at Mon, 17 Jan 2005 11:36:29 GMT in <7339a91f.0501170336.79aa3dd6
@posting.google.com>, (Abi) wrote :

>Hi,
>does anyone know how long chocolate truffles made with double cream
>keep for )of out of the freezer)? It's the fact that they are made
>with fresh double cream that makes me wonder if they will only keep
>for 3 days or so. If the truffles are coated with a thick layer of
>chocolate, would they keep for longer? thanks

They will keep for at least 2 weeks. The quality will improve for the first
couple of days during Week 1, then diminish gradually in Week 2. At the end
of Week 2 they won't taste as good as they did, although they'll still be
edible.

I do *not* recommend keeping them in the refrigerator - the truffles will
pick up odours from the fridge, so unless it's *completely* odour-free,
they will start to taste of whatever is the strongest smell. Even if it is
odour-free, the refrigerator hastens flavour loss. There are exceptions -
for instance if you live in a non-air-conditioned house and the temperature
inside is above 75F. In that case seal them inside a jar in the fridge.

If you coat truffles with chocolate, they will last much longer - at least
2 months, but you have to make sure the coating is complete (no pinholes),
and you have to temper the chocolate. It's also a little tricky to do,
because tempered chocolate tends to melt the outside of the truffles,
making the centers pull away from the shell. So you usually need to freeze
them before coating. The other method, which is quite reliable, is to mould
a shell top and bottom, fill the shell with the truffle center, then
briefly heat the rim of the shell, and press the top and bottom together.
If you're going to do this, you need to fill the shells before the truffle
mix has cooled completely, or it will be too solid and you won't get good
fill. At the ideal consistency, you should be able to pipe it in with a
pastry bag.

--
Alex Rast

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