Stuck on You

On the last full weekend in April the people of Shepherd, Michigan celebrate the seasons bounty that’s been collected since February.  This bounty is Maple Syrup.  People know it best by the condiment they put on pancakes or French toast, but real maple enthusiasts know it has much more value than that.

The History
Maple Syrup was collected by Native Americans long before Europeans were collecting honey and long before North American history was written down.  The tribes, specifically the Algonquin, Iroquois, and Ojibwas, have many myths on how maple syrup came to be.

The people of these tribes considered the golden elixir to be an important part of their diet.  They drank the sap, boiled it down for sugar, mixed the syrup into bear fat, or even corn meal.  They celebrated the beginning of maple season with an energetic dance during the first full moon of the season (known as the Maple Moon or Sugar Moon) in thanks to the gods that gave them this treasure.

They slashed a V into the maple tree using their tomahawks and inserted a wood chip so it remained open.  The sap was collected in sheets of elm bark or clay containers.  It was allowed to freeze, then the ice was removed leaving behind the concentrated syrup or they dropped red hot rocks into it boiling off the water.

In the middle of the 16th century, these tribes would use the sugary concoction to trade with Europeans just showing up in their area.  They also taught these new people the trade of sugaring.

Since cane sugar from the West Indies was heavily taxed and more for the rich, colonists used the maple syrup and sugar in everyday cooking.  They would work day and night during sugaring season to make the syrup into cakes, which was easier to store and would last the rest of the year.

As cane sugar and eventually beet sugar became cheaper and more available, maple sugar became less and less desired.

The Process


Maple Syrup is made from the sap of the Sugar Maple Tree (Acer saccharum).  This tree is indigenous to southeastern Canada and northeastern United States.  The province of Quebec is the largest maple syrup producer in the world, about 81% of the world's syrup comes from Quebec.  They are followed by Vermont (5.5%), Ontario and Maine (3.3% each)

The sap starts flowing when the nights are below freezing and the day is above freezing.


Traditionally, the trees are tapped with a drill when the temperature gets above freezing (drilling through frozen bark and/or wood can split and damage the tree) and a spout is inserted and a galvanized bucket is hung to collect the sap.

The sap buckets must be collected at least once a day to prevent spoiling.  Tapping also must only be done on mature, healthy trees.  Usually the tapping process won't hurt the tree as it will keep growing right over the old tap hole.  Some trees are large enough, they can handle multiple taps.  

Companies that collect from a large amount of trees employ plastic tubing from the trees that lead toward a main tank

The sap is then boiled so that most of the water will evaporate out thus creating syrup.  Maple sap is 97% water, whereas maple syrup in the end only contains about 34% water.  To achieve the proper boil, the sap is heated to about 7 degrees above the boiling point of water.  This temperature can change with many variables (e.g. elevation, barometric pressure, humidity, etc.).  Since it takes about 40 gallons of maple sap to produce one gallon of maple syrup, the process creates a lot of steam which is why maple syrup producers have a dedicated building for this process.  Doing this on a kitchen stove will cause some problems.

The syrup is then sent through a series of filters to remove the "sugar sand" (concentrated minerals and organic acids found in maple sap) then graded and bottled.


The Flavor and Grading

Maple syrup contains 65% sugar, comprised of 63% sucrose and the rest being glucose and fructose.  It also contains 34% water and 0.5% malic acid and other acids.  Sweetness is the primary flavor of the syrup, the acids give it a slight tartness and the wood itself naturally creates a by-product called vanillin (this is what makes imitation vanilla).  The longer they syrup is boiled, the more the sugars caramelize and the more the water is reduced.  This creates a deeper more intense maple flavor.

The US Department of Agriculture has defined two grades of maple syrup, A and B.  Although there are multiple levels of grade A: light amber, medium amber and dark amber.  The grade is determined by the sugar content, flavor and color.  Sugar content can be measured by a hydrometer (which is actually measuring it's specific gravity, which is the ratio of density of the liquid to the density of pure water), and the color can be determined by measuring how much light penetrates through the syrup.  The more light that passes through the higher the grade.

