Here is a recipe I will be using in next week's chocolate class. I've been cooking up all sorts of flavour infusions to make luscious truffles. The addition of the flavour is just like making tea - warm and steep. I have Jerry Traunfield of The Herbfarm to thank for introducing me to the method.
1 1/4 cup heavy cream
1 pound dark chocolate (60 to 70%)
1 grapefruit
1/2 cup good quality cocoa
Heat cream in a saucepan on stove. Meanwhile peel the grapefruit with a vegetable peeler. You want the zest or skin only no bitter white pith. When the cream begins to boils add the peel and submerge it. Take the cream off the heat, cover, and allow to steep for 3o minutes. Strain the cream pressing the peels against the strainer to extract any extra flavour. Measure the cream to be sure you still have 1 1/4 cup. Add extra cream if needed. Rewarm the cream on the stove. Place 1 pound of chocolate chips (I like Ghiradelli 60% chips) or chopped chocolate bars in a large bowl. When cream boils, pour it over chocolate and allow it to sit for 30 seconds. Stir mixture with a spatula to combine. The next bit I tried out and it worked very well. We will need to cool off our ganache quickly in class in order to form our truffles and this is what I came up with. Pour the ganache into a large ziploc bag. Press out the air. Be sure the bag is completely sealed and lay the mixture on it's side on a metal tray. Even out the chocolate by pressing lightly with your hand. Place in freezer for 2o minutes. Remove ganache - it should be solid but you will still be able to mark it with your fingernail. Use a knife and cut the plastic bag open and fold it back. Using a knife you can now cut your ganache into 36 pieces to portion it - 6 rows and 6 columns will do it. Warm the knife by running it under hot water, but be sure to dry it completely before using it to cut. You can usually make 2 cuts before your knife needs to be warmed again. Allow the ganache squares to warm about 20 minutes then roll them between your palms to form balls. Fill a large bowl with cocoa and drop 5 - 10 truffles in at a time. Roll them around to coat.
