Chocolate Truffles (Truffes au Chocolat)

Since arriving in France, I have been missing working with chocolate.  Naturally, I enjoy eating the creations of renowned Parisian chocolatiers, but there is something special about eating delicious bonbons made with your own two hands.

Last weekend, with the help of my now photographer boyfriend, I whipped up a batch of simple chocolate truffles.  I made a trip to Déco Relief next to St. Eustache to pick up some Mexican Cacao Barry chocolate and a new spatula.   

These truffles are a great place to start if you are new to the world of chocolate making.  Give them a try and let me know what you think.

Chocolate Truffles
-300g chocolate
-165g heavy cream
-20g honey
-30g salted butter

-tempered chocolate (for dipping)
-cocoa powder (for rolling)

First, you will measure all of your ingredients.

Melt your chocolate very slowly in the microwave or over a pot of simmering water.  Stir often.

Add the warmed cream and honey in 5 or 6 stages.  Stir vigorously.  The ganache will look split at first, but fear not, it will come together.

When all of the liquid is incorporated, add the butter and use an immersion blender to mix.

Leave the ganache in a covered bowl overnight or in the refrigerator for a few hours, until it is firm.

Roll pieces of the set ganache into spheres and temper your chocolate.

Put some cocoa powder in a shallow container.  Dip each piece of ganache in the tempered chocolate and cover it in cocoa powder.  When the chocolate has set, sieve and set aside.

  

Enjoy!

Bonus Outtake:

Déco Relief

Kitchen equipment store specializing in cake and chocolate decorating supplies.

6 Rue Montmartre 75001

Metro: Les Halles/Chatelet

The Jacques Genin Experience

You are visiting Paris.  You have 20 or 30€ left in your wallet.  The weather has just taken a turn for the gray and you have a hankering for a pick-me-up.  Of course, you could go to Le Bon Marche to hide from the rain, find some gifts to take home, and have a bite to eat.  It also wouldn't be a bad idea to head over to Shakespeare and Company  or Pont Neuf for a boat ride.  But, if you really want to spend your time and those last few euros wisely, you really ought to make your way to Jacques Genin.  

This perfect boutique and tea room is located in a tastefully updated old building on Rue de Turenne.  Chocolates and confections are expertly displayed and a serene tea room is set up on one side of the shop with fresh flowers on each table and a spiral staircase to heaven/the pastry kitchen     

I have visited this special place many times now and have grown to have a great respect for Chef Jacques Genin and the quality he manages to maintain day in and day out.  The chef himself seems truly to be present in his kitchen.  During one of my visits, he descended inconspicuously to place bags of perfectly baked madeleines on the sales counter.  My companions and I saw him strolling outside with an interviewer and he later returned to go back to his kitchen.  My mom, who was visiting from the US, told him how exquisite her experience was and he humbly thanked her like a real professional.  

Each front-of-the-house employee is dressed in refined black clothes and they all at least speak French and English.  If you can, visit around the time of a holiday to see the elegant chocolate displays and take one home with you to enjoy that evening. Because let's be real, no matter how beautiful it is you are not going to be able to resist having a taste.  If you are lucky enough to visit when the chef himself descends with a limited amount of some special treat he has whipped up, snatch a bag without hesitation.  They will not last long and are worth the price.  

The chocolates at Jacques Genin are mostly decorated with acetate cocoa butter transfer sheets.  Genin chooses minimalist designs that allow the rich tones of the dark and milk chocolate to shine through.  This master works with Valrhona chocolate and he knows how to add flavor to this perfect product without compromising the taste of the chocolate itself.  Many of his offerings are delicately infused with spices and herbs while others are filled with classic praline mixes that never disappoint.

If you have the time to sit in the tea room and order a pastry, you will leave Paris feeling that you have had a true French experience.  You will have the choice of several beverages to accompany your freshly made pastry.  You will be presented with your coffee, I recommend the café crème, a glass of water, a small plate of chocolates and/or pâtes de fruits, and your flawless pastry.  Even if you are trying to resist the tourist itch of taking photos of everything you eat, you will not be able to resist documenting these wonders.  

Paris-Brest

The Paris-Brest is a pastry that was created in the early 1900s by Louis Durand in honor of a bicycle race from Paris to Brest and back to Paris.  It consists of a pâte à choux ring, meant to symbolize a bicycle tire, sprinkled with sliced almonds, baked, and filled with rich praline cream.  It is often adorned with a dusting of confectioner's sugar.

Jacques Genin makes the minor change of swapping the almonds for chopped hazelnuts because the praline paste he uses savors primarily of hazelnut.  

Tart au Chocolat (Chocolate Tart)

Normally, a chocolate tart is a simple pate a sucree shell filled with a ganache of dark chocolate.

Chez Jacques Genin does not deviate from the original.  It is a smooth and crunchy morsel of deliciousness.

Saint-Honoré

The Saint-Honoré is named for the patron saint of bakers.  This wonder mixes a few of the most delicious components in French pastry.  A base of puff pastry is adorned with a ring of pâte à choux, and cream puffs with caramelized sugar.  The cake is filled with crème chiboust and topped with crème chantilly.  

Traditionally, this pastry is in the form of a circle.  Genin updated its format by beginning with a rectangle and omitting the piped pâte à choux.  His version still includes the cream puffs.

