at Mon, 27 Dec 2004 19:08:17 GMT in <1104174497.145680.322870
@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com>, (SC) wrote :

>Although I know what Gianduja is, I was wondering if some of you (Janet
>and Alex :-)?)could give me some ideas on how to make this type of
>chocolate/truffle (as opposed to just buying the, say, Valhrona
>version).
>

Gianduja is generally considerably softer than pure dark chocolate. As a
result, there are a couple of changes you'll want to make.

You won't be able to grate gianduja, and chopping won't produce the best
results either. The best way to break it up into pieces suitable for
truffles is by poking it with a fork. You just kind of pick it apart. When
you're done, you should have a mass of bits looking something like pie
dough before you add the water.

Gianduja is more sensitive to heat, so you don't want to heat your cream up
as high. Instead of bringing it to a scald (bubbles just break the
surface), just make it quite hot (steaming well but not bubbling)

Stir rather than fold the cream in. Use a vigorous stirring motion -
gianduja may need a little "persuasion" to smooth out.

Also, up the fat ratio. If the standard truffle works well with heavy cream
(40% fat) at a 2:1 ratio, gianduja will improve with double cream (48%
fat). Or use 3 tbsp butter and 13 tbsp heavy cream.

Another method altogether is, instead of using gianduja, add some hazelnut
butter to regular chocolate truffles. Be careful because hazelnut butter
will turn truffles into a spread-like consistency pretty fast. If you use 3
parts chocolate, 1 part hazelnut butter, and 2 parts double cream, you
should be safe.

Should you use gianduja, btw, the best by far is Cuba Venchi. I wouldn't
settle for anything less.


--
Alex Rast

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