Easy Chocolate Truffles
Basic recipe from Epicurious.com, modified with various ideas both stolen
and my own.
I am inept when it comes to working with chocolate. I can, however,
make these.
Ingredients:
8 ounces good-quality semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
coating of choice
Step One: Ganache Filling
Place chocolate in a bowl. Bring cream to a boil in a small, heavy saucepan. Pour cream over chocolate. Let stand for 3 to 5 minutes; gently stir until smooth. Add liqueur and stir to combine. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 3 hours.
Step Two: Forming and Coating Truffles
Spoon level teaspoons of ganache onto a baking sheet. Quickly roll each spoonful into a ball. You may find it helpful to coat your hands in cocoa powder for this step, washing, thoroughly drying and recoating them as needed. Drop a few balls at a time into coating; roll each truffle in coating. Chill until firm. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week, or freeze for up to one month.
Coating Ideas: You can use ground or chopped nuts, such as almonds, pecans, hazelnuts, pistachios, etc. for your coating. You can use cocoa powder, or instant hot chocolate mix, including flavored ones like raspberry or mocha.
Flavoring Ideas: You can substitute your favorite liquour or flavored extract for the vanilla extract. If you want to make mint truffles, substitute 3/4 tsp. of mint extract for an equal amount of the vanilla (or add a few drops of essential oil of peppermint). For a sophisticated truffle, steep 2 tsp. of Earl Grey tea in the hot cream.