Empower Network

Yesterday I attended a workshop to learn how to make truffels – with Swiss chocolate of course.

We were 10 girls and 2 boys and we had 5 stations. Which means 5 different truffel recipes. Yes, unfortunately, everybody only got to do one kind. I can tell you, it’s really very complicated. The making of truffels. And from now on, I don’t mind paying the prices.

Just to give you an example

For instance, you melt chocolate in a little pot in a little pan with a little water. If any water gets into the chocolate you can throw it away. Start new with a new dry pot.

Now, you gotta melt it, it’s not supposed to go over 40°C (104) if it goes over, you can start anew. After it has melted it needs to cool down to 27°C (80.6), this can be achieved by stiring or putting it in the fridge or freezer, not too long though. It should not go below that. More stirring…

Ok, now it’s around 27°C and you put it on the stove again in your little pan with the little water and heat it up again to 31-32°C (87.8 – 89.6). Now, that’s really tricky because first nothing happens and suddenly your thermometer goes up, TAKE IT OFF THE STOVE!!

We even used another pot to take the melted chocolate pot off the hot water pan. And it is not to go over 32°C! If it does and it happens faster than you think, it’s got to cool down again.

Up and down and up and down….

The teacher did explain why you have to do it like that but I cannot remember. Maybe it’s somewhere in the paper and recipe she gave us. I think it had to do with the chocolate becoming shiny… Doesn’t really matter, does it?

A trick we used

After we did that game a couple of times we got tired of it and would just remove the thermometer when it got to 32°C and said loud so everybody could here: we got 32°C!

We figured since our Truffels were going to get covered in chocolate powered it certainly didn’t matter if they were shiny, and none of us could remember why else we had to do the up and down game.

Writing this I hit my head on the keyboard because I didn’t take any pictures or shot a bit of video ;-(

All I have is this:

It was a lot of fun and we were a fun group. And I was almost covered with chocolate from head to toe. Nope, no picture either *phew*

Ate them all

When I got, then while I was trying to take a photo of the Truffels, my cat Sina came along and ate them all:

No, of course she didn’t. I was faster than her and put them way up so she couldn’t reach!

Of course I had to eat… ehrm… test some yesterday while watching Mrs Mircle. And I can tell you they are YUMMY!!

HOLD ME BACK! Don’t eat them all tonight my mate said.

But I have to, those are day-truffels, which means they only last day.

It turns out they seem to be 2-day truffels

Will I make some more?

Should I – eventually – have enough courage to do some myself, by my own, without an expert I can call on… I’ll tell you. And if you’re good I might send you some. Leave a comment or share