Limoncello Chocolate Truffles:
How to make them ... and delight your friends

Je'oan D'ark Limoncello Truffles:
White-Chocolate Lemon Truffle (Truffes au chocolat blanc)
enrobed in Bittersweet Chocolate

Three simple steps:

  1. Batter (Ganache)
  2. Hints on Melting Chocolate
  3. Tempered Chocolate To Cover Truffles:

Batter (Ganache):

Ingredients:
10   oz.   White Chocolate
 4  oz.  Crème Fraîche (or heavy cream)
 2   tbsp. Limoncello
 0.5 tbsp. Finely grated lemon zest.


Method:
(1)	Line bottom and sides of a pan with parchment paper.
(2)	Break chocolate into small pieces; put in a large bowl.
(3)	Bring cream slowly to a light boil. Remove from heat and cool 2 minutes. 
	Add liqueur and mix.
(4)	Melt chocolate.
(5)	Pour all of cream over chocolate; stir till all chocolate is melted and batter is homogenous.
(6)	Add finely grated lemon zest and mix till batter is homogenous.
(7)	Let set 1 hour at room temperature.
(8)	Refrigerate overnight.
(9)	With gloved hands, form the truffles into balls and lay out,
	in preparation for dipping in melted tempered Semisweet (52-62% cacao) Chocolate.

The above ratio of cream-to-white-chocolate worked well for us. In contrast, another recipe pro-rates 10 oz. White Chocolate to only 1 oz. cream with 1 oz liquor; while one pro-rates 10 oz. White Chocolate to as much as 5.6 oz cream plus 2 tbsp. butter. Experiment to discover what works for you.

If you make a dark-chocolate, a higher proportion of cream is likely to be better, up to 6 oz. cream with 1 oz liquor.

Hints on Melting Chocolate:

Before you temper your chocolate, melt it gently:

Tempered Chocolate To Cover Truffles:

Tempering results in shiny, even, crisp, smooth chocolate that can release cleanly from molds. Three factors are important during tempering: time, temperature, and movement. Tempering is accomplished through an alchemical combination of:

  1. Heat: sufficient to melt the chocolate but not burn it.
  2. Agitation: the appropriate beating of the molten chocolate to facilitate formation of beta-form crystals (the most stable form of cacao crystals). During beating, maintenance of temperature well within the 84-to-94-degrees-Fahrenheit range, where the beta form can become dominant.
  3. Time: allow considerable time for the gentle heating, stirring, and temperature stabilization.

This is the point at which to invest in either a tempering machine or a spatula thermometer. You need to control the temperature of the melted chocolate precisely. You also need to stir it continuously and consistently for quite some time. A fully automatic tempering machine can save you a lot of frustration and grief:

Ingredients:
 20 oz. Semisweet (52-62% cacao) Chocolate.
        Reserve 4 oz. in substantial (1 oz.) chunks.

Method:
(1)	Temper the chocolate.
(2)	Dip the truffles in the tempered chocolate.
(3)	Add decoration (such as fragments of candied lemon peel)
	while tempered chocolate is still soft.

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