Grade A Light Amber (or Fancy) has a very delicate flavor and is the lightest in color.  Grade A Medium Amber has a delicate flavor, while Grade A Dark Amber has a more distinct flavor.  Finally, Grade B has a strong flavor and is very dark.

Maple Syrup is also nutritious.  It has a higher amount of calcium than milk and of all sweeteners has the lowest amount of calories.  It also contains iron, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, trace amounts of amino acids, proteins, riboflavin (which is vitamin B2), pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), and niacin.

The Dish

Maple syrup is much more than just a pancake topper.  The unique maple flavor lends it to many different applications from pouring it on top of iced cream, to mixing it with vinegar and oil and making a salad dressing, to mixing it with caramel and making maple caramel popcorn.  It can even be used in a savor dish;  The Black Sheep Sugarhouse in Orleans, Vermont has a chicken wing recipe developed by Kathy Desmarais, that is delicious.  This dish is probably best using a grade B syrup, since the flavors are deeper and can withstand the cooking process better.


The Recipe

Maple Marinated Chicken Wings

3 lbs. chicken wings
3/4 cup soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground mustard
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp dried chives

Cut tips off chicken wings and pierce each wing with a fork.  Mix remaining ingredients in a separate bowl; reserve some sauce for basting wings during cooking.  Place a layer of wings in a bowl or baking pan. Pour enough marinade over wings to coat them.  Continue to add layers of wings and marinade one layer at a time, until all of the sauce is used.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.  Remove from refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 375ºF.  Arrange wings on foil-covered baking sheet.  Use a pastry brush to paint each wing with a dab of the reserved sauce. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes.

Variation: For those of you who watch your salt intake, substitute reduced-salt soy sauce for the regular version.


Further Reading/Bibliography

1. Eagleson, Janet & Hasner, Rosemary, The Maple Syrup Book, Erin, Ontario, Boston Mills Press, 2006
2. McGee, Harold, On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, New York, NY,Scribner, 2004
3. http://shepherdmaplesyrupfestival.org
4. http://www.blacksheepsugarhouse.com

3.14159, We love Pie!

Happy Pi day!  What better way to celebrate pi day than with a slice of pie.

The pie is synonymous with Americana as illustrated by the phrase “as American as apple pie.”

A New York Times article written in 1902, simply titled “Pie” goes on to say:

“Pie is the American synonym of prosperity and its varying contents the calendar of the changing seasons.  Pie is the food of the heroic. No pie-eating people can ever be permanently vanquished.”

Even though pie makes so many people happy, less and less people are actually making it at home for fear of screwing something up that means so much to us.  On the contrary, pie is a rather simple dish to make or, pardon the pun, it’s as easy as pie.

So, on this March 14th, go have a slice of your favorite pie, and try your very best to make it a home made slice of pie.

The History

Pie can be traced back to ancient Egypt, around 9500 BC, as pockets made with oats, barley, wheat and rye filled with honey and baked over coals.  The pastry shell tended to be more of a serving device, baking dish, or storage/preservation.

For many years, pies were really more of a show than a delicacy.  Pies often contained live birds, turtles, rabbits, frogs, even little people would be in the pie and would come out as soon as the top was cut.  This where the rhyme “Four and twenty blackbirds baked into a pie….,” comes from.

When the pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, they also brought with them their family pie recipes.  It is in America they started using fruits and berries, basically using what the land provided them and what the Native Americans introduced to them.

Well into the 1700s, the pioneers served pie with every meal, making it an American icon.  Different regions of the country have come up with their signature pie.

The Science

A great pie crust is defined by both its flakiness and tenderness.  These two concepts counteract each other in the production of the crust.  Flakiness is formed when large pieces of solid fat occupy space in the dough and are separated flour.  On the other hand, when the fat is more evenly distributed, a more tender crust is created.

