Gary Mobile Phone Having your life: White Chocolate Pomegranate Pistachio Truffles

step 1Gather your ingredients

Measurements are given by weight, except for the pomegranate molasses. For those who prefer metric measurement, here is a handy dandy tool for that.

For the truffle cream (the yummy inside bit), you will need:

3 ounces heavy cream. (Sometimes also called heavy whipping cream; it is whipping cream with a milk fat content of between 36 and 40 percent.)

8 ounces white chocolate, either finely chopped or commercial chips.

3 ounces finely chopped roasted pistachio nuts. (I prefer the salted kind, others may prefer non-salted.)

1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses. (I make my own using Alton Brown's recipe, but it is also commercially available from chef suppliers.)

You will also need:

spatula, baking sheet, wax or parchment paper, kitchen scale, candy thermometer (instant read digital is best, but regular works too) dipping tool/fondue fork.

powdered sugar (perhaps up to a cup, may vary on usage.)

8 - 16 ounces of tempered chocolate for dipping the truffle creams if you choose to enrobe them.

step 2Heat cream and add to chocolate

Heat cream to boiling, either over a double boiler, or in the microwave. It takes about 45 seconds in the microwave, in 15 second bursts.

Pour cream over chocolate.

Let it sit for about a minute.

Stir together until blended and no chunks remain.

Add pomegranate molasses and ground pistachios.

Stir to blend.

Let come to room temp, then cover and cool in fridge until set - about 3 hours.

Using a damp pastry brush, brush your baking tray with a little water, then lay down your wax paper. (The dampness is just to help the paper stick to the tray so it's not moving all over the place.)

Sift powdered sugar onto the paper.

Scoop blobs of your truffle cream onto the tray. Don't worry about shape at this stage, but try for a uniform amount of blob. I use demitasse spoons to keep my blobs from being ginormous.

Dust your hands with powdered sugar and roll your cream blobs into balls. Redust your hands as needed to keep the cream balls from sticking to your hands.

If you don't want to enrobe your truffle creams, you can put some powdered sugar in a small bowl or plate, and while the creams are still slightly warmed from being worked, roll them in powdered sugar to cover them, and poof...you're done!

Eat and enjoy.

If you want to enrobe your truffle cream, put your cream balls back in the fridge for another couple of hours. You want the balls to be chilled enough that they don't melt when you dip them in the warm chocolate.

step 6Enrobe truffle creams

Temper the chocolate you'll be using. There are a ton of different ways to temper chocolate, and the tempering methods vary by type of chocolate. Tempering is the process stabilizing the crystalline structure of chocolate by melting, cooling, and rewarming your chocolate until it is satiny, smooth, and workable. Cooled tempered chocolate will have a crisp snap and won't melt on your fingers as easily as improperly tempered chocolate.

For white and milk chocolate: Heat to 116 to 118 degrees Fahrenheit; cool to 80 degrees Fahrenheit; reheat to 85 to 87 degrees Fahrenheit and hold at that temperature.

For dark chocolate: Heat to 118 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit; cool to 80 degrees Fahrenheit; reheat to 88 to 91 degrees Fahrenheit and hold at that temperature.

Once your chocolate is tempered, you'll want to hold it at that temp. In these instructions, I've done that by setting my chocolate bowl in another bowl that has water 5 degrees hotter than my tempered chocolate.

Dip your chilled truffle creams into the chocolate, swirl to get an even coat, then remove and place on your tray. Tip: If your creams have a lot of powdered sugar on them, roll them briefly in your palms to take some of it off, else you may run into difficulties while dipping.

Allow to harden.

Truffles (if your chocolate was tempered correctly) are stable at room temp, but should be stored in the fridge. They should keep, theoretically, for 2 months. I say theoretically; they tend to get eaten long before that around here.