Come on, admit it. Chocolate truffles don't look like much. They're small, usually spherical or oblong in shape. Its basic ingredients are simple everyday ingredients you would find in a pantry anywhere in the world. The unadorned ones have only a dusting of cocoa. They remind me of the dessert (oops, check the spelling, that's desert). Their inspiration is and they are named after a fungus - admittedly today, a highly prized gourmet food. And yet, they're loved by so many chocolate lovers and provide delicious surprises to many who receive them for the first time... or every time.
The basis of chocolate truffles is usually a ganache center - mix of cream, butter, chocolate - enrobed in chocolate or cocoa powder. Then here's where it gets complicated - or surprising.
The ganache can be infused with subtle flavors of vanilla, spice, herb, coffee, tea, Champagne, Grand Marnier, Amaretto. Or it can be filled with a nut, fruit, nougat, fudge, toffee, chocolate chips, marshmallow. The chocolate used - inside or out - can be dark or white, sweet, bitter or flavored. The enrobing chocolate may be the same as the chocolate ganache or the exact opposite. For example, dark enrobing chocolate with a white chocolate ganache or vice versa. The resulting truffle can further be decorated - drizzled caramel, chocolate flakes, coconut, ground nuts.
With the simplicity of chocolate truffles, there is so much combination. But whatever combination used, the eye does not tell what's within, the eye cannot feast on the promise held out by this one-bite ball of chocolate. That is, until you pop a truffle into your mouth when it melts with a burst of blissful flavors. Surprising, what this one ball can do! The real art of chocolate truffles lies in combining flavors that come together and complement each other. Then you'll be left with a craving for another one... and another.