There is no mystery to why gourmet truffles taste so good - all you have to do is use the best chocolate. Despite being decadently delicious, truffles are actually easy and quick to make.
Dark Chocolate Truffles (and Easy Variations)
1/4 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons heavy cream
4 ounces of dark chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons liqueur (choose any flavor: orange, coffee, black current, raspberry, etc) (Tip: if you are making chocolate-orange truffles, add 1 teaspoon orange zest.)
Combine the butter and the cream in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Stir in the chopped chocolate, the liqueur, (and orange zest if you are making chocolate-orange truffles) and continue stirring until it is smooth.
Chill until the truffle mixture is firm (2-3 hours). Shape into balls and finish them as you wish. (Note: If the mixture is difficult to work with, you may need to chill it longer).
Finishing Truffles
You can dip your truffles in melted chocolate (light, dark or ivory) or chocolate compounds. Just remember that if you use real chocolate, you may need to temper it if you want a beautiful presentation.
When dipping the truffles, use dipping forks to remove them from the pan. Allow the excess chocolate to drip off and place them on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper. If you want to sprinkle the truffles with nuts (try crushed toasted almonds - yum) or coconut, do so before the chocolate hardens. You can also make decorative stripes on the chocolate by melting a contrasting color and drizzling it over the top of the truffle
You can also roll the un-dipped truffle in cocoa powder, powdered sugar, coconut, chocolate cookie crumbs, or anything else that you like.
Chocolate truffles make beautiful and welcome gifts. You can make a variety of truffles at Christmas time or for an up-coming wedding. Place individual truffles in paper candy cups. Then put four truffles in a pretty box (you can buy confectioner's boxes at many online stores) and wrap with ribbon. Or, of course, you could eat them all by yourself!
This article is courtesy of Rachel Holman, editor of Cocoa Expression express yourself with chocolate.
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