Hazelnut Chocolate Ice Cream Truffle Recipes

HAZELNUT TRUFFLES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Chop the hazelnuts and place them on a sheet pan. Roast them in the oven for 10 minutes. (If the hazelnuts have skin on them, roast them for 25 minutes.) Set aside to cool.
• Chop the chocolates finely and place in a bowl.
• Heat the cream in a small saucepan until it boils. Immediately pour the hot cream through a fine-meshed sieve into the bowl with the chocolates. With a wire whisk, slowly stir the cream and chocolates together until the chocolate is completely melted. (If the chocolate doesn't melt completely, place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and stir for a few minutes just until it melts.) Whisk in the hazelnut liqueur, coffee, and vanilla. Cover and chill for 45 minutes to 1 hour until pliable but firm enough to scoop.
• With 2 teaspoons or a 1 1/4-inch ice cream scoop, make dollops of the chocolate mixture and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes, until firm enough to roll into rough spheres. Roll the chocolate in the chopped hazelnuts and chill again. Truffles are best when they're allowed to set overnight in the refrigerator.

HAZELNUT-CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM TRUFFLE

Steps:

• Whisk the milk and cocoa powder together in a small heavy saucepan until blended. Set over low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the cocoa is completely dissolved.
• Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a second small heavy saucepan until thick and lemon-colored. Ladle the hot cocoa mixture a little at a time into the egg mixture, whisking constantly until well blended. Set the saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until dense and creamy, about 3 minutes. Strain into a bowl and cool to room temperature, covered with plastic wrap pressed directly to the surface.
• If you have an ice-cream maker, freeze the chocolate mixture in it according to manufacturer's directions. If not, set the bowl on the freezer shelf and let it sit, stirring occasionally, until frozen but still soft and moldable, from 2 to 3 hours. (You can "still-freeze" the ice cream like this up to a day in advance. Let it sit at room temperature until softened, about 10 minutes, before continuing.)
• To form the "truffles"
• Using a 4-ounce ice-cream scoop, scoop up a ball of the chocolate ice cream and poke a hazelnut into the center while the ice cream is still in the scoop. Drop the truffles onto a wax-paper-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining ice cream and hazelnuts, setting the formed truffles and the ice cream in the freezer if they begin to melt. Set the truffles on a level freezer shelf and freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, chop the remaining hazelnuts to the size of the chopped chocolate. Toss the chopped hazelnuts and the chocolate together on a separate baking sheet.
• Take the truffles out of the freezer and roll them one at a time in the chopped chocolate and hazelnuts until they are lightly coated. Return to the wax-paper-lined tray, and when all are coated, return the tray to the freezer. (Depending on the temperature and how quickly the truffles start to melt, you may have to do them in batches.) Freeze at least 2 hours or up to 2 days. If keeping the truffles more than a few hours, transfer them to a covered container once they are frozen solid.
• To serve, let the truffles stand at room temperature until softened, about 5 minutes, before serving. Meanwhile, whip the heavy cream in a chilled bowl until it holds stiff peaks. Divide the whipped cream among chilled plates, mounding it in the center. Top with truffles and serve immediately.

CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT TRUFFLES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, sift together confectioners' sugar and cocoa; set aside. , In a small saucepan, melt candy bars and butter. Add cream and reserved cocoa mixture. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until mixture is thickened and smooth. Pour into an 8-in. square dish. Cover and refrigerate overnight. , Using a melon baller or spoon, shape candy into 1-in. balls; press a hazelnut into each. Reshape balls and roll in ground hazelnuts. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

TOASTED HAZELNUT AND CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM

Steps:

• In a small heavy saucepan, whisk eggs, sugar and salt until blended; stir in milk. Cook over medium-low heat until a thermometer reads at least 160°, stirring constantly. Do not allow to boil. Remove from heat., Strain into a bowl; whisk in cream and Nutella until smooth. Stir in chopped chocolate. Press plastic wrap onto surface of custard. Refrigerate overnight., Pour custard into cylinder of ice cream freezer; freeze according to manufacturer's directions, adding hazelnuts during the last 2 minutes of processing. Transfer ice cream to freezer containers, allowing headspace for expansion; freeze until firm, 2-4 hours.

