Orange Pistachio Chocolate Truffles (4th July)

        What do you do when you have leftover ganache sitting in the fridge? Make chocolate truffles! It's been a few weeks now since I've made anything sweet at home so I thought I would blog about something sweet. I made these about a month ago (oh my goodness it's been a month already?!?), I had some leftover ganache from making my white jaffa cupcakes and have always wanted to make chocolate truffles snce forever so thought why not, before the ganache spoils on me and gets wasted.

        I have been thinking of all different flavour combinations in my head for a while now but realised that my white chocolate ganache was already flavoured with orange for my cupcakes. "Drats, need plan B" I thought, at first I was just going to make plain orange white chocolate truffles but then I thought they needed another element to them, perhaps a nut of sorts. The orange and pistachio combination is typically a middle eastern thing which I've been quite fascinated with so I thought why not give it a go with the truffles.

        I hadn't quite decided on what type of chocolate to use to coat the truffles and found this 50% cocoa in the cupboard so decided to go with that, not quite dark but not all milk chocolate either. I wanted it to contrast with the white chocolate filling so didn't want to use white chocolate.

        I didn't realise what tiring work it was to roll up all the ganache. As it had been stored in the fridge it was a little hard so I left it out to come to room temperature but then found it too soft so had to put it back in the fridge. I keep checking on it looking for a pliable consistency where I could scoop up the ganache easily and roll it but I didn't want it to be so soft that it would just melt in my hands. It does get quite sticky so I have to wash my hands a few times in between rolling. I use a whole pistachio for the middle of the truffle.

        Instead of just melting the chocolate as I usually would I thought I would try and temper it and attempt to get the sheen and crunch that you find when eating a good quality chocolate. I find it hard to control the heat while cooling down and warming up the chocolate, perhaps I need a digital thermometer for this. I'm not too fussed anyway about the texture of the coating so I just melt it, cool it, then warm it up again to approximate temperatures. My thermometer also ends up in the chocolate bowl at one stage.

        My original plan was to melt a small amount of white chocolate and perhaps even colour it orange to drizzle over the truffles for a textured effect but I had chocolate left over so just used it up. No real skill or thought here, just random drizzlings with a fork it's called 'rustic' =D. Because the chocolate wasn't tempered properly I didn't get the shiney finish on my chocolates but for a first time and for something that's home made I think they are pretty cool.

        I wrap up a few for some friends, I cut my cellophane a little small so only manage to squeeze in 3 but they wre greatly appreciated by all recipients. I also decide to take the rest to work and shared them around the office when 3.30itis hits. I don't know if everyone knows what truffles are so I just call them chocolates around the office, everyone was pretty impressed that I made my own chocolates =) They also thought they looked pretty perfect too. I didn't but oh I'm such a perfectionist.

        Innard! The 50% chocolate was a good contrast to the ganache without it being too overpowering and bitter as not everyone likes dark chocolate. Once you bite into the chocolate shell the ganache was nice and smooth with the contrasting texture and flavour of the pistachio. Ryan loved them! Though I can't recall many things that I've made that he's not liked =D I now appreciate a good chocolatier more than ever, I'll always pay for good chocolates.