Recipe: Chocolate Raspberry Bliss Bites (Truffles)

the appetizer:

Unforgettable Desserts by Dede Wilson, includes recipes like Tempering Chocolate; Matcha Tea Leaf Shortbreads; Chocolate Raspberry Bliss Bites (Truffles); and Frozen Peanut Butter-Honey Cheesecake with Warm Chocolate-Honey Sauce.

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Chocolate Raspberry Bliss Bites (Truffles)

Makes 60 truffles

These are raspberry truffles like no other. Each blissful bite-size truffle features a whole, perfect raspberry enveloped in a soft, silky bittersweet chocolate ganache, the whole encased in a thin, crisp chocolate shell. Consider serving these instead of a traditional dessert with coffee, tea, or an after-dinner drink—when raspberries are in season, of course. Valrhona Manjari and Scharffen Berger Bittersweet both have a very fruity, acidic profile, which complements the raspberries beautifully. The chocolate shell is made with tempered chocolate (see Tempering Chocolate).

3/4 cup heavy cream
20 ounces bittersweet chocolate, very finely chopped, such as
Valrhona Manjari (64%) or Scharffen Berger (70%), divided
2 cups firm, dry fresh raspberries
60 small fluted paper cups

For the Ganache
Put the cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat just until it comes to a simmer. Remove from the heat and immediately sprinkle 8 ounces of the chocolate into the cream. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes; the heat will melt the chocolate. Stir gently until smooth. Pour the ganache into a small bowl.

1. Line a jelly-roll pan with aluminum foil. Gently pat the raspberries dry, if necessary. Drop one raspberry onto the surface of the ganache. Use two spoons to carefully toss the berry back and forth until it is completely covered with ganache. You want just enough ganache to adhere to the berries to cover them completely without having any extra; this will give you the right proportion of fruit to chocolate. They will not be neat and round; they will look like odd-shaped lumps of chocolate, which is fine. Place the chocolate-covered berry on the prepared pan, repeat with the remaining berries, and then refrigerate the pan until the ganache is completely firm, for about 2 hours, or overnight.

For the Chocolate Shell
Line a jelly-roll pan with aluminum foil, shiny side up, smoothing out any wrinkles. Temper the remaining 12 ounces of chocolate (see Tempering Chocolate).

1. Drop the chilled raspberry centers one at a time into the tempered chocolate and use two forks to help submerge and remove them; you are aiming to make as thin and even a coating as possible when you remove a center from the tempered chocolate, have it balanced on the flat part of the fork and rap the base of the fork on the side of the pot to help any excess chocolate drip back into the pot. Place the dipped center on the prepared pan. Repeat with the remaining berries and refrigerate until firm, then place in the fluted paper cups. Refrigerate in an airtight container in a single layer for up to 2 days. Remove from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before serving.

Tip
The raspberries for this recipe must be very firm and dry. You cannot substitute frozen, and even if they are fresh, but the least bit wet or mushy, the recipe will not work. If you follow the directions carefully you will be rewarded with the ultimate truffle experience; these are truly impressive.

from:
Unforgettable Desserts
More Than 140 Memorable Dessert Recipes For All Year Round
by Dede Wilson
Wiley 2009
$29.95; Hardcover; 150 pages
ISBN: 0470186496
ISBN 13: 978-0-470-18649-7
Recipe reprinted by permission.

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