The type of fat is an important factor in creating the tenderness/flakiness.  The longer the fat stays solid, the flakier the crust will be, so keeping it cold until it goes in the oven produces best results.  Lard, shortening, margarine  or butter are the usual fats of choice in pie dough.  The melting temperature of the fat dictates how long it will stay solid while the dough sets producing a flakier crust.  Butter, being only 80% fat, has a lower melting temperature than shortening, but has a more desirable flavor and mouth feel.  On the other hand, shortening has a higher melting temp, which makes it easier to work with and produces a flakier crust.  Lard has a negative reputation since it is conceived to be a lot less healthy.  Saturated fat and trans fatty acids do raise a persons cholesterol, but it is found that butter and, even more so, margarine are actually higher in these than lard is.  As a matter of fact, lard is found to have larger amounts of mono and poly unsaturated fats.  Many people swear by insert fat type here in their own pie crust recipe

The type of flour used is another important factor in creating a great pie crust.  The formation of gluten in a crust makes it tough and eliminates the tenderness/flakiness of the crust.  Most bakeries use pastry flour in their crust production which has a lot less protein in it than all purpose flour (and maybe a tad more than cake flour).  The more the dough is worked, the more gluten is produced.  Water is also a good gluten producer when mixed with flour.  When making something out of paper Mache, such as a piñata, the glue that holds it together is a simple mixture of flour and water, or gluten.  Fat and sugar act as tenderizers, that is they minimize the formation of gluten.  Acids break down the protein strands which also make them good anti gluten candidates (which is why vinegar is sometimes found in a pie crust recipe).

Liquids help make the dough hold together and more pliable when rolled out.  This liquid can come in many forms.  Ice water is the foremost type of liquid used; it is cheaper and more easily acquired.  Browsing through different recipes, liquid comes in many other forms.  Cream, sour cream, cream cheese and eggs provide liquid as well as fat.  Alcohol is another good form of liquid, it moisturizes the dough without forming gluten and it evaporates away in the baking process.

The color of the crust adds to the eye appeal of it. Sugar and protein make the crust browner, while acid makes the crust appear paler.  The type pie may govern the brownness of the crust, for example the rich darkness of a nice pecan pie might make a good brown crust look burnt, so a paler crust might be more desired.

Keeping all this in mind, some bakeries differentiate their crust by the type of pie being made.  An old fashioned double crust pie might have a different recipe for the bottom of the pie than the top.  A mealy dough has the fat more integrated into the flour and can avoid absorbing moisture from a particularly wet filling preventing it from becoming soggy which makes it a great bottom crust dough.  A flaky dough, with larger pieces of fat is a good technique for making a top crust.

The Technique

A very basic recipe for pie crust is a 3-2-1 dough.  That is three parts flour, two parts fat and one part liquid.  This recipe is usually altered with the addition of sugar and/or salt to add flavor.

To make the dough, start by cutting the fat into the flour.  This can be done by hand, a pastry blender, two knives, food processor or even rolling the two ingredients together on the counter with a rolling pin.  Add liquid, sugar, salt, egg, etc and mix being careful not to handle the dough too much and avoiding over mixing.  Once together, the dough should hold together nicely when squeezed.  Form the dough into balls or patties, wrap in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.  This allows the fat to reharden and the liquid to evenly distribute itself throughout the dough.  Roll out the dough on a floured surface to a uniform thickness.  When rolling, don’t roll of the edge, that tends to thin it out more than the rest of the dough.

 Blind baking the crust, that is prebaking it without a filling, makes it crispier.  To do this, preheat the oven to 400° F, while waiting, poke holes at the bottom of the crust so trapped air won’t puff up and blister the bottom (this is called docking the crust).  Place a piece of foil or parchment paper inside the pie and fill it with uncooked beans, rice or pie weights.  This also aids in making sure the crust doesn’t blister.  Bake the crust for 10 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and remove the pie weights.  Place back in the oven for another 10 minutes.  You now have a nice golden brown and delicious pie crust.

Berry pies are often covered and don’t usually need the blind baking method.  After the pie is filled, make sure the top crust is perfectly sealed onto the bottom crust.  This is where artistic impression can be made around the edge or even on top of the pie.  Some people put decorative cut outs from the scraps on top.  It is also important to cut stem vents on the top crust.

Another object that is decreasing in popularity is the pie bird, or pie funnel.  This functional adornment has been used since Victorian times to function as a steam vent thus preventing the filling from boiling over and spilling all over the oven.  Pie birds also help support the middle of the top crust to prevent it from sagging while baking.  They’re usually made of ceramic and come in many shapes.  The most popular, which is its namesake, is in the shape of a blackbird, paying homage to centuries past when birds were really part of a pie.

The Dishes

Basic Pie Dough Recipe

	Weight	Volume
Flour	5 oz	1 2/3 Cups
Butter	3.5 oz	½ Cup
Water, cold	1.5 oz	2 ½ Tbsp
Salt	Pinch	Pinch
Sugar	¼ oz	½ Tbsp

Sift the flour into mixing bowl.  Cut in butter.  Dissolve salt and sugar into water.  Add the water solution a little at a time until dough hold together.  Do not over work.  Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least half an hour.

Pies:  How can I pick only one pie recipe?

Hybrid Pecan Pumpkin Pie

This first one is a recipe I thought of at around Thanksgiving.  I love pumpkin pie, I love pecan pie, why not combine the two.

Pumpkin Pie Filling

Pumpkin puree	13.25 oz
Pastry flour	0.5 oz
Cinnamon	0.12 oz
Nutmeg	¼ tsp
Ginger	¼ tsp
Cloves	1/8 tsp
Salt	0.06 oz
Brown Sugar	5 oz
Eggs	5 oz
Corn Syrup	0.5 oz
Molasses	0.5 oz
Heavy Cream	½ pint

1. Place the pumpkin in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the whip attachment.
2. Sift together the flour, spices, and salt.
3. Add the flour mixture and sugar to the pumpkin. Mix at second speed until smooth and well blended.
4. Add the eggs and mix in. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
5. Turn the machine to low speed.  Gradually pour in the syrup, molasses, then the cream.  Mix until evenly blended.
6. Let the filling stand for 30-60 minutes.

Pecan Pie Filling

Granulated Sugar	3.5 oz
Butter	1 oz
Salt	1/8 tsp
Eggs	3.5 oz
Dark corn syrup	6 oz
Vanilla Extract	0.125 oz
Pecans	2.5 oz

1. Using the paddle attachment at low speed, blend the sugar, buter, and slat until evenly blended.
2. With the machine running, add the eggs a little at a time until they are all absorbed.
3. Add the syrup and vanilla. Mix until well blended.

Assembly

1. Fill the pie shell half to ¾ full of pumpkin pie filling.
2. Bake at 450ºF for 10 minutes.
3. Place pecans on top of pumpkin custard and pour in Pecan Pie Filling.
4. Bake at 450ºF for an additional 5 minutes.
5. Reduce heat to 350 ºF and bake until set, about 30-40 minutes more.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Lemon Curd (makes 5 cups)

Whole Eggs	8
Sugar	1 ½ lb.
Lemon juice	1 ½ Cups
Lemon zest	From 8 lemons (in large pieces)
Unsalted butter	12 oz
Corn starch	1 ¼ oz
Cold water	3 Tbsp

1. In a stainless steel saucepan, whisk together the eggs and sugar until well combined.
2. Add the lemon juice and zest, combine.
3. Cut the butter into pieces and add to the mix
4. Place over medium heat stirring constantly until the mixture comes to a boil, remove from heat.
5. Combine the corn starch with cold water to dissolve.
6. Return the pan to medium heat, add the corn starch and stir constantly until the mixture comes to a boil.
7. Strain the mixture to remove the zest and refrigerate.

