Candied Sauerkraut Truffles

While looking at recipes, I’ve come across so many new and interesting ways to use sauerkraut in cooking and baking, but the one thing I’ve never seen is kraut in candy. I decided to experiment and see what I could come up with. Knowing that chocolate and sauerkraut are used together in many cake recipes, I figured, why not make a chocolate sauerkraut candy? And so chocolate sauerkraut truffles were born.

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I made candied sauerkraut by dipping it in sugar and then broiling for about 5 min, and mixed that into a milk chocolate ganache. The result is sweet and salty, very unique, but so good! It reminded me of a sea salt chocolate bar.

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Candied sauerkraut
½ cup Bubbies naturally fermented sauerkraut
1 ¼ cup sugar

Measure out ½ cup of sauerkraut, and drain well. After it has drained, squeeze the sauerkraut with your hands to get most of the remaining juice out. Put the sauerkraut into a bowl with the sugar and toss until the sauerkraut is completely covered with sugar. Place the sugared sauerkraut on a lightly greased cookie sheet, and broil on the top rack in the oven at 350 degrees for 5-8 minutes, making sure to keep a close eye on it- it can quickly turn from caramelized to burned. Once the sugar starts bubbling and the sauerkraut has a very light golden tinge to it, remove from the oven and spread the sauerkraut out on wax paper. Let it cool for an hour, and use this time to make your ganache. Chop the sauerkraut up into small pieces, and set some aside if you want to use some as decoration on the top of the truffles.

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For milk chocolate ganache:
2.5  parts milk chocolate
1 part cream

Ganache is great because you can easily tailor your recipes to make as little or as much as you want. Bring cream to a boil; while waiting for it to come to temperature, chop up your chocolate if you’re using a chocolate bar. Once the cream has come to a boil, turn off the heat and add the chocolate. Stir it well, it will look clumpy for awhile, but will suddenly start to get smooth and well blended. Once blended set aside to let it cool slightly before adding the caramelized sauerkraut. It should be lukewarm at the warmest to keep the caramelized bits crunchy. If you’re using candy molds, pour your mixture into them, and swirl a toothpick around in each of the truffle molds to get out any air bubbles. Set aside at room temperature or place in the refrigerator for the ganache to set quicker.  If you’d rather have hand rolled truffles, leave the ganache to set at room temperature for 1-2 hours. Test the firmness by pressing a spoon to the ganache; when it’s ready, the spoon should leave an impression on the ganache, but it should be firmer, like play dough. Once it’s ready, start rolling into ½ to 1 inch balls, depending on the size you prefer. Place the truffles on wax paper.

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A couple tips for the ganache; semi-sweet and dark chocolate will generally follow the 2:1 rule- 2 parts chocolate, 1 part cream, however, brands vary and some will melt differently that others. Milk & white chocolate often requires more like 2.5:1, as they are softer, and again, it can vary by brand. It’s helpful to have extra chocolate on hand just in case you need to adjust and add more, and if you find the ganache too stiff, adding a small amount of cream will thin it out.

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You can stop there, and simply roll your ganache in cocoa powder, or you can get fancy and dip them in a chocolate shell.  If you decide to dip your truffles, make sure the ganache has had a few hours to set and dry out a tiny bit.  Melt your chocolate well; if you used a mold and want to keep the shape once dipped, poke a toothpick into your truffle, roll it around in the chocolate until it’s completely covered.  Pull your truffle out, and gently tap the toothpick on the side of the bowl, making some of the excess chocolate drips off.  I let the chocolate set before removing the toothpick.  If you want to add sprinkles, sprinkle them over the tops of the truffles before the chocolate has set, to make sure they stick.  Have fun!  Store the truffles in the fridge in an air tight container for up to 1 week.