Chocolate and chestnut truffles and Chestnut cream truffles

For all chocolate and chestnut lovers

Published originally on my blog on 24 December 2012

I wouldn't feel good about myself and I wouldn't feel like I'm doing Christmas justice, if I didn't make any chocolate truffles to have around for the holidays and of course to give away to friends.

Yes, that's me folks, whenever I don't have chocolate around, I feel bad.

This time though, chocolate is not the protagonist but rather an accompaniment to another great flavor of Christmas and one of my absolute favorites, the chestnut.

I adore chestnuts, they are the epitome of the holiday season and every year I use them in different ways. Last year it was chestnut tiramisu, three years ago it was creamy chestnut soup with port. I can't get enough of them.

This year, I decided to make something that I would normally buy ready-made because I've always thought it was a hassle to make myself. The incredible crème de marrons aka sweet chestnut cream. And you know what? I'm not going back to the canned variety again. Not ever. Because, friends, this is fantastic, easy and it tastes amazing.

Chestnut cream is a gorgeous concoction of cooked chestnuts, full-fat cream, vanilla and a little booze. My tipple of choice is Armagnac, but feel free to use Cognac or brandy. The result is an insanely scrumptious, thick cream that's full of chestnut flavor.

I immediately started thinking about how I was going to use this divine creation and of course several desserts came to mind, like tortes and cakes, but truffles were what I really wanted to make.

I needed to experiment so I made three versions of chestnut cream and realized that the more you cook the chestnuts with the cream, the more thick the mixture becomes and the more thick a truffle you're going to end up having.

I chose to make the truffles using the creamier version because I didn't want them to be hard but slightly soft and mousse-like.

I ended up making two types of truffles. One using just the chestnut cream rolled in grated chocolate and another one using chestnut cream and chocolate ganache.

Both were decadent and delicious with a smooth and creamy texture.

The perfect Christmas truffles!

Happy Holidays to all! Merry Christmas!