Swiss Meringue
Egg Whites     4 oz
Sugar              ½ lb

Place the egg whites nad sugar in a stainless steel bowl or in the top of a double boiler.  Beat with a wire whip over hot water until the mixture is warm (about 120∞ F or when the sugar dissolves).
Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a mixing machine.  Whip it at high speed until stiff peaks form and the meringue is completely cool.
Fill the pie shell with lemon curd and cover with meringue.  Place pie under broiler until meringue browns.

Further Reading/Bibliography

1. Corriher, Shirley O., Cookwise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Cooking, New York, NY, HarperCollins, 1997
2. Gisslen, Wayne, Professional Baking, Hoboken, New Jersey, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2009
3. “Pie” New York Times 3 May 1902: 8
4. http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/PieHistory.htm

My Dark Addiction

As Harry Potter is returning to Hogwarts for his third year, the guardians of Azkaban the dreaded Dementors, are searching for the escaped convict Sirius Black.  As the train stops, not yet at its final destination, a sudden chill comes over the passengers of the Hogwarts express.  The Dementors are searching the train.  Unexpectedly, Harry has a rather severe reaction to the Dementors ultimately passing out.  When he reawakes Remus Lupin gives him a treat to counteract the effects…chocolate.

Chocolate has been found to be the most craved food item.  It seems to give the consumer a moment of elation that warms the entire body.  The dark silky goodness has a melting temperature is about 97°F (a person’s body temperature is 98.6°F).  Getting hold of a nice little piece of dark chocolate and just letting sit in the mouth melting away is close to heavenly bliss (chewing it almost seems to be a sin).

It wasn’t always the solid confection we know and love today.  Montezuma, emperor of the Aztecs used to drink almost 50 cups of “chocolatl” or “xocoatl” in which cocao beans were ground into a paste and mixed with chile, vanilla, honey and other spices.  It was believed to be part health drink, part aphrodisiac.  Predating the Aztecs, the Mayans believed their tree “cacahuaquchtl” was the food of the gods.  In greek, “food of the gods” translates to theobroma, so the tree that gives us this mouth watering morsel is the cacao tree or Theobroma cacao.


The History

The evergreen tree Theobroma cacao is native to southern Mexico and northern South America.  The fruit of the tree, or pods that grow straight from the trunk, produce a sweet, sticky white pulp that attracts the native animals.  This pod also produces about 30 to 40 seeds, which are discarded by the animals, dispersing them which sprouts more trees.  It is these seeds, or beans, that have become renown throughout the world.

The first people that are hypothesized to use the bean from T. cacao are the Olmecs who lived in southeast Mexico around 1000 B.C.  It isn’t really known why or when the Olmecs started cultivating what they called kakawa which is where we derive the word cacao (pronounced ka-KOW) which is used today.

The Olmecs introduced kakawa to the Mayans who inhabited the same area between 250 and 900 A.D. They used cacao as currency and brewed them into a foamy drink enjoyed only by Mayan royalty and in religious ceremonies.  They in turn passed it on to the Aztecs who lived further north.  The Aztecs also used the cacao beans as currency as well as making it into a drink by roasting them grinding them to a powder then added to water and whipped to make the drink foamy.  The emperor Montezuma was known to drink 50 glasses of chocolate a day (to “help” him with his harem). Both the Aztecs and the Mayans were known to flavor their chocolate drink with aromatic flowers, vanilla, chile, wild honey, and achiote ( also known as annatto, a spice native to the area used as a flavoring and a colorant, it turned the chocolate into a red color resembling blood).

When Hernán Cortés arrived, to eventually wipe out the Aztecs, he was introduced to cacao.  Since he conquered many areas including the Caribbean, it wasn’t long before the Spaniards started mixing the cacao with sugar.  In around 1650, chocolate had found its way into Italy, France and England, but was still in the form of a beverage.

