauce pan over medium  heat. Bring just to a boil. Remove from heat, let stand five minutes.

Return to heat, bring back to a boil. Remove from heat, strain mixture over chocolate. Cover chocolate, let stand for two minutes. Uncover, gently whisk until well combined. Gently whisk in butter until smooth. Allow to cool until thickened but pipeable.

Place ganache into a piping bag with a large straight tip. Pipe mounds of chocolate about the diameter of a quarter onto parchment paper. Let crystallize to stiff but moldable.

Wearing gloves, roll truffles quickly until round. Place on clean parchment paper. Allow to solidify completely.

Temper 2 lbs. of chocolate. Lightly coat truffles with chocolate, place on clean parchment paper to harden.

When hard, add a second coat of chocolate of tempered chocolate.  While second coat is still wet, garnish with a pinch of crushed coffee beans.

Happy eating!

Pastry Class: Coffee Panna Cotta, Chocolate Mousse, Chocolate Souffle

Had my penultimate pastry lab today. The instructor realized we'd lost a class session due to the Presidents' Day holiday, and he hadn't scheduled enough time for the final. So, we had to condense three labs into two. Part of that was doing the creme brulee along with the tarts last class. We had to skip doing the bread pudding. That is fine with me, as it is one of my go-to desserts.

The other item that got moved was the panna cotta, which was added to today's agenda. We ended up making three very rich desserts. In addition to the panna cotta, we made a chocolate mousse, and a chocolate souffle. To garnish all these we made a raspberry sauce, and pecan brittle.

Panna cotta means 'cooked cream' in Italian. It is primarily milk or cream, and sugar. It uses gelatin to thicken.

Gelatin comes as a sheet, or as a powder. In either form, it must be bloomed before use. To bloom means to soak in ice water for about five minutes.

This panna cotta is flavored with mocha extract and vanilla bean, and is garnished with a raspberry sauce.

Mousse is French for 'frothy foam'. dessert mousses generally have whipped eggs or whipped cream to lighten them. This mousse has both.

This mousse uses sugar cooked to the soft ball stage (240 F) to cook the egg enough to be safe. It is flavored with dark chocolate, and garnished with a quenelle of whipped cream and minced pecan brittle.

This is a very simple dessert. It can be served by itself, or as one layer among many in a parfait. Panna cotta can also be used in that way.

The final dessert we made was a chocolate souffle. The name souffle comes from the French verb for 'to puff up'. A souffle has two components, a base that provides flavor, and whipped egg whites that provide leavening.

When the souffle is baked, the bubbles in the whipped whites expand, puffing up.

Souffles need to be served immediately. If allowed to cool, they will collapse.

We split this one open, and poured raspberry sauce inside.

Souffles are not that difficult. They do require an attention to detail. They are more of a logistics issue, in that they must be served right as they are made. They can't be made in advance.

As always, all recipes are courtesy Chef James Foran.

Recipes

Coffee Panna Cotta

11 oz by vol. cream
5 oz by vol. milk
1 3/4 oz by wt. sugar
1/2 vanilla bean
2 tsp. mocha extract
pinch salt
2 sheets gelatin (or 1 tsp. dry gelatin)

Soak gelatin in ice water for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Cut vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Scrape out seeds. In a saucepan, combine cream, milk, sugar, extract, vanilla bean (seeds and pod), and salt. Heat over medium heat until it almost reaches a simmer. Stir in gelatin. Strain into a metal bowl.

Place bowl in an ice bath. Stir frequently, scraping down sides and bottom. When thickened, pour into ramekins. Chill until set, about two hours.

Chocolate Mousse

8 oz by vol. cream, whipped to very soft peaks
6 oz by wt. dark chocolate, melted
1 egg
3 egg yolks
2 1/4 oz by wt. sugar
1 oz by vol. water

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip egg and yolks on high until they reach maximum volume.

In a small pan, combine sugar and water. Cook to 240 F.

Turn mixer to low speed. Pour hot sugar carefully in a steady stream down the inside of the mixer bowl. Once all the sugar is added, turn mixer on high and whip until egg mixture reaches room temperature. Turn off mixer, and remove bowl. Add cream and chocolate. Carefully fold until thoroughly mixed.

Pipe mousse into molds or cups. Cover with plastic wrap and chill.

