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newSchoolWorks.com › VoTechWorks › Hospitality, Food & Tourism › Baking & Pastry › Chocolate: Tempering, Confections, and Decorative Work › Lesson 6
HOS-BAKI28-05 · Lesson 6 · 14 clock hours · lab

Ganaches, Truffles, and Rolled Confections

Objective. Students produce a firm ganache for rolling, hand-roll uniform truffles, and coat them in tempered chocolate or cocoa powder to meet weight, shape, and flavor specifications.

⚠ Pending professional review

This lesson, its worked examples and its practice questions has not yet been verified by a certified food-safety manager and industry professional or by a certification or approval body. It is a study draft and may contain errors. Do not use it as instructions for work on a job site or on live equipment. Always follow your instructor, your supervising professional, and current official references and regulations.

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What Is Ganache?

Ganache is an emulsion of chocolate and cream, sometimes enriched with butter. The word describes a wide range of textures — from a pourable glaze to a firm, rollable mass — controlled mainly by the ratio of cream to chocolate. For hand-rolled truffles you need a firm ganache: a higher proportion of chocolate relative to cream so that, once chilled, the mixture holds its shape under your palms without melting immediately.

A typical firm ganache for truffles uses a ratio of roughly 2 parts chopped dark couverture to 1 part heavy cream by weight, with a small amount of unsalted butter stirred in for gloss and a smoother mouthfeel. Milk or white couverture contains more sugar and milk solids, so you need even less cream to achieve firmness — ratios shift accordingly.

Choosing Your Chocolate

Professional truffle work uses couverture — high-quality chocolate with a minimum percentage of cocoa butter specified by the manufacturer. The extra cocoa butter makes couverture fluid when melted and gives finished confections a clean snap and glossy surface. Chop couverture into small, even pieces before use so it melts uniformly when hot cream is poured over it.

Making the Ganache: Step by Step

Scaling: Always weigh every ingredient on a calibrated digital scale. Volume measurements introduce inconsistency that magnifies when you scale up production. Tare the container, add cream to weight, tare again, and add chocolate.

Heating the cream: Bring heavy cream just to a simmer — small bubbles around the edge of the pan. Overheating drives off water and changes your ratio; underheating fails to melt the chocolate fully.

Pouring and letting it rest: Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate in a tall, narrow container if using a stick blender, or in a wide bowl for the spatula method. Let it sit undisturbed for about 60 seconds so the heat penetrates the chocolate pieces.

Emulsifying: The goal is a smooth, glossy, unified mixture with no visible fat separation. With a stick blender, keep the head submerged and move it slowly to avoid incorporating air. With a spatula, start in the center of the bowl and stir in small, tight circles, gradually widening — this technique builds the emulsion gradually without introducing bubbles. Either way, emulsification is complete when the ganache is shiny, uniform in color, and coats the spatula cleanly. Add soft (room-temperature) butter at this stage and blend until incorporated.

Chilling: Pipe or spread the ganache into a frame lined with acetate, or into a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap pressed directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until firm enough to scoop and roll — typically 2 to 4 hours, depending on your ratio and refrigerator temperature.

Portioning and Rolling

Uniform truffles start with consistent portioning. Use a digital scale: target weight, then accept pieces within ±2 g. A small disher or piping bag can speed pre-portioning, but always verify on the scale.

To hand-roll, work quickly. Warm palms melt the surface of chilled ganache fast. Cup your hands loosely, place the portion between them, and roll with light, even pressure in a circular motion. Work in a cool room if possible, and chill your hands in cold water, drying thoroughly, if the ganache begins to stick or smear. Re-chill rolled centers on a parchment-lined sheet pan before finishing.

Finishing: Tempered Chocolate Coating

For chocolate-dipped truffles, the coating chocolate must be properly tempered — meaning the cocoa butter is guided into stable crystal form (Form V) so the finished shell is shiny, snappy, and free of bloom. Bloom appears as a gray, streaky, or matte surface and is caused by fat or sugar migration resulting from improper tempering or temperature abuse during storage. Drop a chilled truffle center into tempered chocolate, roll with a dipping fork, lift, tap off excess, and set on acetate. Work at a steady pace; if the chocolate in your bowl thickens or begins to set, it is going out of temper and must be re-tempered before continuing.

Finishing: Cocoa Powder and Nut Coatings

For a cocoa-rolled truffle, dip the center briefly in a thin layer of tempered chocolate (this acts as an adhesive), let it partially set, then roll immediately in a bowl of unsweetened cocoa powder. Excess cocoa powder should be sifted off before plating. Chopped nut coatings work the same way — tempered chocolate base, then press into finely chopped nuts.

Food Safety and Lab Safety

Key terms8

GanacheAn emulsion of melted chocolate and hot cream, sometimes enriched with butter; texture ranges from pourable to firm depending on the chocolate-to-cream ratio.
CouvertureHigh-quality chocolate containing a specified minimum percentage of cocoa butter, giving it superior fluidity when melted and a glossy, snappy finish when set.
EmulsificationThe process of blending two substances that do not naturally combine — here, fat and water-based liquids — into a stable, uniform mixture through mechanical action.
Tempered chocolateChocolate that has been melted and carefully cooled while stirring to encourage the formation of stable cocoa-butter crystals (Form V), producing a shiny, snappy coating free of bloom.
BloomA grayish, dull, or streaky appearance on chocolate caused by fat or sugar migration, typically resulting from improper tempering or temperature fluctuation during storage.
Ratio (ganache)The proportion of chocolate to cream by weight that determines ganache firmness; a higher chocolate-to-cream ratio produces a firmer, more rollable ganache.
Portioning toleranceThe acceptable variation in the weight of a finished piece relative to the target; for these truffles the specification is ±2 g.
Dipping forkA specialized tool with two or more thin tines used to submerge and lift confection centers through tempered chocolate, allowing excess to drain cleanly.

