The Chocolate Boutique Hotel's chocolate truffle recipe

● 900g Belgian couverture chocolate
● 286g whipping cream
To decorate:
● Cocoa powder
● Icing sugar and flour (50/50 mixed)
● Nibbed almonds, roasted
● Coconut 

Method

Place chocolate pieces into a bowl. Microwave for 1 minute, remove and stir until the chocolate is fluid.

Check the temperature (ideally 38/40°)

Pour the whipping cream into the bowl, and using the empty cream container, pour two containers full of liquid chocolate onto the cream. Mix the two together. If you want to add alcohol to the truffle, do it now - around 100ml of whatever you choose - mix until the chocolate and cream thicken. You should be able to lift your spatula out of the mixture and nothing will drip off it.

Spoon the mixture into a piping bag and pipe long even logs onto rolled out greaseproof paper. Leave to set.

Once set, cut the logs into even pieces approximately 3cms long.

Mould pieces into rounds, then roll quickly between palms to perfect shape.

Tempering

To temper ('coat' the truffles) you can simply melt another 300g of chocolate in the microwave and let the temperatures come down as follows:

White, 28°; milk, 30°; dark, 32°.

With the bowl in front of you, put three fingers of each hand into the tempered chocolate and coat them well, then take each truffle and quickly cover with chocolate by rubbing with your fingertips. 

Lay out your toppings. Coat the chocolates again, then throw them into the topping trays and gently roll the truffle using a fork. Let them stay in the toppings for a couple of minutes.

When all the chocolates are covered, take a sieve and gently roll any cocoa- or sugar-covered ones to get rid of the excess powder. Turn out on to a clean tray. Eat.

You might also like...

Enjoy more ways to indulge your love of chocolate

Indulge and lose weight on the red wine and chocolate diet 

Yes, it's true! Find out why chocolate is good for you