Top Shelf Truffles for National Margarita Day

If you've been following me this month, you'll know that I attended a Truffle Making class right before Valentines' Day led by Jenn of Rook No. 17. She is a chocolatiering wizard and an incredible culinary inspiration. She had us make a trio of dark chocolate decadence: one with champagne and gold leaf, one with raspberry dust, and one with granulated honey.

I went home and decided to make some saffron-infused truffles for my Spice It Up! class. The kids had voted to learn about saffron that week. I made a kid-friendly White Chocolate-Saffron Truffle and a Strega-Spiked Saffron Truffle for grown ups. Liquore Strega - in case you're unfamiliar - is a saffron liqueur from Italy.

So, for this event - girlichef's National Margarita Day round-up - I decided to try my hand at a tequila truffle. Here we go...these have a healthy dose of tequila in a Kaffir lime-infused ganache and are finished with a fleur de sel sprinkle on the top. Lime, salt...that all says 'margarita' to me. How 'bout you?

As far as these being 'Top Shelf', I liked the alliteration; I don't actually know if this tequila qualifies - sorry!

Tequila-Spiked Makrut Lime Ganache

makes approximately 30 truffles

Ingredients

1-1/2 C 72% cacao chocolate, chopped
1 C heavy cream
2 dried Makrut lime leaves
1 T butter, softened
2 T tequila (I used Patrón Silver Tequila)

Procedure

Place chopped chocolate and tequila in a large mixing bowl. In a medium saucepan, bring cream to a boil with the kaffir leaves. Let steep for 10 minutes. Remove the leaves and bring the cream to a boil again. Pour cream over the chocolate. Let sit for three minutes, then whisk until smooth. Stir in butter. Refrigerate until firm - at least two hours. I left mine overnight.

Now all you need to do is scoop the ganache into truffles...and dip them in tempered chocolate.

Making the Truffles

Procedure
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. With a tablespoon or tablespoon scoop, scoop chilled truffle ganache from your bowl and place on the lined tray. Refrigerate for a minimum of 15 minutes. (I let them chill for about 30 minutes.)

For chocolate-dipped truffles...how to temper chocolate...

Place half of your chipped chocolate (I didn't measure, but you can just repeat the process if you run out of chocolate) in a double-boiler and, over low heat, warm until melted. Remove from heat and stir in the other half of the chocolate. Set aside until the chocolate begins to lose its shine; it's beginning to crystallize. Then, return the chocolate to the double-boiler and warm, over very low heat, until smooth and glossy.

Dip chilled truffles in the melted chocolate, one at a time. You may use a candy dipping tool, but I just use a two-toothpick combo. Dip the truffle quickly into the melted chocolate and shake off the excess. Place on the parchment-lined tray and use another toothpick to nudge the truffle off of the toothpick. Dip the toothpick back into the melted chocolate and use a dab of chocolate to cover up any imperfections.

Immediately after chocolate dipping, sprinkle the truffle with a bit of fleur de sel. Repeat with remaining truffles. Let the chocolate set. Serve at room temperature.