Chocolate Souffle

7 oz by wt. bittersweet chocolate
1 1/2 oz by wt. unsalted butter
1 Tbsp. sour cream
4 egg yolks at room temperature
7 egg whites at room temperature
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
2.3 oz by wt. sugar
pinch salt

Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

chill ramekins, and generously brush with soft butter. Coat inside with sugar. tapping out excess. Keep refrigerated until needed.

Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler. Remove from heat, stir in sour cream. Set aside to cool slightly.

Whisk egg yolks into chocolate.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar and whisk to soft peaks. Gradually add sugar and salt, then mix on high speed to stiff peaks. Fold 1/4 of egg whites into chocolate to lighten, then fold in remaining whites.

Pipe into ramekins. Bake until puffed. Serve immediately with raspberry sauce.

Raspberry Sauce

8 oz by wt. raspberries
2 oz by wt. sugar
1 tsp. lemon juice

In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients. Bring to boil, simmer for 3 - 4 minutes. Puree and strain.

Pecan Brittle

6 oz. by wt. sugar
2 oz. by vol. water
1 oz. by vol corn syrup
1 1/2 oz. by wt. butter
3 oz. by wt. toasted pecans, roughly chopped
1/2 tsp. salt

In a small saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, and water. Cook over medium heat until sugar becomes a medium amber color. Carefully whisk in butter and salt. Remove from heat, stir in nuts. Place between two silicon baking mats, and roll out thin. Allow to cool.

Happy eating!

Pan Asian Dinner

I have a couple of dear friends that have been very enthusiastically supporting my decision to go pro as a cook. Back in September I had the opportunity to cook for them, and they wanted to have me cook for them again this spring.

Since I did Middle Eastern last time, I wanted to go in a different direction. I decided to go Asian. There is so much variety to Asian cuisines. I ended up going Pan-Asian, with a Vietnamese style appetizer, Chinese inspired main dish, and a combination Thai/Chinese dessert.

For the appetizer, I made Vietnamese style spring rolls. These are great, as they are not fried, and are all about fresh greens. There were two dipping sauces to go with the rolls. One was hoisin with peanuts, and the other was a complex combination of fish sauce, lime, garlic, and sweet chili sauce. I think these were a great appetizer. The wrappers were rice paper, and in them I put shrimp, rice vermicelli, butter lettuce, mint, and basil. I worked from this recipe at allrecipes.com.

For the main dish, I made a beef stir fry with carrots, crimini mushrooms, and red, yellow, and orange peppers. My stir fry sauce is not traditional, as far as I know. I make a sauce of date vinegar and sweet soy sauce, with a little ginger and black pepper. I use a little corn starch to help the sauce thicken.

Somehow rice got left off my packing list, and my friends didn't have rice, either. I ended up using some Israeli couscous. It worked just fine. Not surprising, as it was created as a rice substitute.

For dessert, I really wanted to make something special. I wanted to have lots of contrasts; taste, texture, and temperature. I made a cold Thai jelly, with layers of coconut and coffee flavors. The jelly is based on this recipe. The jellies use agar agar as the jelling agent. Agar agar is a derivative of red seaweed.

To contrast, I made a Chinese eight treasures rice pudding, served warm. It consists of glutinous rice, coated with a mix of chestnuts, almonds walnuts, dried pineapple, dried papaya, and dried mango There is a thin layer of sweet red bean paste in the middle. I adapted this recipe for my pudding. The original called for lard. I substituted vegetable shortening, which worked just fine.

To tie everything together, I made a mango - lime sauce.As it turned out, the dessert is vegan.

I don't think the photo does it justice. I think it came out really pretty. I was really proud of the whole thing.

Recipes

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

Rolls
6 6.25 inch rice wrappers
6 large cooked shrimp, halved lengthwise
2 oz. rice vermicelli
2 Tbsp. chiffonade of basil
2 Tbsp. chiffonade of mint
1/2 cup chopped butter lettuce

Dipping Sauces
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 Tbsp. finely chopped peanuts

1 Tbsp. fish sauce
2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp. sweet chili sauce
2 tsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. water
1 tsp. minced garlic

Whisk together hoisin sauce and peanuts. Set aside. Whisk together fish sauce, lime juice, chili sauce, sugar, water, and garlic. Set aside.

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil, add rice noodles, turn down to a simmer. Cook until al dente, then drain and rinse.

