Open Mic Chocolate Truffles

It's up to you.

12 detailed steps, from preparation to service.

1. Prepare chocolate and butter

   Weigh 250 g of 60% dark chocolate, 150 ml of whipping cream, 30 g of butter and 40 g of unsweetened cocoa. Keep the white chocolate of the decor separate: it does not go into the ganache. Chop the dark chocolate into small pieces with a knife on a board and pour it into a bowl. Cut the 30 g of butter into small dice and let them wait in a cup.

2. Heat the cream to the first bubbles

   Pour the 150 ml of cream into a small saucepan and heat over medium heat. Monitor the edges: as soon as small bubbles appear and steam emerges, remove the pan from the heat. The cream should be very hot without boiling for a long time or reducing. Keep a soft whisk or spatula handy to mix right from the first addition.

3. Make a smooth ganache in three additions

   Pour about a third of the hot cream over the chopped chocolate and wait 30 seconds. Mix with the spatula by making small circles in the center of the bowl; the mass becomes thick and shiny. Add a second third of the cream, mix the same way, then pour the last third by scraping the pan. Finish by extending the movements to the edges: there must no longer remain a piece of hard chocolate.

4. Incorporate butter at the right temperature

   Let the ganache cool for a few minutes by stirring it: it must be around 35 to 40 ° C, still fluid but more burning. Add the 30 g of diced butter and mix gently until completely gone. Avoid whipping vigorously, which would incorporate air bubbles. The finished ganache should be smooth, supple and uniformly shiny.

5. Refrigerate for three hours

   Pour the ganache into a shallow dish to obtain a regular layer of 2 to 3 cm maximum. Cover the dish and place it in the refrigerator for 3 hours. To check the hold, take a little ganache with a spoon: it must detach in soft mass and keep its shape. If it is still flowing, prolong the cold; if it is too hard, wait 5 to 10 minutes at room temperature before portioning.

6. Prepare the tray and share the ganache

   Cover a tray with baking paper and put the 40 g of cocoa in a hollow plate. With two small spoons, share the ganache in 24 portions of about 18 g; the scale can help you for the first. Put them on paper without sticking them to each other. Keep half of the servings in the refrigerator while you shape the other half, especially if the room is warm.

7. Shape quickly with fresh hands

   Take a portion and quickly roll it between your cool palms to get a ball of about 3 cm. Some irregularities are normal and reminiscent of a homemade truffle. Do not keep it in your hand for long: the heat will soften the ganache. If the ganache starts to stick and spread, put the portions back in the refrigerator 10 to 15 minutes before continuing.

8. Powder without masking the shape

   Place a truffle in the cocoa, roll it up with a spoon, then lift it up with a fork and pat gently to drop the extra powder. Put the 24 pieces on the baking paper and place them 15 minutes in the cool. The remaining cocoa on the plate is the excess labour; do not pour it on the serving dish.

9. Add the sleeves on the day of service

   Prepare the 24 natural biscuit sticks of 5 cm, about 70 g in total, and check that they are not broken. For each mic, take a cold truffle between two fingers without squeezing it and push one end of the cookie about 1 cm forward straight. If the truffle is too hard, leave it in the room for 2-3 minutes before trying again. Immediately place the microphone on the paper, the handle also supported by the tray; adding the sleeves on the day of the service preserves their crunchiness.

10. Prepare the chocolate from the wire rack

    Chop the 40 g of white chocolate with a knife and put them in a small, perfectly dry bowl. Pour 2 cm of water into a saucepan and simmer gently, then lower the heat. Place the bowl above: its bottom should not touch the water. Stir with a spatula until only a few small pieces remain. Remove the bowl from the heat and keep stirring so the residual heat melts them. Wipe the bottom of the bowl; no drop of water should fall into the chocolate. Let the chocolate cool for a few minutes so that it does not melt the truffle on contact. Place a small cone of baking paper in a glass, point down, and half fill it with a spoon. Fold over the top to keep chocolate away from your hand, then cut a 2 to 3 mm opening at the tip. Pipe a test line on the paper: a continuous ribbon should flow when you squeeze gently.

11. Draw the wire rack on each microphone head

    With the cornet, draw three thick lines in one direction on the visible top of the ball, then two or three crossed lines in the other direction. Start and finish each stroke on the ganache, without stretching it in the void above the neck. Spread the 40 g of chocolate between the 24 heads, without looking for a fine mesh. If the chocolate flows along the truffle, wait a minute for it to thicken before continuing.

12. Make and serve the lying microphones

    Place the tray in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to firm up the decor. Then store the mics in a single layer in a box, without carrying the weight of another truffle on a sleeve. Take out only the amount to be served about 10 minutes before tasting and keep the rest cold. They always lie on the flat, without a skewer or support; the biscuit sleeves are not used to carry the truffle like a lollipop.