Alex Rast wrote:
<snip>

>> How do they get such perfectly round shapes?
>
> There's an easy way to get round truffles, more or less a DUH when
> you hear it. Melon baller. You need to have a pretty soft ganache
> (like Vosges does) - so use 3:2 proportions (chocolate:cream). Chill
> well, then use the melon baller to scoop them out. You can also use
> the ice-cream scoops (don't remember the right term, but those things
> with the hemispherical scoop and the lever that swipes the bottom of
> the scoop with a squeeze) of various sizes (the smaller ones can
> produce a ball about the size of a walnut) for larger truffles
>

I use the smallest size of scoop, and in my experience that alone does not
get the kind of perfect round he's describing. I also roll the scooped
ganache between my palms, and even that doesn't get you a perfect round most
of the time. (Of course, I'm not *trying* for a perfect round, but still...)

<snip>

By setting your coated truffles on a bed of
> nails (space the nails for your truffle size), you can get them
> almost perfectly spherical.
>
Now that's an interesting idea....

One of the problems with doing multiple coats when dipping is that each
coat, no matter how thin, tends to leave a foot. I can see how the bed of
nails would eliminate that.

Another method of creating a thin undercoat, that I've mentioned before, is
to roll the center with chocolate between your palms. That also helps
eliminate the foot issue, once you get the hang of it.

> For the record, I'll point out that the original, technically
> "official" chocolate truffle isn't perfectly round and isn't supposed
> to be. They're supposed to look like the mushroom for which they are
> its namesake.

Absolutely.