Thursday, September 23, 2010

Grand Marnier Truffles


Here is the final instalment of the petits fours trilogy: Grand Marnier truffles

Chocolate truffles are such a classic sweet. And it wasn't until I first made them (at a chocolate class here) that I realised that they are called truffles because they resemble the buried-in-dirt, pig-snout-discovering, black gems (that cost a fortune).

These Grand Marnier truffles follow the standard formula: rich, dark chocolate that's made more exciting by a spoonful or two of alcohol. Or, you can use a tablespoon (or two) of ground coffee instead - just as delicious without the booze.  And with their not-quite-perfect oval shape, they do look a lot like truffles.

Grand Marnier Truffles
makes about 30

Ingredients
175ml (6 fl oz) double cream (45% fat)
300g dark chocolate, melted
30g unsalted butter, chopped
3 tblsp Grand Marnier
unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting

Method
1.  Bring the cream to a boil in a small saucepan.
2.  Melt the dark chocolate and mix with the cream.  The dark chocolate can be melted in the microwave oven, in bursts of 60 seconds, on low heat, stirring in between.
3.  Add the butter and stir until the butter melts. Stir in the Grand Marnier.
4.  Transfer mixture to a bowl and cover and refrigerate 3 hours or until firm.
5.  Remove the firmed chocolate from the refrigerator and roll teaspoons of the mixture into balls. Refrigerate balls until firm.
6.  Dip the balls into the sifted cocoa powder and refrigerate for an hour.

The truffles are best served at room temperature. They will keep for 10 days in the refrigerator.

Not being a *huge* drinker, a mini-bar bottle of liqueur was enough for this recipe

Rolling the chocolate into balls is a very messy business.
And no, you cannot just lick the chocolate off your hands...

The truffles were served in paper cases, for ease of use
.
And here is a final look at the petits fours lineup:

13 comments:

  1. I love homemade truffles. Grand marnier is the perfect booze with chocolate. Yum!

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  2. I think this is my favourite of the lot.

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  3. Beautiful truffles! I am very sure they taste wonderfully!

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  4. Mmm I love the citrus of grand marnier. I bet it's just delightful in these truffles!

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  5. Wow Bel, that top photo looks magazine beautiful. It's so pretty and the fonts you chose look so pro and elegant-nice! And, of course, now I want truffle candy, which is no bueno for my diet (smile)...!

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  6. I really e enjoyed your petit fours series Bel! Didn't realize you went to take some classes before. Am keen to take classes myself after reading your post on it.

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  7. I absolutely love truffles! These look beautiful!

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  8. They all look super good, but it was the Grand Marnier that caught my eye. These would make a great gift around the holidays. And the look pretty easy too!

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  9. Think I've made chocolate truffles...twice? Three times? And oh, how I got chocolate seemingly everywhere through melting, rolling and dipping!

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  10. Truffles are such a delicacy arent they?!?! I love making them. These look scrumptious!

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  11. grand marnier is really great I should use it more often !!pierre

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  12. A petit fours line up, impressive stuff! I bet they didn't stick around for long

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  13. Grand Marnier makes these a big win! Sad to see the end of the petit fours though, you outdid yourself with them :)

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