Worked examples4

1. You need to produce 40 truffles at a target weight of 15 g each. Your ganache recipe yields 680 g of finished ganache. How many grams of ganache do you have per truffle, and is there enough to meet your target with a small allowance for trim loss?
  1. Divide total ganache by number of truffles: 680 g ÷ 40 pieces = 17 g per piece.
  2. Compare to target: 17 g is 2 g above the 15 g target per piece, meaning you have a buffer of 2 g × 40 = 80 g for trim loss, re-rolls, or pieces that fall outside tolerance.
  3. Conclusion: 680 g is sufficient for 40 truffles at 15 g each with an 80 g working margin.
Answer: You have 17 g of ganache per truffle — enough for 40 pieces at 15 g each, with 80 g to spare for trim and rejects.
2. A student's 10 finished truffles weigh as follows (in grams): 14, 15, 16, 13, 15, 17, 15, 14, 16, 15. The target weight is 15 g and the tolerance is ±2 g (meaning any piece from 13 g to 17 g inclusive is acceptable). How many pieces pass the weight specification?
  1. Determine the acceptable range: 15 g − 2 g = 13 g minimum; 15 g + 2 g = 17 g maximum. Acceptable range: 13 g to 17 g inclusive.
  2. Check each piece: 14 (pass), 15 (pass), 16 (pass), 13 (pass), 15 (pass), 17 (pass), 15 (pass), 14 (pass), 16 (pass), 15 (pass).
  3. Count passing pieces: all 10 pieces fall within the 13–17 g range.
Answer: All 10 truffles pass the weight specification. The student meets the lab requirement of at least 8 out of 10 within tolerance.
3. Your dark couverture ganache recipe calls for a 2:1 chocolate-to-cream ratio by weight. You want to make exactly 600 g of ganache (ignoring butter for this calculation). How many grams of chocolate and how many grams of cream do you need?
  1. A 2:1 ratio means 2 parts chocolate for every 1 part cream, so there are 3 total parts.
  2. Calculate the weight of one part: 600 g ÷ 3 = 200 g per part.
  3. Chocolate = 2 parts × 200 g = 400 g.
  4. Cream = 1 part × 200 g = 200 g.
  5. Verify: 400 g + 200 g = 600 g. ✓
Answer: You need 400 g of dark couverture and 200 g of heavy cream.
4. You are rolling truffles and notice your ganache is softening too quickly — pieces are losing their spherical shape before you finish rolling a batch of 20. Your lab room temperature is approximately 75 °F (24 °C). Identify two corrective actions and explain the reasoning behind each.
  1. Action 1 — Chill your hands: Run cold water over your hands and dry them thoroughly before rolling. Warm palms conduct heat into the ganache surface, causing rapid softening. Cooling your hands slows heat transfer.
  2. Action 2 — Work in smaller sub-batches and re-chill: Return unrolled ganache portions to the refrigerator between sub-batches rather than leaving all 20 portions out at once. This keeps waiting pieces firm and reduces total time each portion spends at room temperature.
Answer: Cool your hands with cold water (dry thoroughly) and work in small sub-batches, returning unrolled ganache to the refrigerator between groups of pieces.

The math in this lesson1

Learners divide 680 g ganache by 40 truffles for 17 g each and find an 80 g margin.
6.RP.3
In class: Small-batch ganache production: students scale ingredients, heat cream to specified temperature, pour over chopped chocolate, emulsify by hand using a stick blender or spatula technique per instructor demonstration, then pipe into a frame or bowl and chill to correct firmness. · Truffle rolling: students portion ganache by weight using a scale (target ±2 g), hand-roll spheres, and chill; instructor demonstrates consistent rolling technique and students practice until shape uniformity is achieved across a minimum of 20 pieces. · Finishing station rotation: one group coats truffles in tempered dark chocolate using dipping forks, a second group rolls in cocoa powder or chopped nuts; both groups evaluate their finished pieces against a written product specification card and record results in the lab log.
Materials: Dark and milk couverture; heavy cream; unsalted butter; digital scale; saucepan; stick blender; piping bags; dipping forks; cocoa powder; acetate; refrigerator; product specification cards; lab logs
Check: Instructor evaluates 10 finished truffles per student: minimum eight of ten must be within ±2 g of target weight, spherical in shape, free of bloom, and show smooth or cleanly rolled exterior. Lab log entry must include emulsification method and chilling time.

Practice check8

Answer each question, then check it. Nothing is recorded; this is your own practice.

Baking and Pastry Fundamentals — Confectionery
1. A firm ganache suitable for hand-rolling truffles is best achieved by using which ratio of dark chocolate to cream by weight?
Baking and Pastry Fundamentals — Mixing and Emulsification
2. When emulsifying ganache with a spatula, the correct technique is to:
Chocolate and Confectionery — Quality Standards
3. Which of the following best describes fat bloom on a finished chocolate-coated truffle?
Production Standards and Quality Control
4. A student's 10 finished truffles have the following weights in grams: 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 15, 18, 14, 15, 13. The target is 15 g ± 2 g. How many pieces pass the weight specification?
Workplace Safety and Sanitation
5. Before attaching or removing a blade attachment from a stick blender, the most important safety action is to:
Baking and Pastry Fundamentals — Confectionery
6. Why is heavy cream heated only to a simmer — not a full rolling boil — when making ganache?
Chocolate and Confectionery — Tempering
7. A student notices that the tempered chocolate in the dipping bowl has become thick and dull and is beginning to set on the sides of the bowl. The correct response is to:
Food Safety and Sanitation
8. When labeling truffles that contain chopped hazelnuts as a coating, which professional responsibility is the pastry cook fulfilling?
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