Last year this time, I was carrying Marc in my belly, this year’s Christmas, he is having his first Christmas with us. I feel a bit wordless this year, just simply to share my joy with you all and hope all of you have a very very happy and warm Christmas with your family and friends! This year I do not have time to bake cookies but tried to make chocolate truffles for the first time. They are unbelievably easy to make, all you need is just full cream and some best quality chocolate (62%-70% cacao), I used Valrhona. They were absolutely heavenly, the beauty is that you can have any flavor you like depending your mood and make various coating which give your truffles a different flavor. And you can freeze them for months without the need to consume them all at once, nevertheless, they will not last long, I guarantee you, haha.

Thanks to Elise from Simply Recipes and Garrett McCord for posting such a great basic truffles recipe. I like this recipe the best, Garrett descriptions has made it very easy to follow. I have seen some recipes which use butter but I personally do not like the idea of adding butter as cocoa is fatty enough.

I flavored mine with my favorite liqueur Kahula but did not find the liqueur was prominent enough then my friend Cynthia gave me a tip to add some vodka next time. Will definitely try again. It’s quite messy to roll the truffles, I used 2 small teaspoons instead and it worked well, when I shared my experience with my other friend Annette, she told me I can use the cling film next time. I have seen Harumi using this method to make sushi balls, I guess it’s the same concept. Will try next time and let you know the results.

So here is my adapted recipe from Simply Recipes:

INGREDIENTS

Makes approx 30 pieces

Basic truffle ingredients

• 227g bittersweet chocolate (high quality, 62% cocoa or higher), chopped into small pieces
• 1/2 cup of full cream (heavy whipping cream)

Choice of base flavorings:

• 2 tsp liqueur of our choice, e.g. Kahlua & Vodka; Cointreau, Grand Marnier

Truffle coatings

• Dutch processed Cocoa powder
• Finely grated coconut flakes
• Matcha (green tea powder) and wasabi
• Sprinkles
• Finely chopped nuts, e.g. Pistachios, almonds, etc

METHOD

1. In a small saucepan bring cream to just begin to simmer (this may take a while, be patient to avoid burning, keep stirring with a spatula). When the cream begins to bubble, stir in your desired flavoring.
2. Place the chocolate in a mixing bowl. Pour the cream over the chocolate, allow to stand for a few minutes and stir until you get a smooth homogenous mixture, this is known as ganache.)
3. Transfer the ganache to a smaller bowl, let it cool down and then let it chill in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours.
4. When the ganache is hard enough, take the bowl out from the fridge. and roll out balls of the ganache using two teaspoons. Place the ganache balls on a piece of baking paper.
5. If the weather is cold enough, you can dust the ganache balls immediately with your desired coatings. If not put them back in the fridge for some hours or overnight to make them hardened first before coating.
6. Serve immediately with a nice cup of coffee or with a glass of sweet wine, my favorite is Vin Santo. The rest you can keep them in an airtight container for next few days consumption or you can also keep them in the freezer. Take them out from the freezer and rest them for a while at room temperature before you consumed.

Other useful links:

• Cooking for Engineers with great step-by-step illustration
• Jamie Oliver’s suggestion of throwing a DIY chocolate truffle party with your friends

Lastly, I wish all of you a very happy and warm Christmas and a great start in 2011!!!