Any attempt to enjoy chocolate in a solid form was futile as it was crumbly in texture. Conrad van Houten, a chocolatier in Amsterdam, discovered a way to extract cocoa butter out of the chocolate leaving the solids and creating cocoa powder.  The cocoa butter was at first thrown.  It was eventually added into ground cacao beans and sugar and the first “eating chocolate” was introduced in 1847 by the English.

In 1876, Switzerland made important contributions to the production of the solid chocolate we know and love today. Daniel Peter used Henri Nestlé’s invention of dried milk powder to produce a solid milk chocolate.  A couple of years later, Rudolphe Lindt invented the conche, which give the chocolate its silky smooth texture.

Chocolate in this form, eventually found its way into the new world.  In 1900 Milton Hershey started producing milk chocolate bars in bulk, lowering the cost of a chocolate bar.  Mr Hershey eventually convinced the U.S. Army to start supplying his bars in a soldiers ration pack.  As World War II had broken out the U.S. Army had posts all over the world increasing the popularity of the Hershey bar.

In 1911, Frank C. Mars and his wife Ethel V. Healy started their candy making company in their kitchen.  This eventually leads to the other chocolate giant, Mars, Inc.

In 1994 a Chocolate War in Europe had erupted.  The EU was defining food standards and eventually worked its way to chocolate.  Belgium, France and Germany didn’t want anything lower than 50% cocoa to be called chocolate.  This was met with huge opposition by England, more specifically, the Cadbury company, who produces chocolate candy with only 10% cocoa.  Germany’s milk chocolate companies eventually persuaded the German government to change its mind which was enough for England and Cadbury to win their argument.  Anything with more than 1% cocoa can be called chocolate, but as a stipulation these companies must put the amount of cocoa on their labels.

The Production

The pods of the cacao are harvested twice a year.  The trees are too fragile to climb so the harvesters are wielding machetes.  The beans are removed from the pod by hand so they don’t get damaged.  The beans are then fermented in between banana leaves until most of the moisture is gone.  This process also changes the beans color from yellow to brown and develops the flavor within.  The better quality the beans are, the less time they need to ferment.  Then they dried completely and are shipped to processors.

The beans are washed then roasted at a temperature of 210°F to 290°F.  They are then cracked and the outer shell is removed.  The left over cacao, called nibs, are then ground into a paste, or chocolate liquor (nope, there’s no alcohol in it), or cocoa mass.

The processor now splits up the cocoa liquor and sends it to different rooms depending on what the end product is going to be.

In one room, the liquor is put into a hydraulic press separating it into cocoa butter and cocoa solids.  The solids are ground up into cocoa powder.  Since cacao is naturally acidic, the cocoa powder is sometimes Dutch processed, in which alkalis are mixed to neutralize it (so in baking, Dutch process cocoa powder won’t react with baking powder so compensation for that will have to be made by adding more acid).

The cocoa butter will either be mixed with sugar and milk powder which forms white chocolate or will be packaged as is.  Cocoa butter is used in capsules in suppositories and oral medication because it can hold its shape, is stable and is an inactive ingredient.  Cocoa butter also has a moisturizing effect which makes it ideal for lip balms or other moisturizing creams.

In the other room, the cocoa liquor is mixed with more cocoa butter and sugar to form dark chocolate.  The addition of milk powder makes it into milk chocolate.  From here, the chocolate is defined by its chocolate liquor content.  Milk chocolate contains as little as 10% liquor while semisweet or bittersweet chocolate varies between 35% and 84% liquor.  Anything greater than 85% is considered unsweetened.

This chocolate mixture now has to be refined to get its definitive smooth texture.  In order to do this, a procedure called conching is used.  In the first stage moisture is removed, while in the second stage cocoa butter is added back into the mixture and is ground, mixed and churned for hours or days depending on the desired quality (the longer the conching the higher the quality).

