Introduction

Be it Diwali – the festival of lights, christmas, eid or you are just feeling like it, chocolate truffles are a special gift for your loved ones. Generally made of nuts and other ingredients which make them tasty and delicious, no gift box is complete without these chocolate truffles. You can get plain chocolate truffles, salty truffles, peanut butter truffles, coconut truffles, Pan(Betel leave) truffles and many more. Traditionally a labour intensive process, more modern factories are using automated machines to ensure the ease of production and superior taste. Plus, they can be stored in an airtight container for a few weeks or months at room temperature and taste great when you’re ready to dig into them!

What are Chocolate truffles?

Chocolate truffles are confectionery item made from a chocolate ganache with added cream and butter and then rolled in cocoa powder. They are usually spherical in shape and can be eaten whole or cut into pieces.

The origin of the name chocolate truffle is not known but it is most likely named after truffles (a type of fungus), and were first developed in France by mistake. Now i am not here to tell you the same story which wikipedia will tell you, but rest assured , it was a fine accident to happen for chocolate lovers all over the world.

Types of chocolate truffles

You can make chocolate truffles in a variety of flavors and styles. There are the traditional ones, like white chocolate and dark chocolate, which are made with cocoa butter (a fat) and sugar. These types of truffles tend to be less sweet, so you might want to use them for a party or event where people don’t want too much sugar in their mouths all day long!

Then there’s mocha—which is just another way of saying coffee-flavored—and it’s delicious! You’ll need espresso powder mixed into your cocoa powder before adding any other ingredients.

How it is made

Chocolate truffles are made by mixing chocolate with a variety of ingredients. The most common ingredients used in making chocolate truffles are:

• Cocoa powder
• Confectioners’ sugar or icing sugar, which makes it easier to shape the truffles into balls or shapes.
• Butter, which gives the truffle its texture and helps prevent discoloration when they’re cooked.

You can also add other types of flavoring agents, such as vanilla extract or hazelnut extract; these will give your truffles an extra layer of flavor that makes them taste even better!

Chocolate truffles stuffing

Chocolate truffles stuffing, were traditionally done with ganache, which is nothing but chocolate , butter and cream. But as the popularity of chocolate truffles increased and it reached and seeped into various countries and cultures, they developed their own take own it and now there are various variations of chocolate truffles all over the world. You can have belgian truffles- made with ganache, buttercream and nut pastes, swiss truffle – made with butter and milk cream in hot chocolate, spanish truffle- made with dark chocolate, condensed milk and rum(or any other liqueur) and many others. You get my point.

Chocolate truffle machine

Traditionally, all the ganache or the center of the chocolate truffles were hand rolled and then the coating of chocolate was done on them. If additional steps were to be done like adding cocoa powder, or nuts etc, these too were done manually.

But as the demand of chocolate truffles kept on increasing, chocolate manufacturer had to find ways to keep up with it. So various kind of machines were designed and after so many iterations and changes, the current versions of machines which are used in manufacturing of chocolate truffles are not only time saving , but low maintenance also.

Some machines which are used in manufacturing of chocolate truffles are as below:-

• Screw type conveyor
• Extruder
• Enrober

And with new technological advancements everyday, these machines are improving day by day.

Problems in making chocolate truffles and their solutions

While in production a manufacturer can save many of problems while they are trying to ship out as many bags of chocolate truffles as possible.

• The truffles are too hard :- Increase the amount of cocoa butter
• The truffles are too soft :- Decrease the amount of cocoa butter
• The truffles were too dry or oily, or both:- This may be due to using a non compatible fat which the manufacturer is using in their chocolate kitchen.

Conclusion

Who knows what wild flavors of chocolate truffle we may get in future, i personally am ready to take on and enjoy it, one bite at a time, whatever flavor of chocolate truffle it may be.