TruffflesI can hear you now. “Say what?” But truly, these are delicious. And unless you tell people about the garlic, they’ll never know. It’s  fun party game — “what’s in these truffles that you would never believe?”

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate
  • 6 ounces semisweet chocolate
  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (one stick at 20 seconds in the microwave works nicely)
  • 4 tablespoons roasted garlic (approximately two full heads of garlic)
  • 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • powdered unsweetened cocoa

IngredientsA word about the ingredients. Generally, the fewer ingredients a recipe contains, the better quality each needs to be. Do not skimp! Do not use the garlic that’s been sitting around in your basket for a month. Get fresh garlic, fresh cream, high quality chocolate, etc.

To make truffles:

Roast the garlic. Cut the bottom off each head of garlic with a sharp knife. If the garlic has a long stem, use a scissor to cut that off close to the top. Do NOT peel the garlic. Drizzle the cut ends with a touch of olive oil (a spritz will do fine if you have a sprayer). Wrap tightly in tinfoil and roast 45 minutes in a 400ºF oven. Garlic will be soft and carmelized on the bottom when it is done.

Let garlic cool, then squeeze out from the skin. It will come out as a paste. If there are still fibrous bits, chop them finely.

In a medium sized saucepan, boil the cream until it reduces by slightly more than half. Turn the heat down to very low and stir in the chocolate with a wooden spoon until smooth. Then use a whisk to incorporate the butter, salt, and garlic. Keep whisking until smooth.

Pour into a container and refrigerate for a minimum of an hour.

scoopWhen the ganache has stiffened and cooled, scoop out and roll in the cocoa to coat. (A melon baller/cookie scoop works very well for this!) You will want to work fairly quickly. If the ganache gets overly soft while you are working, just put it back in the fridge.

Store truffles in the refrigerator for up to three days (the longer they wait, the stronger the aftertaste of heat from the garlic will become). Be sure to bring to room temperature before serving.