Chocolate Truffles by the Expert
People think that writing the Chocolate Covered Mystery series means that I know how to make truffles. I certainly didn’t know how at the beginning, but I (kind of) do now.
Luckily for me (and the readers), the recipes are provided by a real chocolatier -- Isabella Knack, owner of Dallmann’s Fine Chocolates in San Diego, California. She creates gorgeous works of art that taste amazing.
Unfortunately, I just have to test all of the recipes in the books. I have no choice – it’s in my contract! Even after all of my testing, my truffles end up being little ugly lumps, but they are still delicious.
This recipe – Irish Cream Ganache - is in Behind Chocolate Bars, the third book in the Chocolate Covered Mystery series. I took photos as Isabella made them in her work kitchen. The recipe is a little different at the end – she put the ganache in beautifully air-brushed chocolate instead of premade chocolate molds. But the end result of both is sheer delight.
Irish Cream Ganache (yields 100 pieces)
Ingredients:
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup glucose syrup
1-3/4 cups dark chocolate
4 tsp. butter (softened)
2 TB Irish Cream
Premade chocolate molds – available at candy shop and online
Preparation:
A. Combine the heavy cream and glucose syrup in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
B. Pour the hot cream mixture over the chocolate and let sit for 2 minutes.
C. Using a spatula, stir the mixture in small circles of the bowl until it emulsifies.
D. Stir the soft butter into the ganache until it’s incorporated.
E. Add the liqueur, stirring until the mixture is homogeneous.
F. Pipe into premade chocolate molds.
G. Chill
H. Serve
And if that's not enough sweet goodness, Kathy is offering a giveaway! Leave a comment here (with your email) and you can choose from any of the books in the series: Death is Like a Box of Chocolates, Truffled to Death, or Behind Chocolate Bars. (If you live in the continental United States, you can choose either print or ebook format; if you're outside, only the ebook format)
BEHIND CHOCOLATE BARS
DOUBLE, DOUBLE-BOIL, AND TROUBLE…
Best friends and business partners Michelle and Erica have a monstrous to-do list as they prepare for the annual West Riverdale Halloween Festival. Their shop, Chocolates and Chapters, will have a booth at the event, where Michelle will serve spooky delights while Erica displays an assortment of spine-chilling books. Thank goodness the teenagers from Erica’s comic-book club are chipping in to help. But one of their volunteers winds up in trouble after a woman’s body is found in an abandoned house—with the teen’s superhero key ring close by.
The teen swears he didn’t do it, but he’s obviously hiding something—leaving Michelle and Erica with a witch’s cauldron of questions. Soon they discover that the dead woman was tricking a whole bunch of people out of more than just treats. Now these two friends must go door-to-door if they hope to unmask a killer…
DOUBLE, DOUBLE-BOIL, AND TROUBLE…
Best friends and business partners Michelle and Erica have a monstrous to-do list as they prepare for the annual West Riverdale Halloween Festival. Their shop, Chocolates and Chapters, will have a booth at the event, where Michelle will serve spooky delights while Erica displays an assortment of spine-chilling books. Thank goodness the teenagers from Erica’s comic-book club are chipping in to help. But one of their volunteers winds up in trouble after a woman’s body is found in an abandoned house—with the teen’s superhero key ring close by.
The teen swears he didn’t do it, but he’s obviously hiding something—leaving Michelle and Erica with a witch’s cauldron of questions. Soon they discover that the dead woman was tricking a whole bunch of people out of more than just treats. Now these two friends must go door-to-door if they hope to unmask a killer…
Kathy Aarons is the author of the nationally bestselling CHOCOLATE COVERED MYSTERY series by Berkley Prime Crime. Research for the series was such a hardship: sampling chocolate, making chocolate, sampling more chocolate, and hanging out in bookstores.
She began writing when her youngest daughter attended school five days a week and pursued publishing more seriously when her oldest daughter went off to college. Now an empty-nester, she continues to advocate for arts education for youth, serving as president of the board of directors for Playwrights Project (http://playwrightsproject.org/), advising and teaching for the Middle School Writing Series, and volunteering for the CCA Writers’ Conference (http://ccawritersconference2016.weebly.com/), the only free writing conference for high school students in the country.
