No-mess chocolate truffles

I still find sous vide circulator to be an amazing part of one's cooking arsenal. In particular, nothing touches short ribs or pork belly cooked for 3 days or so. It is also beyond amazing to be able to make perfect onsen eggs right at home, definitely much more convenient than to travel to Japan.

Recently I discovered another use of sous vide circulator: Making chocolate truffles. I used to make them regularly and it was always a messy affair, with tasty results. Using sous vide to melt and temper chocolate adds precision to the process while reducing the effort significantly. Furthermore, piping truffles from a plastic bag really speeds up the preparation and eliminates lots of mess.

These truffles were likely the best I have ever made. I used sour cream instead of the more standard heavy cream, and for flavoring I used a splash of Kahlua. Options of course, are unlimited. For chocolate, I opted for 54% Hageland chocolate, not going for my usual go-to 70% chocolate.

Ingredients:

• 300g chocolate. I prefer dark to extra dark - 54% to 70%.
• Chop the chocolate roughly so that it melts more easily.
• 1/2 cup sour cream. Heavy whipping cream is a more standard option and one could certainly use it.
• A pinch of salt.
• 1/4 cup, approximately, Kahlua. 
• It is good to add additional flavorings. Other options are rum, strong coffee, Grand Mariner, Bailey's, any liquer really.
• One can also experiment with a pinch or two of chilly powder.
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa for coating the truffles
• One can also use finely chopped nuts. 

Method:

• Prepare a water bath and a sous vide circulator, set it to 115F.
• Add all of the wet ingredients into a ziplock bag. Save cocoa powder or nuts for later. 
• Using water displacement method, submerge the ziplock bag into the water and secure the bag to the pot.
• After the water comes to the temperature, keep the bag at the temperature for about 15 minutes, mixing it up at least once in between. Feel that all the chocolate has melted, otherwise wait some more time.
• When the chocolate is melted, make sure all the ingredients are mixed well.
• Set the sous-vide circulator to 81F and add ice to the water bath to drop the water temperature.
• Wait for another 15 minutes, mixing in the middle, so that the ganache cools down. 
• If ganache is too liquid for piping, wait a bit longer, or cool sous vide down for another few degrees.
• You can put the bag in the fridge for a minute or so, but be careful that it does not develop solid bits. I prefer waiting.
• On a counter or baking sheet, lay down a sheet or parchment, or use a silicone liner.
• Dust the parchment paper well with cocoa powder, using a fine sieve.
• Push all the ganache towards the bottom of the bag to prepare for piping.
• Snip a corner of the bag.
• Pipe ganache into small mounds on the parchment. Do not worry about the shape, it will be corrected when you roll the truffles. 
• Dust truffles with some more cocoa powder. This is what it looked like for me.

• Roll the truffles in the extra cocoa powder to get the desired shape.
• Store the truffles in a container in a fridge.

• Share!!!