Fraisier

Perfect for springtime, the Fraisier is a strikingly beautiful and classic cake.  Genoise, or buttery sponge cake, sandwiches a generous layer of vanilla cream bejeweled with fresh strawberries.  The entremet is finished with a thin layer of almond paste or marzipan.

The marzipan layer is often artificially colored green, but at Jacques Genin you will not find any fake colors in your almond paste.

Forêt Noire (Black Forest Cake)

This well-known cake originated in Germany, but that does not stop other nations from making it.  You will find layers of chocolate sponge cake and whipped cream highlighted with boozy cherries and chocolate shavings.

The version at Jacques Genin is modern and sophisticated.  Chocolate sponge cake, chocolate mousse, and whipped envelop whole cherries and a shard of tempered chocolate sticks like a piece of fancy jewelry to the side of each slice.  

Well, internet, now you know my obsession with Jacques Genin.  If you want to see the man in action, but cannot visit the shop, check the links below for a few short videos.

Video by David Lebovitz 

Video by Mind of a Chef 

Jacques Genin

http://jacquesgenin.fr/fr/

Perfect bonbons, refined tea room, and perfect ambiance.  

133 Rue de Turenne

75003, Paris

Metro: Republique

27 Rue de Varenne

75007, Paris

Metro: Varenne or Rue du Bac

Easter in Paris

Easter in Paris is particularly chocolatey...like most things here.  It's impossible to avoid the colorful egg displays and bright decorations adorning the chocolateries.  

One sunny spring day I picked up a bag of praline eggs at Franck Kestener and enjoyed them in Square René Viviani with Notre-Dame de Paris in view.  I think the bag contained 9-10 eggs and cost me about 8€.  

I previously visited Kestener's shop in Saarbruecken, Germany.  Kestener is a Meilleur Ouvrier de France and creates beautiful chocolates, macarons, and pastries.  

The assortment included milk chocolate chestnut pralines...

...dark chocolate hazelnut...

...dark chocolate peanut butter...

...and dark chocolate vanilla ganache...

His shop was fully stocked and ready for the festivities.  His chocolates are well-balanced, flavorful, and his ganaches are wonderfully emulsified.  But, perhaps his packaging could use a little refining?

Each shop has whimsical chocolate displays.

I especially like the variety of displays at Michel Cluizel .  Michel Cluizel is the place to find whimsy and class mixed together.

You're bound to find creative and artistic showpieces at the chocolateries around Easter, too.  Patrick Roger's offerings particularly impressed me.  Maybe one day I will be able to afford one of his hedgehogs.  Roger does a great job of making each piece special.  In other words, you get the impression that each product is one-of-a-kind.  

Jacques Genin has become one of my favorite spots in Paris.  Of course, it's wonderful if you have time to sit down to enjoy a cup of coffee and a handmade pastry.  But even if you don't have a dollar to spend, it's enjoyable to stroll around the shop and take in the beauty.  The inside was resplendent for Easter.  A modern silver dish held the classic praline eggs.  Unique, eye-catching eggs, chickens, rabbits, fish, and whales all made of chocolate crowded the shelves.  They were busy with customers -for good reason- well in advance of Easter.

I've come to the conclusion that Easter is one of the best times to visit Paris.  The weather has been lovely which makes strolling around and peeking in shop windows even more enjoyable than usual.  Plus, the displays are more striking than any old time of year.

As I was strolling one day last week, I found Sebastien Degardin tucked away on a street near the Pantheon.  I bought two hazelnut-praline eggs without a second thought.

It's worth mentioning that the supermarkets here sell all of the regular Easter chocolate that I'm used to finding in the United States.  My boyfriend made me feel at home with the Lindt bunnies we also have back home.  Here they even have a little bell attached to their bows.

This post will end with the information of the shops mentioned.  But, before I sign off, I'll just mention my beautiful Easter bunny from my host-mom.  This little gal was from La Maison du Chocolat.  She was made of delicious Valrhona chocolate and filled with praline eggs and solid dark chocolate fish.  The perfect Easter treat.  American chocolatiers: take note.   

Joyeuses Pâques!

Franck Kestener

http://www.franck-kestener.com/

Chocolatier and patissierie with two locations in Germany and one in Paris.

7 Rue Gay Lussac

75005, Paris

Metro: Luxembourg

Michel Cluizel

http://www.cluizel.com/en/

French chocolate bean-to-bar and bonbon producer with locations all over the world.  Including 4 in the Paris Area.

Patrick Roger

https://www.patrickroger.com/

The most impressive chocolate show-pieces in Paris and exquisite bonbons and tasty treats with eight shops in France.

Jacques Genin

http://jacquesgenin.fr/fr/

Perfect bonbons, refined tea room, and perfect ambiance.  

133 Rue de Turenne

75003, Paris

Metro: Republique

27 Rue de Varenne

75007, Paris

Metro: Varenne or Rue du Bac

Sebastien Degardin

http://www.sebastien-degardin.com/

A boutique full of cakes, pastries and chocolates.  It's a pleasant surprise in a neighborhood full of students.  Closed on Monday and Tuesday.

200 Rue Saint-Jacques

75005, Paris 

Metro: Luxembourg

La Maison du Chocolat

http://www.lamaisonduchocolat.fr/en/

Perhaps the most well-known chocolatier in the world, this place has never disappointed me.  They manage to keep the quality high and they have customer service like no one else.  The establishment has been around for 40 years and has locations all over the world, including eight in Paris.