After the conching process, the chocolate is tempered in order to get the nice shine and proper texture.  The types of fat vary within the cocoa butter, this variation in fat means that the specific melting temperatures vary as well.  The fats with the higher melting points have a more stable molecular structure and therefore are the higher quality fats.  These are the ones that give the chocolate its shine and its snap.

To temper the chocolate properly, all of the fats must first be melted.  This happens between 122° and 131º F.  This is best done over a double boiler instead of direct heat because chocolate burns easily.  Cooling or precrystallization happens next by letting the chocolate cool down to between 80° and 84° F.  Bringing the chocolate back up to between 86° and 89° F thins out the chocolate so it’s usable without melting all of the fats.  If the chocolate gets hotter than 89° F in this last step, the entire tempering process needs to be started over again.

The Science

It was once thought that chocolate might contain psychoactive chemicals that make it addictive.  Looking deeply into chocolate, it contains minute amounts of anandamide, a“cannabinoid” chemical, that is also found in marijuana.  Chocolate also contains theobromine, which is an alkaloid, and caffeine, both of which are psychoactive molecules.  As it turns out the amount of these chemicals are so small that it will take many pounds of chocolate to become addictive.

Chocolate also contains a high amount of phenylethylamine.  Phenylethylamine has the capability to release dopamine into the pleasure center in the brain.  Falling in love and feeling passion has the same reaction.

Not only does chocolate make you feel good, it’s good for you.  Chocolate contains many antioxidants in the form of flavonoids, more specifally: epicatechin.  It is believed that falonoids decrease the risk for cardiovascular disease.

Antioxidants also help keep the amount of free radicals in our body from getting too high.  Free radicals are molecules that contain atoms that have an unpaired electron, which means it’s always seeking to bond with something to make it complete.  This can be harmful to the cells in our body.  The darker the chocolate bar you eat, the more antioxidants are consumed.  Milk and sugar tend to dilute the chocolate.

The Dish

Chocolate truffles were first made as a confectionary equivalent to the truffle fungus.  Chocolate truffles are made with a ganache center and covered in chocolate.  Many flavorings can be added to the ganache and it can have any number of outer coatings.  The basic truffle is dark chocolate ganache covered in dark chocolate then powdered cocoa.

Ganache is a simple dish that features chocolate.  In its basic form, ganache is cream and chocolate.  Flavors can be added as an accent, can be whipped to lighten or butter can be added to increase its richness.  Ganache can be used as a filling for truffles, cakes and other pastries. When still warm, it can be used as a glaze, icing or a sauce.

The Recipe

Bittersweet Chocolate, chopped	1 lb
Heavy Cream	12 oz
Tempered Dark chocolate	As needed

Method:
Heat the cream and pour over the chopped chocolate constantly stirring so it melts evenly.

Variations:
Separate the ganache into separate, equal parts.  In my case I separated it into four parts and added a different flavor to each: lavender, Kirsch and cherry flavor for a Black Forest truffle (I also added a dehydrated cherry in the middle), Grand Marnier, raspberry preserves.

Chill the ganache until firm.  Scoop the ganache into 2 tsp. mounds, roll into balls and chill again.  Melt and temper dark chocolate and prepare additional toppings.  Enrobe the ganache balls in the tempered chocolate and, if desired roll into additional toppings.

Note:  I made a fifth flavor using a combination white chocolate and milk chocolate ganache for a creamy German chocolate truffle, which were rolled in toasted coconut and pecans.

Further Reading/Bibliography

• Gisslen, Wayne, Professional Baking, Hoboken, New Jersey, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2009
• McGee, Harold, On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, New York, NY,Scribner,2004
• Rosenblum, Mort, Chocolate: A Bittersweet Saga of Dark and Light, New York, NY, North Point Press, 2005
• http://www.facts-about-chocolate.com
• http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-cocoa-butter.htm
• http://www.xocoatl.org
• http://www.chocolate-chemistry.com/
• http://www.hersheys.com
• http://www.mars.com