# premade truffle shells



## jessiquina (Nov 4, 2005)

good afternoon! 

at work, im temped to try out these premade chocolate truffle shells that i've heard about. so after looking them up online, i see they are rounded, with a hole in the top to put the ganache in. how do you finish these? you cant leave the hole open. who has used these? i'd like to get some tips before having my work order them. 

thanks!


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## m brown (May 29, 1999)

Fill them and let them set up or sort of crust over night. Next day pour tempered chocolate over the hole and smooth. Then you can further roll in tempered chocolate and finish as you like!


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

As m brown says.

However, a few caveats:

The little suckers are expensive, figure on 15 cents a piece. For "just fooling around" this is not a big deal, but when you make a complete bon-bon from scratch, and your cost is 18 cents with cream, couveture, booze/flavouring, and enrobing couverture factored into that 18 cents, it becomes an issue.

Filling. Some like to use a squeeze bottle to fill, I like to use a disposable piping bag--whatever floats your boat. Compared to moulded chocoaltes, the opening in the hollow truffle shell is quite small, and you will experience a learning curve.


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## jessiquina (Nov 4, 2005)

wow, thanks for the quick response. we are using them as a promotional item and giving them away for free. im in the process of getting our logo imprinted on a chocolate plaque to top them. they told me cost was not an issue.  

thanks for the tips!


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## laurieh (Aug 3, 2008)

I know they are supposed to be a cost-effective timesaver, but I don't like the premade shells at all. They are so thick! To me, part of the pleasure of eating a truffle is biting through the coating and feeling the crispy snap. The thick premade shell doesn't give me that snap. Saving time & money but compromising quality is no bargain to me!


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## jessiquina (Nov 4, 2005)

i know what you mean, but my assistants cant temper chocolate and its my last resort to get a hard shell on my truffles.


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## laurieh (Aug 3, 2008)

I understand. I guess I went on a rant earlier. Sorry about that!


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## hotpep2706 (Oct 4, 2010)

I've used them in the past (actually just ordered some more) and they are wonderful!  All you do is melt chocolate according to whether you're using dark, milk or white shells, fill with your desired filling, seal the hole with the melted chocolate, and let them set up.  I've used a soft truffle filling and liquors to fill them with in the past.  I just ordered some dark chocolate shells from Niftyfoods.com - best of luck to you!


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## cookitup (Sep 12, 2007)

Honestly in my opinion you still have to coat with tempered chocolate to get a good finish. I've been to a few top restaurants that have used shells suprisingly enough! Why not teach your assitant the seeding method for tempering. It may take them time to become comfortable with it but should be relatively bullet proof. Especially if you already have the polythene moulds somewhere /img/vbsmilies/smilies//smile.gif


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## ohbeary (Oct 3, 2010)

Truffle shells, I have used these in the past and found them to be relatively thin, French and Belgian made, clearly the cost of European shells would be prohibitive in the US, avoiding shells altogether why not pipe bulbs of ganache, chill then roll in tempered couvature a couple of times for that crisp bite to the coating, if cost is areal issue recycle sponge trimmings mixed to a paste with cocoa/rum/orange zest/brandy/jam(jelly)/img/vbsmilies/smilies/lookaround.gif, whatever it takes to bind the mix, then roll as before.


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## ichilders (Jan 24, 2012)

Premade Truffle Shells are amazing!!!

I am a culinary student and the owner of Gabby's Bake Shop (www.gabbysbakeshop.com ) (you can visit our facebook page at facebook.com/GabbysBakeShop ). I happen to come across your post while comparing prices on hollow truffle shells. I use them a lot in school to make enrobed chocolates as well as chocolate lollipops filled with all types of ganaches and liquors...YES .. you can fill them and any other molded chocolate with just straight liquor.

To use the truffle shells you first make your ganache, or caramel filling, or whatever you want to fill them with. When you fill the shell fill it to where the filling comes just a little under the rim of the opening. You need to leave a little bit of space for the next step. Here is the crucial part..... you need to keep your filling in there right? Well, once you fill the shell with the ganache you need to flood the shell with tempered chocolate. By flood I mean you need to melt down couveture chocolate (chocolate from a chocolate block, pure chocolate, not that oily, sugar chocolate wafer things) and bring it down to the right temperature.

Dark chocolate should be between 88-90 degress F

Milk Chocolate should be between 86-88 degrees F

White Chocolate should be between 84-86 degrees F

Put the tempered chocolate in a paper pastry bag and fill the rest of your chocolate shell that you left room for with the tempered chocolate. NOW, the lighter the chocolate the quicker it will cool (go out of temper). At this point you need to figure out if you want to make lollipos or a regular truffle.

**For lollipops:

At this point once you put the ganache in you can place your lollipop stick in the center of the shell. Once it sets enough dip the lollipop in tempered chocolate and garnish if necessary with like crushed peanuts, or you do not have to garnish it at all at this point. Place the lollipop right side up so the stick is inserted into a lollipop holder or a piece of foam that you turned into a lollipop holder.

***For regular truffles, after you flood the top of the shell with the tempered chocolate, dip (enrobe) the entire ball in tempered chocolate. Using a chocolate fork tap off the excess chocolate and place the ball gently on a sheet pan lined with parchment so that it can set and dry. (NOTE: Be careful to keep an eye on which side is the bottom and which side is the top. This is a skill within itself). If you are going to garnish it with fruit or nuts or edible gold leaf you need to do it while the truffle is still wet. Like my chocolate confections and centerpieces chef says to us all the time, "CHOCOLATE WAITS FOR NOBODY!!!!"


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## ichilders (Jan 24, 2012)

It doesn't give you a snap because the shells are not a finished product. They are only a base for your finished product. You need to fill, flood, and enrobe the shells in couveture chocolate to really get the pleasure of the truffle that it is. I use these all the time and once you get the technique of filling, flooding, and enrobing the chocolates correctly you do in fact get the satisfaction that you are in deed looking for.


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## ichilders (Jan 24, 2012)

It doesn't give you a snap because the shells are not a finished product. They are only a base for your finished product. You need to fill, flood, and enrobe the shells in couveture chocolate to really get the pleasure of the truffle that it is. I use these all the time and once you get the technique of filling, flooding, and enrobing the chocolates correctly you do in fact get the satisfaction that you are in deed looking for.


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