HAZELNUT CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES

Steps:

• Place 1 pound of the chocolate in a 2-quart mixing bowl. In a 1-quart saucepan over medium heat, bring the cream to a boil. Pour the cream into the bowl with the chocolate. Let the mixture stand for 1 minute, then stir together with a rubber spatula, whisk, or immersion blender until thoroughly blended. Mix in 3/4 cup of the hazelnuts and blend well. Cover the truffle cream, let cool to room temperature, and chill in the refrigerator until thick but not stiff (2 to 3 hours). Or let the truffle cream sit at room temperature for several hours or overnight until completely set and thick.
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or waxed paper. Fit a 12-inch pastry bag with a large, plain round pastry tip with a 1/2-inch opening and fill partway with the truffle cream. Holding the pastry bag 1 inch above the paper, pipe out mounds about 1 inch in diameter. Or use a small ice cream scoop to form the mounds. Cover the mounds with plastic wrap and chill in the freezer for 2 hours or in the refrigerator for 6 hours.
• Dust your hands with cocoa powder and roll the mounds into balls. These will be the truffle centers. Cover and chill the centers for another 2 hours in the freezer.
• Remove the truffle centers from the freezer and bring to cool-room temperature so the outer coating won't crack when they are dipped. Line 2 more baking sheets with parchment or waxed paper. Melt and temper the remaining 1 1/2 pounds chocolate (see pages 25-30). Place a truffle center into the tempered chocolate, coating it completely. With a dipper or fork, remove the center from the chocolate, carefully shake off the excess chocolate, and turn the truffle out onto the paper. After dipping 4 truffles, sprinkle a pinch of the remaining ground hazelnuts on top of them, before the chocolate sets up.
• Let the truffles set up at room temperature, or chill them in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes. When the truffles are set, place them in paper candy cups. In a tightly covered container wrapped in several layers of aluminum foil, the truffles will keep for 1 month in the refrigerator or 2 months in the freezer. The truffles are best served at room temperature.
• VARIATIONS
• Instead of dipping the truffles in tempered chocolate, roll them in a small bowl of cocoa powder, confectioners' sugar, or finely chopped, toasted hazelnuts as soon as they are rolled into balls. Any nuts can be substituted for the hazelnuts both inside and outside the truffles.
• White Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles: Substitute white chocolate for the bittersweet chocolate and use 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream.
• Milk Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles: Substitute milk chocolate for the bittersweet chocolate and use 1 cup heavy whipping cream.
• Milk Chocolate Almond Truffles: Substitute milk chocolate for the bittersweet chocolate, use 1 cup heavy whipping cream, and substitute finely chopped almonds for the hazelnuts.
• Praline Truffles: Substitute finely ground praline (page 147) for the hazelnuts.

CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT TRUFFLES

Steps:

• Make hazelnut base:
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter bottom and sides of an 8-inch square metal baking pan, then dust with cocoa powder, knocking out excess.
• Finely grind nuts in a food processor with flour, sugar, and salt.
• Melt butter in a 2-quart saucepan, then remove from heat. Add chocolate and whisk until smooth. Add eggs 1 at a time, whisking until smooth. Stir in nut flour until just combined.
• Spread batter evenly in baking pan and bake in middle of oven until top is firm and dry and a tester inserted into center comes out with crumbs adhering, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool completely in pan on a rack, at least 2 hours.
• Make ganache:
• Lightly beat yolks in a bowl. Bring cream with salt just to a boil in a small heavy saucepan, then add half of it to yolks in a slow stream, whisking constantly. Whisk yolk mixture into remaining cream and cook over low heat, whisking, until slightly thickened and an instant-read thermometer registers 170°F (do not let boil).
• Remove from heat and add chocolate, whisking until smooth. Pour ganache over hazelnut base in pan, smoothing top with offset spatula, and chill, covered, until firm, at least 5 hours.
• Cut into squares with a warmed thin knife, wiping off knife after each cut, and remove from pan while still cold.
• Serve truffles cold or at room temperature.