I’d like to try making a truffle that has a spicy center, something from hot peppers. The filling would be the usual, a dark chocolate coating.
But most truffle fillings are not spicy, they are fruity, or alcohol flavors(like rum), or something like that.
Does anyone know how to infuse a pepper flavor into a ganache, or truffle filling? Do you have a recipe?
There’s a local chocolate shop that sometimes has truffles with a wasabi flavor, but I don’t think they would give out the recipe. I know that wasabi is different, but those are good too.
If for some reason you don’t want to add pepper directly to the recipe, you could experiment with putting some hot peppers into some sugar for a couple of days and then using the pepper-infused sugar in a truffle recipe. It works for vanilla beans.
Thank you for all the suggestions. I’d hoped to use fresh peppers, not dried, but may have to settle for something else. I can try more than one way.
Little Nemo, that sounds like an interesting idea. Maybe I could also put chopped peppers into the cream while it’s warming, and then strain them out. runner pat, that idea about roasting and pureeing sounds good too.
I’ll come back if I get good results, and post about it. I adore chocolate, and like trying exotic combos when I find them. I also saw a show on the Food Network with a shop in New Mexico that had chocolate and chili/spicy treats.
If anyone has actually tried this kind of chocolate, could you let me know how you like it?
Well, I know that oil can be infused quite readily with Chile and carries capsaicin with great effect, and that you can add cocoa butter (white chocolate), butter, and sometimes oils to chocolate with minimal effect on the taste, consistency, and without it seizing. So with that knowledege maybe you could experiment with infusing butter with some pureed chili and straining it quite thoroughly… then simply add that to the chocolate… or some other carrier?.
And, of course, you can find your favorite alcohol filled truffles, and infuse hot peppers in the alcohol. Or used a hot pepper-infused vodka in the same way you would normally use vanilla extract in your recipe.
It’s delicious, and (as others have pointed out) not only in New Mexico. I can get at least 3 different varieties of chile chocolate in my small town in the far north. Vosges, for example, makes a lot of them.
That said, as far as I know, all chile/chocolate varieties I’ve tried use dried chiles. I’d be worried about the water content of fresh chiles. But I know next to nothing about candy making so I could very well be wrong.
Our neighbor gave us some fantastic peanut brittle last year. One batch was rather brownish and I believe it had chili powder in it. The other was a bright green and a bit on the hot side so I think it had Jalapeno in it. Both were damn good.
Also, remember that different kinds of chile peppers have very different tastes, not just heat levels. Cayenne does seem to be pretty popular with commercial chocolatiers, but I don’t like cayenne myself - it’s too sharp, and hits the soft palate in a way that’s physically painful. I’d love to try chocolate with red New Mexico Chile Peppers, though - they’ve a much more “rounded” flavor, with a hint of sweetness and a very subtle bitterness which I think would play very nicely with chocolate.
You could go for a full barrel assault and make “XXXatomic trufflesXXX” with with all of the techniques mentioned. I always enjoyed the layered approach with chiles, as believe it or not, despite the heat, they do not all taste the same. Steep the cream with some fresh fruity or green chiles like jalapeno’s or serranos. Add a tablespoon full of dried ancho chile powder to the ganache for flavor, a drizzle of concentractated capsaicin extract (essential oil) for the atomic power, and steep some scotch bonnets in some Cpt. Morgan’s or coconut rum for the tropical kick.
…I think that particular recipe could also benefit from a an inch or two of real cassia cinnamon steeping with the fresh green chiles, and ancho powder, all in in the cream. (remove the green chiles and cinnamon stick of course). It is all about subtleties… ya know just a couple of drops of capsaicin extract would do it. Or maybe roll the truffles in a mild chile (like the anchos) powder and cocoa and cinnamon blend… So many ways to skin this cat.
The thing is, I like spicy but not super-hot. So I’m not sure about the scotch bonnet peppers or the concentrated capsicin oil. But steeping the cream and/or using a little dried ancho chile powder sounds good. And the cinnamon sounds good too.
The local chocolate shop I mentioned upthread is called Hazel Hill’s, and it’s located here in Topeka. They have had one truffle called “Spices of India” which has curry flavor in the filling, and the top of the truffle is dusted with a little dried spice. It’s very good. Also good is their wasabi truffles, and their ginger truffles.
Okay, so next Saturday I’m going to set aside to make chocolates. I’ll report back when I’m finished. I can get good jalapeno’s at the local farmer’s market, plus some other chile varieties as well. Too bad you all aren’t here for me to use you all as taste testers!
