Burnin' Love Sriracha Truffles

The Art.
    If you were to open my fridge, you would find that a good 30% of my condiments are chili sauces of some sort. I currently have four bottles of hot sauce, a jar of Thai chili paste, Indian mango chutney, and a bottle of Sriracha in the door of my refrigerator. The "Rooster Sauce" is probably my favorite. I purchase it at the Asian market so I can get it in a size that is large enough to satisfy my needs. Every day at lunch I slather my repast in chili sauce before I eat it. If a recipe doesn't call for Sriracha, I add a few tablespoons for good measure. And I'm always looking for new foods to try it on. Recently there has been a trend to add chili and cayenne pepper to chocolate truffles for a spicy kick, so I figured I'd try the same with my favorite condiment. I used dark chocolate to balance the flavors, and added just a hint of Sriracha to the ganache center. The result is truffles that aren't too sweet, and have a sneaky chili flavor that develops slowly. Since we all know love can burn, I've included these truffles in the valentine boxes for my friends. I will soon post a tutorial on how to make the paper boxes so you can present your treats in style.

The Science.
    If you've never made truffles before, there are three things you should know: 1) it's very messy, 2) it takes quite a bit of time, and 3) you must educate yourself about chocolate. Before you buy your chocolate, please visit this post and read my Melting Chocolate Manifesto in the Science section. It bears repeating that when you are buying a melting chocolate, get a good quality BAR chocolate, and not chocolate chips. This is less critical for the ganache filling, since it will be mixed with cream and will be very temperature sensitive anyway. In fact, using chocolate chips for the ganache may be better, since the emulsifiers in chocolate chips can prevent the fat from separating as it cools. I still try to buy good quality chocolate chips, however, because I think it makes the flavor of the truffles so much richer.

The Recipe.

(Makes 50 truffles)

12 oz (1 bag) Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp Sriracha chili sauce
20 oz Ghirardelli 60% cacao bar chocolate (5 bars)


     Bring an inch of water to a simmer in a small saucepan. Place chocolate chips and cream in a large bowl, and set over the saucepan to create a double boiler. Stir the chocolate and cream constantly, until melted and combined. Remove from heat and stir in Sriracha. Cover, and place ganache in the freezer overnight. Once set, the ganache should be the consistency of Play-Doh. Roll into teaspoon-sized balls, then place on parchment paper and promptly return to the freezer. Rolling ganache works best in a cool environment with cool hands, so the ganache doesn't melt.

    In a small microwave-safe bowl, heat the bar chocolate in 30-second bursts, stirring in-between, until it is melted. To coat the truffles, drop them individually into the melted chocolate, then transfer between two forks several times until the excess chocolate has dripped off. Allow to cool on parchment paper in the refrigerator until hardened. Try to work quickly so the ganache center doesn't melt. Once hardened, coat the truffles a second time, reheating the melted chocolate if necessary. Pipe a heart on each truffle in red royal icing, and allow to dry uncovered at room temperature.

     For presentation, place truffles in mini paper liners and deliver in a small box with curling ribbon.  Truffles can be stored at room temperature for a week, or in the refrigerator for up to one month.