Truffles

No, I am not talking about the super expensive truffles (which by the way, I have never purchased before). I am talking about rich, creamy, chocolaty truffles. I have seen lots of recipes for truffles and have always wanted to make them, especially during the holidays, but just never got around to making them - until now. I had left over cream in the fridge from making homemade strawberry ice cream and thought this would be the perfect way to use up the ingredients I already had. Why not, right?

Truffles seem fancy, but they are super easy to make. All you need is heavy cream, chocolate and whatever flavorings you might want. Seriously, that's it. The hardest part is probably waiting for the heavy cream and chocolate mixture to cool. Other then that it is a piece of cake. Or a piece of truffle. Wait, that doesn't sound right. Plus, who just wants a piece of a truffle? You have to eat the whole thing! Maybe even have two. These are so good, you will probably want to have two and hide the rest because they will be hard to resist.

For my first truffle experience, I decided to just go straight chocolate and not add any flavorings. Next time I will be trying a raspberry one with chambord, orange with grand mariner, and maybe even mint. Those sound good to me. Do they sound good to you? Like I said, they are easy and you should try these too. I can't wait to make more of these for the holidays and give them away as gifts!

Note- Make sure you use heavy whipping cream when making these and not just whipping cream. It will not turn out the same and the mixture will turn out separated and gross. I learned this the hard way since I had whipping cream left over from the ice cream, not heavy whipping cream. Also, this recipe also says it makes 20 truffles. Ya right. Who eats pea sized truffles. Not me. I got about 9, but you will get 8-10 pending the size you make them.

cream and chocolate

melting away

stir to smooth out lumps

cover with plastic wrap - make sure the plastic is touching the top of the chocolate mixture

once cooled, roll into balls and place into the freezer (if you are not coating in chocolate like me, skip this step and roll in your favorite topping - cocoa powder, nuts, coconut, etc)

melted dark chocolate and dipping the truffles

truffles dipped and dusted with gold sprinkles.

boxed up and ready for delivery. So cute.

 Chocolate Truffles (adapted from wwwbrowneyedbaker.com)

¼ cup heavy cream
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 tablespoon butter, softened

Heat the cream, chocolate and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, until melted. Stir with a rubber spatula until smooth. Cover and place in the refrigerator until the truffle mixture is firm (this will take several hours or overnight).

Remove the truffle mixture from the refrigerator. With your hands form the chocolate into round bite-sized balls. Line a plate with parchment paper, place the truffles and put in the freezer for 45 minutes. In the meantime, melt six ounces of dark chocolate and one tablespoon of shortening. Once very cold, remove truffles from the freezer and dip into the warm chocolate. I put the truffle on a fork and then spooned over the chocolate and then dipped the bottom to get a full coating. Place back on the parchment and top with sprinkles, nuts or leave plain.

See, I told you it was easy. That and the truffles can be refrigerated for a couple of weeks or else frozen for a couple of months. Just bring them to room temperature before you want to serve them and you are ready to go. Who needs Lindt truffles. These are better. Way better.