Chocolate Truffles: Past & Future

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Summary

• Who invented truffles? There are many theories.
• Truffles are named for the truffle fungus, which they resemble in appearance and status.
• Truffles represent the pinnacle of decadence and are the gifts of choice for many.

Chocolate Truffles: The Pinnacle Of Decadence

What is the history of chocolate truffles, and what’s their future in the craft chocolate revolution? What exactly is a chocolate truffle anyway? We’ll answer those questions and more in this deep dive into everything you need to know about chocolate truffles and their close cousin, the praline.

Read on to learn about the history of chocolate truffles – and their future in the craft chocolate revolution!

Chocolate truffles are ubiquitous. We might buy chocolate bars for ourselves, but when it comes to gift-giving, truffles remain the obvious choice. They carry a sense of luxury and excitement! Unfortunately, most chocolate truffles are not craft chocolate. They are usually made by chocolatiers, who often buy in poor-quality chocolate from unscrupulous makers. Luckily, things are changing as more craft chocolate makers explore the possibilities of truffles.

(Alternatively, you can skip to the end to peruse some exceptional truffles from craft chocolate makers!)

The History of Chocolate Truffles

The history of chocolate truffles is murky and confusing. Everyone wants the credit for inventing such an influential confectionary!

Siraudin

Paul Siraudin was the first to claim that he invented the truffle. Siraudin began his career as a playwright, writing comedies and operettas. Then, in 1860, he tired of the theatre, and decided to turn his hand to confectionary. The career change did wonders, and his sweets were a great success! In 1869, he created a bon bon called a crème ganache in 1869. He named the sweet after a popular comedy called Les Ganaches (The Idiots), written by a thespian pal.

Dufour

Another claim for inventing chocolate truffles comes from Louis Dufour. Dufour was a pâtissier who kept a store in Chambray, a small town in central France. On Christmas day in 1895, Dufour found himself in trouble. He was running out of ideas (and stock) for festive treats! Searching around for possible solutions, Dufour came up with a genius idea. First, he mixed up a batch of ‘ganache’ – chocolate mixed with cream. He shaped his mix into round balls, and then dipped these in melted chocolate. The sweet was a marvellous success! Dufour’s brother Antoine brought the idea to the UK, when he emigrated in 1902 and founded Prestat Chocolates in London.

Escoffier

But the man who tends to take the credit for inventing the trouble is Auguste Escoffier. Escoffier was a famous French chef who cooked for glitzy hotel restaurants in the 1920s. According to legend, one of Escoffier’s apprentices mistakenly poured hot cream into a bowl containing chocolate instead of a nearby bowl of beaten eggs and sugar. Escoffier yelled ‘ganache’ (idiot), giving the dish its name. He turned the apprentice’s mistake into truffles, rolling the ganache into balls and dusting them with cocoa powder.

Whichever story is correct, the bottom line is that these ganache truffles are amazing. When properly crafted, the combination of melted cream and chocolate encased in a hard chocolate shell tastes incredible!

Truffle: What’s in a Name?

There’s much dispute over who came up with the idea of naming these chocolate ganaches ‘truffles’. Nonetheless, it’s generally accepted that these hand-rolled delicacies take their name from the legendary truffle fungus. (The history of the truffle fungus is far longer than that of the sweet. The consumption of these mushrooms has been traced all the way back to the Sumerians and Babylonians around 4000 BCE!)

The hand-rolled chocolates we know as truffles share two similarities with their fungal namesakes. First, they are a total luxury, and completely delicious! Second, they bear a visual resemblance to the truffle fungus, small and round and dark-coloured.

Divided by a Common Language

Over the last century, chocolate makers worldwide have further confused the world of chocolate truffles by developing their own recipes. These sweets can differ wildly, but they all share the same name: truffles.

To clear up confusion, flick through this slideshow for our quick guide to the international truffle scene, country-by-country!

The Future: Craft Chocolate Truffles

The history of chocolate truffles is a history of mainly chocolatiers, not chocolate makers. Therefore to date, very few truffles are made with craft chocolate. But this is changing!

Chocolarder crafts all their chocolate in Cornwall, and make wonderful truffles, including incredibly moreish salted caramels. Mike Longman, founder of Chocolarder, directly sources the beans used for the chocolate casing from the indigenous Ashaninka people of the Peruvian Andes. He then combines this chocolate with Cornish sea salt and fresh Cornish cream to make truffles’ ganache filling. Friis Holm have created an alcoholic option for an after-dinner tipple.

David Crichton (of MasterChef fame), works with Pump Street Chocolate to create delicious bars and – more recently –  incredible truffles which he calls ‘The Careless Collection’. Pump Street’s bread and butter truffle was so good that Simon and Tim wouldn’t share it with their guests when we took it to Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch!