Truffles!

I made truffles in October, a very rare occurrence, and was asked for the recipe.  Ask and ye shall receive!  The recipe.  Not the truffles.  :)

Dianne’s Truffle Recipe

For Truffle Centers:

2/3 cup    heavy whipping cream (fat content of 4.5-5 grams per T)
3 T    butter
1 T    sugar
6-8 oz    semi-sweet or dark chocolate pieces (any brand works, but better chocolate does make better truffles: Ghirardelli, Guittard, etc.)
2-3 T    liquor (good ones to try: coffee liquor, crème de menthe, Irish cream, amaretto, rum, brandy, whiskey, or other flavored liquor)

Heat whipping cream, unsalted butter & sugar in heavy sauce pan until butter is melted and mixture is very hot.  Remove from heat.  Stir in chocolate pieces until chocolate is completely melted and smooth.  Stir in liquor.

Place mixture in refrigerator to cool.  (Transfer to a chilled bowl for faster cooling.)  Stir occasionally.

When mixture is completely cool & thickened (so it won’t drop/slide off a spoon), drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper lined cookie sheets.  Chill again until firm.


Coatings:

Cocoa - roll in cocoa powder.  May need a second coat to cover.

Nuts - roll in finely chopped nuts.

Chocolate - to dip truffle centers in chocolate:
Roll centers in cocoa powder & place on waxed paper lined cookie sheet.  Chill for 1 hour or until firm.

Place approx. 1 pound semi-sweet chocolate chips and 2 T shortening in a glass bowl (1 quart Pyrex measuring cups work great).  Microwave on high 2 minutes.  Stir.  If chocolate refuses to melt completely, microwave another 30 seconds to 1 minute.  Stir until completely melted.  Do not over cook the chocolate - it scorches easily.

Drop one truffle into chocolate mixture.  Using a long-tined fork, roll truffle until completely covered in chocolate.  Scoop truffle up with fork.  With shank of fork resting on side of bowl, wiggle fork back and forth gently to remove excess chocolate.  Drag bottom of fork across edge of bowl and drop truffle onto waxed paper lined cookie sheet.  Drop next truffle into chocolate and continue until all truffles are coated.  Caution:  Do NOT pierce truffles with fork, lift them from the bottom.  Work quickly - truffles will melt if left in chocolate too long.

Chill truffles until chocolate is firm.

Makes approx. 30 truffles.




And the obligatory photos of the process:

 Melt together butter, sugar & whipping cream.

Ta-da!

Pour in your chocolate.  Let them sit for a minute to melt a bit.

 Stir. 

Stir some more. 

 Should look like this when you are done.  All the lumps should be melted and mixed in.

Add your flavor.

Pop it in the fridge to cool.

Needs to harden up enough to scoop.  

 

Scoop by rounded teaspoons onto parchment or waxed paper. 

Finished tray full.

When firm, roll in cocoa powder.  Return to fridge.

 

Dip in chocolate. Drop in 1 at a time. Gently cover.  Fish out with a fork without piercing. 

 

 Drop gently onto tray.  If adding decorative chips, add them every few truffles before the chocolate starts to harden too much.

 If you make tons, have your friend make you a super-cool rack to hold your trays in the fridge.  Thanks Steve Sanchez! 

Last step - Share with your friends and they will love you forever.  :)