Hazelnut Truffles & Milk Chocolate Caramels

Oh chocolate, you never cease to amaze me. Thank you Lord for chocolate, and the ability to eat it. Just in case you think I'm some crazy chocolate craving pregnant woman that decided to make all these truffles for myself... I made them for some amazing women in my life! When you feel that just a simple thank you note won't cover it, then you start giving chocolates! Chocolate always gets the message across.

 Also, in case you missed the beginning of my chocolate journey, here is the source of my inspiration. I had planned a chocolate tasting for my best friend's bachelorette party and we met an amazing woman named Bethany Thouin who owns The Cocoa Tree in Nashville. She has also written this book...

I have absolutely LOVED reading it! You can buy it on Amazon HERE for only $4.00. It is worth it! I've enjoyed making home made caramels before (click to see!) and I've also made some dark chocolate Kahlua truffles just in case you're interested in some old blog posts. This time, I had an official Bethany recipe to follow because she includes them in her book so, I did just that. I bought specific chocolate   from the recommendations she made in the book and at our tasting. 

1. Read the ingredients listed on the label! They should only include cocoa liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin, and vanilla. 

2. If you're purchasing dark chocolate, cocoa liquor should be the first ingredient listed! 

3. Watch out for vanillin, which is an artificial vanilla.    

Milk chocolate should contain 35%-49% cocoa and dark should be anywhere between 50%- 80%. The only place that I could think of in town that would have a variety of chocolate was World Market. I would have ordered special chocolate off of the internet but I was in a time crunch! Luckily, World Market had just what I needed! Ritter Sport had a pretty impressive label!

Blake and I gladly tried it to make sure it was good!

I also bought this chocolate because it had the next most impressive label. 

You never know with chocolate, you could buy some that is expensive but whoever transported it to World market could have ruined it! You know when you open a candy bar and it's all speckled? I've noticed that this is especially common with Reese's. To avoid getting a spotty old Reese's, I only eat holiday Reese's. It never fails!

Back to truffle land. This is the simple part; melt your chocolate, add cream, butter, your choice of flavoring, and stir. Since I was making Hazelnut truffles, I used Frangelico! 

 Yes, a pregnant, in braces, pastor's wife walked in to that liquor store with her little grocery list and was able to successfully walk out of the store with her little brown bag. I asked the kind clerk if he had any smaller bottles but of course, this was the only size. Looks like we'll have to make more truffles. I do have to mention that sin lies within the man, not the alcohol. Yes, since we're in the ministry we're called to a higher standard, I certainly hope that my hazelnut truffles haven't caused you to stumble, but if you judge me for having this bottle on my blog... that's ok, we're probably not close friends anyway. If you think these truffles are sinful then you don't have to eat one haha! I guess you could say chocolate is a drug too because it has caffeine in it?!? Oh Lordy! Jesus isn't impressed with legalism. ALSO... gluttony is a sin. I'm definitely guilty of lusting too... after chocolate... so just go ahead and write me up!!! My prayer is that we are constantly becoming a people after God's own heart and not merely doers of the law. Remember the NEW covenant? I love you! He loves you! Back to chocolate people...

 it becomes thicker when you add all the creamy goodness!

 pudding-like consistency 

 grab this amazing pampered chef scoop and save yourself some time

  while your ganache sets in the refrigerator, begin tempering your milk chocolate so that it works with you and not against you! I used Ghiradelli! 

 My greatest challenge so far is getting the ganache to remain smooth in the middle of the truffle. The dark chocolate truffles that I made before weren't as smooth as I'd like in the middle. I thought that the reason for that was because I zapped them in the freezer before covering them with chocolate. The recipe had a lot less cream so it could have been the cream to chocolate ratio. Not sure. 

 In order to test out the accuracy of this ganache, I decided to cover the truffles the traditional way! I only put the ganache in the freezer for a second! Then, I covered the truffles the way Bethany prescribed; BY HAND. 

 I felt like the ganache was mixing with the tempered chocolate and it was difficult to keep the milk chocolate at the right consistency! It was hard work, a mess, a challenge, and worth it! They were delicious!!! 

top your hazelnut truffles with none other than HAZELNUTS! 

Bethany also states to always wrap your chocolates up with a ribbon! Luckily I found this old ribbon from our wedding decorations. The Lord provides!!

Milk chocolate covered home made caramels that I also made this week! A special thank you to Lonas who parted with this amazing macro lens! Thank you for giving me this lens so I can capture the beauty of not only chocolate but pretty soon, some baby Jude eyelashes!!!

some Oreo truffles that I also made this week!

Five of the six treat boxes I assembled including the milk chocolate home made caramels, Oreo truffles, and hazelnut truffles. I love being able to share these treats with others! SUCH A JOY!!!