She’s also president of Partners in Crime – the San Diego chapter of Sisters in Crime, a national mystery writers’ organization (http://www.sistersincrimesd.org/ ).
You can follow Kathy on Facebook or Twitter or visit her at: www.kathyaarons.com.
Thanks for sharing the Irish cream truffles recipe, Kathy. I still make homemade chocolate truffles as holiday gifts, using either cognac, amaretto or Irish cream as my liqueur. They are certain not as uniform as Isabella's since I do not use molds but are nonetheless, very tasty! Thanks for the chance to win one of your books. grace dot koshida at gmail dot com
ReplyDeleteThey sound delicious! Good luck!
DeleteKathy Aarons
Love this truffle recipe! And ALL of the books sound amazing! EMS591@aol.com
ReplyDeleteI enjoy seasonal themed mysteries and who can resist a book with chocolate in the title? dbahn(at)iw(dot)net
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoy the Halloween theme! Good luck!
DeleteThe revipe sounds so doable for someone that has never made candy! I may give it a try. I am definitely going to read this series! Love chocolate!!!
ReplyDeleteEven I can make these! Good luck!
DeleteLove this series even got my Mom into it! And those truffles look absolutely delicious. kkdaley(at)comcast(dot)net
ReplyDeleteSo glad you enjoy them! Good luck!
DeleteGreat recipe. I look forward to reading these books. I keep finding new authors, to me, to read. Leona
ReplyDeletemnleona@aol.com
Hope you like it! Good luck!
DeleteDelectable recipe. Thanks for this wonderful feature and giveaway. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
DeleteThis looks yummy centraleast2 at gmail dot com
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
DeleteThe recipe is enticing as are the books. Many thanks. elliotbencan(at)hotmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteHope you like it! Good luck!
DeleteThis looks like a winner for Christmas. suefoster109@netzero.net
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing with us today! Such a generous giveaway to let the winner choose which book in the series they want! I love the Halloween goodies on the cover of the new book.
ReplyDeleteBec
Rlewis11797 (at) yahoo (dot) com
The cover artist is awesome! Good luck!
DeleteRecipe sounds wonderful, as does your series - which I haven't read YET!
ReplyDeletekpbarnett1941[at]aol.com
Good luck!
DeleteBy using a chocolate mold you don't have to think about lumpy shapes.
ReplyDeleteclever and yummy.
libbydodd at comcast dot net
I am very a big fan of this series! I can't wait until the newest book comes out. Especially since it takes place during Halloween time! These truffels sound delicious! And I love the idea of using the chocolate molds. It makes these seem doable. Thank you so much for the chance to win!!! magicgirl2357@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteSo glad you like the series! Good luck!
DeleteThis is a new series and author to me and I can't wait to read this series. Especially, for the recipes. Can't wait to read.
ReplyDeletediannekc8(at)gmail(dot)com
I hope you like it! Good luck!
DeleteThank you for the chance and love the series so far!!
ReplyDeletetiggercat24alisha@yahoo.com
So glad you like it! Good luck!
DeleteMaybe you could bring some of these truffles to our next critique group mtg?! Congrats on the upcoming release of book #3!🍾
ReplyDeleteFunny! Thanks and good luck!
DeleteI can't live without chocolate, and I love truffles! Thanks for the recipe and the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteDblaser(at)windstream(dot)net
Hope you enjoy them! Good luck!
DeleteAwesome! I love chocolate and your books sound so much fun to read!donamaekutska7@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteIt was fun to write! Good luck!
DeleteLove your recipe, Kathy! And your book sounds delicious! Can't wait to read it.
ReplyDeleteI hope you like it! When is your next mystery coming out?
DeleteI am always looking for food gifts for the holidays. These would be great in a cute tin for my friends.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the recipe and the great giveaway!
I hope you enjoy them! Good luck!
DeleteThanks for sharing the recipe. Looks great and I will have to try this one as Christmas and Halloween are coming. Please enter me in the contest.
ReplyDeleteMarilyn ewatvess@yahoo.com
Thanks so much to all of you Mystery Lovers Kitchen authors for having me on your blog!
ReplyDeleteThose look absolutely AMAZING. I can't wait to try them. I'm going to gain so much weight this season, too many great books and recipes right now. =) Thank you for sharing!!! konecny7(at)gmail(dot)com
ReplyDelete