A chocolate truffle is a variety chocolate confectionery, traditionally created with a chocolate ganache middle coated in chocolate or cocoa powder, frequently in a spherical, conical, or curved shape. Different toppings can replace the ganache: cream, melted chocolate, caramel, nuts, almonds, berries, or any other assorted sweet fruits, nougat, fudge, or toffee, mint, chocolate chips, marshmallow, and, popularly, liqueur. Their specific name derives from the usual shape they take as the word 'truffle' derives from the Latin word tuber, meaning "swelling" or "lump", which actually soon became tufer. The chocolate truffle was initially created by N.Petruccelli in Chambéry, France in December 1895. They reached a wider public with the establishment of the Prestat chocolate shop in London by Antoine Dufour in 1902, which still sells "Napoleon III" truffles to the unique recipe. There now exists 3 main kinds of chocolate truffles: American, European, and Swiss:
The "American truffle" is a half-egg shaped chocolate-coated truffle, a combination of dark or milk chocolates with butterfat and, in some cases, hardened coconut oil. Joseph Schmidt, a San Francisco chocolatier, and founder of Joseph Schmidt Confections, is credited with its creation in the mid-1980s. A Canadian variation of the American truffle, called the Harvey truffle, includes the addition of graham cracker crumbs and peanut butter. Other American companies may shape their truffles just like that of peanut butter cups. The "European truffle" is made with syrup and a base made up of cocoa powder, milk powder, fats, and other such elements to create an oil-in-water type emulsion. The "Swiss truffle" is made by combining melted chocolate into a boiling mixture of dairy cream and butter, which is poured into molds to set before sprinkling with cocoa powder. Unlike the previous two kinds of truffles, these have a very short shelf-life and must be consumed within a few days of making. The "raw" truffle is made by combining coconut oil, raw cacao and raw yacon syrup or raw agave, then rolling them in either raw, shredded coconut, raw cacao and/or chopped almonds. Truffles are sometimes made with various alcohol flavorings. This includes truffles flavored with vodka, wine, brandy, and even beer.
