"T"ea is for Truffle - Earl Grey Truffles

I promise this will be the last Truffle post for awhile.  It always happens this way.  I make 1 batch, and almost instantly, the theobromine induced madness begins.  Before I awaken from cacao craziness, there are 3-6 different truffles in my refrigerator. They're kind of like Lay's Potato chips....  You can't eat just one.  :)

I went deep into the insanity this time.  Normally I don't work with Milk Chocolate when making truffles. I stick to 60-72 % bittersweet with a good "snap".  Milk chocolate contains milk solids, and since you are adding additional Heavy Cream, it kind of throws off the ratios a bit.  It's much softer to work with and the finished truffles usually have a slightly "chewy" quality to them which I do not particularly care for. (I assume it's from the increase in milk proteins)

That is, until there is Earl Grey tea steeped with the cream.  Then I make allowances.  :) 

60-72% Bittersweet Chocolate is just too strong; the subtle flavor of the tea is completely lost.  Thus, when I make Earl Grey Truffles, I must resign myself to working with Milk Chocolate.  There are some things to keep in mind when working with milk chocolate in ganache. You see, when you work with "milk", the ratio of Chocolate to Cream needs to be altered slightly.  As a general rule, you need 1 1/2 times the amount when working with Milk Chocolate.... If your working with White Chocolate, you need 2 times the amount.  Thus, since I normally use 4 oz of Heavy Cream to 8 oz of Bittersweet Chocolate to make truffles, I need 12 oz of Milk Chocolate or 16 oz of White.

Recently I found a new organic Milk Chocolate that clocks in at 48% cacao solids which beats the Scharffenberger I usually use.  (It's only 41% though to be honest, I think the Scharffenberger, though lower in cacao solids, is higher quality - But I had to try it at least once)

Earl Grey, in and of itself, is a perfect addition to truffles, since it contains oil of Bergamot Orange.  Let's face it, Orange and Chocolate are a classic pairing.  The Black tea is sort of an added bonus.  Granted, Black Tea is not coffee, but it does a good job of "rounding" out the flavor, just the same.

Earl Grey Truffles

12 oz 41-48% Milk Chocolate, chopped
4 oz Heavy Cream
a pinch of Kosher Salt
2 tea bags of Earl Grey
(Notice that there is no Butter in this one, due to the milk solid content of the Milk Chocolate)
Preferably Confectioners' Sugar, but you can use Dutched Cocoa Powder as well

Begin heating the Heavy Cream and a pinch of Kosher Salt in a small saucepan set over medium heat.

When the cream begins to bubble, remove from the heat and add the  tea bags.

Cover and Let steep for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop the chocolate fairly finely and place it in a medium bowl.

When the Tea is done steeping, squeeze the bags to extract as much "Tea" flavor as possible (I know, your not suppose to squeeze tea bags, it's bad form, but you aren't going to drink this.  So I think it's OK)
Your cream should be fairly beige looking at this point.

Reheat the cream again, just until the bubbles begin to appear around the edge.
Pour the hot cream over the Chocolate and let it sit for 2 minutes.

Begin stirring in the center, with a whisk, until the chocolate and cream form an emulsion.

Since there is more chocolate, it is possible that all the chocolate will not melt as smoothly.  If this happens, pop the bowl in the microwave for about 20 seconds, that's all it takes....

Then it should smooth out nicely.

Cover with Plastic wrap on the surface and chill until set.

Scoop into small 2 tsp sized balls.

These really should be rolled in Confectioners' Sugar, instead of Dutched Cocoa powder, but I didn't have enough. (It was on my grocery list)

So I sprinkled them lightly with the little that I had, so they would look different from the Rum Truffles.

Mangia!!
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