1) I heated the heavy cream in the microwave. About 45 seconds to 1 min brought it to a boil. I added the flavoring and then let the cream mixture sit for 10-20 mins before I reheated it in the microwave and strained it over the finely chopped chocolate. The chocolate mostly melted from the heat of the cream, but I just put in in the microwave for 10 seconds if it was a little chunky. Then I poured it into another clean container, covered it with saran wrap and put it in the fridge.
2) Let the chocolate chill for 30 mins. If you have to leave it in the fridge all day as I did, do not, I repeat, do not try and hurry it up by putting it in the microwave. Chocolate goes from hard to melty mess in seconds so this doesn't work so well. Just wait. Eventually it will become pliable if left out at room temperature.
3) No need to use a melon baller. Though I did go out and buy a melon baller for this express purpose, I found using a spoon to scrape the chocolate worked much better. For me, the chocolate just got stuck in the melon baller and then was hard to get out. I scraped, formed the chocolate into a ball with my fingers, rolled it around in my palm, and then dusted it all in one go, because I didn't see the point in the extra step of putting the balls in the fridge. If you're going to be a perfectionist and/or you mind having melty chocolate on your palms maybe this works best, but I was not so picky.
4) To keep the chocolate from getting super melty in your palms run them under ice cold water and then work on forming the balls. This works, believe me! I got the tip directly from Jacques Torres via Epicurious.
5) Some recipes call for a coating of tempered chocolate on the truffles. I didn't do this. It seems like an extra super fussy step that doesn't seem to add a lot. But hey, if you want to do it that's your business.
6) Roll the balls pretty small. By doubling the Martha recipe, I made about 72 balls. This is less than the 84 I should have gotten from doubling the recipe and I thought I rolled them pretty small. According to D the secret of a good truffle is having one small enough to pop in your mouth whole.
Now to the flavor results. The winner was definitely the ancho chile and cinnamon. Cardamom and coffee came in second, and mint came in third. D and I really didn't care for the plain truffle. It had two strikes against it: 1) it just tasted like the original chocolate, which is pretty good, but why not just eat the chocolate bar which requires no work? 2) I rolled it in cocoa powder (now, we're not talking Valrhona cocoa powder, I just used Toll House) which was bitter and powdery and detracted from the pretty good chocolate ganache. Two strikes and you're out. When I make these for Christmas, we'll try a new flavor.
Ancho Chile and Cinnamon Results
Since I doubled the recipe but then quartered it so I could test out these three flavors (plus the plain control truffle), I was dealing with 1/4 c of heavy cream for each batch of chocolate (about 7 squares finely chopped). Now, anyone who has worked with dry chilies could have told me that if you add liquid to a dry chili, it will absorb all the liquid. So, I mistakenly pre-measured the 1/4 c of heavy cream and added it to the 1 cut up dried ancho chile and 4 cinnamon sticks and what did I get after heating them together (I just stuck the bowl in the microwave for 1 min) and letting it sit? About 1 tsp of cream. D had the brilliant idea that I need to measure the cream after mixing it with the chilies, instead of before, so I added another 1/4 c and then left it alone to soak. Then, I poured the cream through a sieve and measured out 1/4 c. In the end, the ancho gave off a nice sweet berrylike flavor, but not a lot of heat, so I added a 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper. I think next time I may save myself the trouble of the ancho chiles and just use 1/2 tsp cayenne and some ground cinnamon. I rolled this in some coarse sugar and a mix of cinnamon and chili powder. The sugar added a nice crunch to the yummy ganache. We love chilies and chocolate so it's not a surprise this was our favorite, but I have to admit it was very good!
Cardamom and Coffee Results
I used 20 cardamom pods ground with a mortar and pestle and 1 tbs instant Bustelo coffee (yes, we drink instant coffee occasionally, it's the only way to make cafe con leche with hot milk and sugar). This was so fragrant and delicious. D thought it could use even more cardamom so we'll try it with a bit more next time. I worry, though, because cardamom is not everyone's favorite and, like lavender, can start to taste soapy. I rolled these in ground almond.
Mint Results
I chopped up about a cup of fresh mint and put this in the hot heavy cream (again I just used the microwave to get the cream to a quick boil) and let it sit for about 10 mins. D didn't think it would work to flavor the cream but it really did! However, the flavor was one of mint leaves, not mint. So, this basically tasted like weed and chocolate. If you know what I'm talking about, then you know that this is not necessarily desirable. I think the green flavor is pretty interesting and eating them gave me the munchies, but next time I'm just going to use mint extract. I rolled these in powdered sugar. If I'm going to use mint extract, I'm inclined to roll the next batch in crushed candy canes for that extra crunch.
On Dasher, on Dancer, on Cardamom and Cinnamon, on Ancho, on Coffee, and Donner and Blitzen! You're the most favorite truffle of all!