To construct a roll, dip a wrapper in a bowl of warm water for about 1 second. Place a small bundle of vermicelli in the center of the wrapper. Place two halves of shrimp on top of noodles. Sprinkle liberally with mint and basil. Add shredded lettuce. Fold ends of wrapper in. Fold one side of wrapper over top of shrimp, then roll tightly over other side.

Serve with dipping sauces.

Beef, Mushroom, and Peppers Stir Fry

1 lb. London broil, sliced thin
1 1/2 cups diagonally sliced carrots
1 1/2 cups mixed pepper strips
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced crimini mushrooms
1/4 cup date vinegar
1/4 cup sweet soy sauce
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
2Tbsp. sesame oil

In a bowl, whisk together vinegar, soy, ginger, pepper, and cornstarch. Set aside.

Heat a wok over high heat. Add oil, swirl to coat. Add beef strips, stirring constantly. Cook until about 3/4 the way to medium rare. Remove beef. Add carrots. Cook, stirring rapidly, for about two minutes. Add peppers. Cook, stirring constantly, for another two minutes. Add mushrooms and return beef to pan. Cook until mushrooms are done. Add sauce, stirring to coat all other ingredients. Once sauce starts to thicken, remove from heat. Serve over rice or noodles.

Layered Coconut and Coffee Jellies

Coffee Jelly
1 Tbsp. instant espresso
2 Tbsp. warm water
2 Tbsp. agar agar powder
3 cups water
7 oz by wt.  sugar

Coconut Jelly
1 Tbsp. agar agar powder
1 cup water
1 1/2 cups coconut cream
2 oz by wt. sugar
1 tsp. salt

To make coffee jelly
In a small bowl, dissolve espresso powder in warm water. Set aside.

Place water and agar agar powder in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Heat until agar agar completely dissolves. Add sugar, cook until dissolved. Remove from heat, stir in coffee. Transfer to a metal bowl in a hot water bath to keep liquid while working.

To make coconut jelly
In a small saucepan over medium low heat, dissolve agar agar powder in water. Add coconut cream, sugar, and salt, cook until sugar is dissolved. Transfer to a metal bowl in a hot water bath to keep liquid while working.



To make jellies
Into silicon cupcake molds, place 2 tablespoons of coconut liquid in eight molds, and 2 tablespoons of coffee liquid into eight molds. Let cool and harden, about 5 minutes.

Alternate coffee and coconut layers, allowing to firm up after each new layer. Molds should hold about 6 tablespoons (3 layers).

Refrigerate until needed, unmold to serve.

Eight Treasures Pudding

8 oz by wt. glutinous rice
1 oz by wt. vegetable shortening
1 oz by wt. sugar
2 Tbsp. finely diced chestnuts
2 Tbsp. finely diced blanched almonds
2 Tbsp. finely diced walnuts
2 Tbsp. finely diced dried papaya
2 Tbsp. finely diced dried mango
2 Tbsp. finely diced dried pineapple
1/3 cup sweet red bean paste

In a small bowl, mix together fruits and nuts. Set aside.

Under running water, rinse rice. Place in a small saucepan, and add twice the volume of water. Bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer, and cook for twelve minutes. Rice will absorb the water, and become thick and sticky. Remove from heat, stir in 1/2 oz. shortening and sugar.

Take six ramekins. Using remaining shortening, apply a thick layer of shortening to the insides of the ramekins. Press fruit and nut mixture into the shortening, making sure inner surface is covered. Shake out any excess fruit and nut mixture.

Fill each ramekin half full with rice. Spread a thin layer of bean paste on top. If bean paste is too thick to spread easily, heat in microwave ten to twenty seconds.

Finish filling each ramekin. Cover ramekins with aluminum foil. Refrigerate until ready to steam.

To steam, place a couple of inches of water in the bottom of a steamer. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer. place rack containing ramekins into steamer, cover. Let steam for thirty minutes.

Remove from steamer. Remove foil. Loosen puddings by running a butter knife or small spatula around inside of ramekin. Turn upside down onto plate to unmold.

Mango - Lime Sauce

1 ripe mango, peeled, seeded, and diced
juice of 1/2 lime
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. chili powder
2 Tbsp. water
1 Tbsp. sugar
pinch kosher salt

In a small saucepan over medium heat, simmer diced mango and water until mango is tender. Using an immersion blender, puree mango. Stir in spices, sugar, and salt.  Cook until sugar is dissolved.

Happy Eating!