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).

Many thanks
Stef

"SC" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> 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).
>
> Many thanks
> Stef
>
I don't like Gianduja--heresy, I know--so I don't use it to make truffles.
On the other hand, I used to make a truffle with praline and rum, which
would be fairly similar. I'd suggest that you start with a very basic
truffle recipe: 6 oz heavy cream, 1 lb chocolate, 4 oz unsalted butter
(butter is optional, and you can use less if you wish): Bring cream to a
boil, remove from heat, add finely chopped chocolate, stir til smooth. When
room temperature, beat in softened, room temp butter. Either pipe balls or
let set up a bit and scoop balls. You can roll the scooped balls between you
palms to smooth them. Let the balls set up, then dip in tempered dark
couverture. Garnish if you wish. you can them experiment with things like
adding a pinch of salt or a tbsp of glucose or a few tablespoons of dark rum
or whatever. Or infusing the cream with a cinnamon stick. (Some people like
the hazelnut cinnamon combination.)

"SC" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> 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).
>
> Many thanks
> Stef
>
I don't like Gianduja--heresy, I know--so I don't use it to make truffles.
On the other hand, I used to make a truffle with praline and rum, which
would be fairly similar. I'd suggest that you start with a very basic
truffle recipe: 6 oz heavy cream, 1 lb chocolate, 4 oz unsalted butter
(butter is optional, and you can use less if you wish): Bring cream to a
boil, remove from heat, add finely chopped chocolate, stir til smooth. When
room temperature, beat in softened, room temp butter. Either pipe balls or
let set up a bit and scoop balls. You can roll the scooped balls between you
palms to smooth them. Let the balls set up, then dip in tempered dark
couverture. Garnish if you wish. you can them experiment with things like
adding a pinch of salt or a tbsp of glucose or a few tablespoons of dark rum
or whatever. Or infusing the cream with a cinnamon stick. (Some people like
the hazelnut cinnamon combination.)

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

(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)

Yes, I saw Cuba Venchi's. It's pretty darned expensive, so I might
just make my own for now. I tried Nutella mixed with a dark chocolate
ganach and it was pretty good (good enough for now).
Thanks for the help again, Alex.

Stef

"SC" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Yes, I saw Cuba Venchi's. It's pretty darned expensive, so I might
> just make my own for now. I tried Nutella mixed with a dark chocolate
> ganach and it was pretty good (good enough for now).
> Thanks for the help again, Alex.
>
> Stef

The adjustments Alex suggests sound right to me, too. (As I said, I don't
use it so my experience is limited.) One thing that I would suggest, though,
is that youconsider trying real praline paste instead of Nutella as an
alternative to Gianduja. That will enable you to experiment with adding
differing amounts of praline to your chocolate without adulterating it with
extraneous stuff. You can buy a one pound jar of it online (possibly from
Sugarcraft or NY Cake, but if you do a search I'm sure you will find
vendors). It is sold/made in the US by CK Products, but you have to have an
actual business to buy directly from them. I'm sure there are other makers
and sources--many European--also. This is one product you will want to buy,
rather than try to make yourself, because you are highly unlikely to be able
to grind the praline fine enough at home.

On your other request for books, btw, I visited Chocolat-Chocolat recently
and noted that they have a number of authoritative-looking tomes for sale.
Some in English, some in French.

"SC" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Yes, I saw Cuba Venchi's. It's pretty darned expensive, so I might
> just make my own for now. I tried Nutella mixed with a dark chocolate
> ganach and it was pretty good (good enough for now).
> Thanks for the help again, Alex.
>
> Stef

The adjustments Alex suggests sound right to me, too. (As I said, I don't
use it so my experience is limited.) One thing that I would suggest, though,
is that youconsider trying real praline paste instead of Nutella as an
alternative to Gianduja. That will enable you to experiment with adding
differing amounts of praline to your chocolate without adulterating it with
extraneous stuff. You can buy a one pound jar of it online (possibly from
Sugarcraft or NY Cake, but if you do a search I'm sure you will find
vendors). It is sold/made in the US by CK Products, but you have to have an
actual business to buy directly from them. I'm sure there are other makers
and sources--many European--also. This is one product you will want to buy,
rather than try to make yourself, because you are highly unlikely to be able
to grind the praline fine enough at home.

On your other request for books, btw, I visited Chocolat-Chocolat recently
and noted that they have a number of authoritative-looking tomes for sale.
Some in English, some in French.

Thanks. I am going to look for the paste online.

I do have some fresh hazelnuts that I roasted the other day. I am
thinking about making a sugar coating and grinding it a bit rough and
using that as a filling. I'm doing all the experimenting I can afford
to do.

My french is a bit rusty, so I might want to stick with the English
books :-)

Stef

Thanks. I am going to look for the paste online.

I do have some fresh hazelnuts that I roasted the other day. I am
thinking about making a sugar coating and grinding it a bit rough and
using that as a filling. I'm doing all the experimenting I can afford
to do.

My french is a bit rusty, so I might want to stick with the English
books :-)

Stef

>I do have some fresh hazelnuts that I roasted the other day. I am
>thinking about making a sugar coating and grinding it a bit rough and
>using that as a filling. I'm doing all the experimenting I can afford
>to do

Praline paste made crudely is gritty not the same as the commercialy
made product which is smoother.
I had the same difficulty ( previously )with grinding the stuff with
the Stephan vertical cutter mixer( an institutional type of food
processor) that can accomodate 10 kg batch.weight
I had to colllect all my rough pralines from different trials and put
it into the Macintyre refiner conche and run it for a few hours and
presto! It comes out smoother( about 30 microns average as determined
by the micrometer and 20-to 50 microns particles spread with the
Hackmann gauge).
Roy

>I do have some fresh hazelnuts that I roasted the other day. I am
>thinking about making a sugar coating and grinding it a bit rough and
>using that as a filling. I'm doing all the experimenting I can afford
>to do

Praline paste made crudely is gritty not the same as the commercialy
made product which is smoother.
I had the same difficulty ( previously )with grinding the stuff with
the Stephan vertical cutter mixer( an institutional type of food
processor) that can accomodate 10 kg batch.weight
I had to colllect all my rough pralines from different trials and put
it into the Macintyre refiner conche and run it for a few hours and
presto! It comes out smoother( about 30 microns average as determined
by the micrometer and 20-to 50 microns particles spread with the
Hackmann gauge).
Roy

Yeah, I'm not really looking for a paste out of these. I am going to
cut it really rough and have more of a hazelnut toffee center (if that
makes sense).

Stef