Truffles are pretty great: gooey fat-softened flavored chocolate
inside, protected by a shell of hard chocolate so you don't get your
fingers messy. Sometimes I'll make them with the kids:
This is a good amount of work: you need to prepare the filling, chill,
shape little spheres, chill, and then dip them. Worth it for making
presents or sharing, but not if I'm making something for myself.
Instead I just make a jar of ganache:
I'll eat it with a spoon over a week or two, 1-3oz after lunch each
day.
At it's simplest it's chocolate and fat. I normally use Callebaut
semi-sweet which I can get in bulk for $3.42/lb ($0.21/oz):
I'll usually use butter and cream, though coconut cream works well if
you want to make it vegan. Often I'll mix in some cocoa powder to
make it a bit darker. Sometimes I'll leave it unflavored, other times
I'll add some extracts (vanilla, almond, mint) or frozen fruit
(usually raspberries). Peanut butter also works well, which gives you
the flavor and means you don't need a different source of fat. It's
reasonably shelf-stable: even with the cream it's not going to go bad
before I finish a jar of it.
I generally mix it not to be very sweet: if it's just right I enjoy a
savoring some but not so much
that I keep eating past what I'll feel good about.
Truffles are pretty great: gooey fat-softened flavored chocolate inside, protected by a shell of hard chocolate so you don't get your fingers messy. Sometimes I'll make them with the kids:
This is a good amount of work: you need to prepare the filling, chill, shape little spheres, chill, and then dip them. Worth it for making presents or sharing, but not if I'm making something for myself. Instead I just make a jar of ganache:
I'll eat it with a spoon over a week or two, 1-3oz after lunch each day.
At it's simplest it's chocolate and fat. I normally use Callebaut semi-sweet which I can get in bulk for $3.42/lb ($0.21/oz):
I'll usually use butter and cream, though coconut cream works well if you want to make it vegan. Often I'll mix in some cocoa powder to make it a bit darker. Sometimes I'll leave it unflavored, other times I'll add some extracts (vanilla, almond, mint) or frozen fruit (usually raspberries). Peanut butter also works well, which gives you the flavor and means you don't need a different source of fat. It's reasonably shelf-stable: even with the cream it's not going to go bad before I finish a jar of it.
I generally mix it not to be very sweet: if it's just right I enjoy a savoring some but not so much that I keep eating past what I'll feel good about.