Tis the season for sweets to be sure. Amateur and professional bakers and candy makers let visions of possibilities dance in their heads. I am no different and have a particular affection for all things sweet. My training, albeit incomplete was in pastry and it has been my go to for decades.

I am preparing for an annual party that features just desserts- all homemade and I like to think exquisite, delicious and all made with an overabundance of love and care. I do it all and it is literally my gift back to those who are a part of our life through out the year. I love planning it, preparing the sweet treats and executing an evening that I hope is magical, anticipated and enjoyable. This is just one of the ways that I pour myself out in gift 🙂

I am currently dreaming up Truffles…. Here is a standard recipe that I have used over the years and lends itself to so many varieties- so have fun, get creative and let me know how it all turned out!!

Basic Truffle base

1 1/2 C heavy whipping cream           13 oz. semi sweet chocolate pieces (Nestle’s is a good choice-use REAL chocolate)

In a heavy saucepan, add the cream and heat up until bubbles are forming on the edges, give it a quick stir and let the bubbles form again and shut off the heat. Measure out, using a scale or 1- 12 oz bag    plus a small handful (this is not rocket science here, be brave little baker) Add the chocolate to the hot cream and let set a couple of minutes. Whisk until the chocolate and the cream form a smooth decadent ganache (see, now you know how to make a ganache-but we will talk about that in another column, as this is way too thick to use for icing a torte etc)

Now the real fun begins…here is when you can get creative. You can leave the base plain if you want to have a straight up chocolate truffle, or you can really expand the universe of truffles and try something new. Here are a couple of my favorites:

Peanutbutter Truffles: add 1/4 smooth (or crunchy) peanutbutter- stir until smooth-dip in milk chocolate and roll in crushed peanuts

Mint Truffles-Add 1/2 t of peppermint extract, and 1 t. peppermint Schnapps (opt.)-dip in dark choc and sprinkle with crushed candy canes

Orange Grand Marnier– 1 T Grand Marnier and 1/2 t orange extract, 1 t. extra fine orange zest-dip in dark or milk chocolate. Top with a little orange zest.

Pour the ganache into a shallow casserole dish that has been lined with plastic wrap, top with more plastic wrap and place in the fridge to cool and set. After a couple of hours the ganache will be firm and you can scoop out small spoonfuls and roll quickly into balls-place back in fridge to set. Prepare dipping chocolate-

Choose a good chocolate to enrobe your truffles. Chocolate is tempered when we buy it so what is most important to the amateur cook, is to NOT overcook it and get it out of this precious state of being. First time or fearful bakers should just go with Nestles milk or semi sweet chocolate chips as they have a good flavor, are already uniform size and are the easiest and most dependable to work with I have found over the last 2 decades). Pour semi-sweet chips into a glass bowl- just pour the whole bag, heat for 150 seconds on HALF power. Take the bowl out and stir until melted. NEVER melt chocolate on HIGH, NEVER.

Place a bigger bowl or a sauce pan with hot water below the bowl to keep the chocolate the right temperature. Take the truffle balls out of the fridge and one at a time, drop them into the chocolate. QUICKLY swirl to coat and remove with a fork. I tap on the edge a couple of times and scrape the fork across the edge as I turn them onto a parchment covered sheet pan. If you are adding a garnish (crushed nuts, candy canes, zest etc. add that after you have dipped about 3) Don’t let the chocolate set before adding garnish. You can also go back when they are all set and swipe with chocolate or pipe a design too.

Continue to stir the dipping chocolate so that the temp stays consistent especially with the stuff over by the edge. Chocolate comes out of temper (those are the little white off color streaks and dots you see on chocolate. It doesn’t mean the chocolate is old- it means it has come out of temper from a temperature difference in prep or storage). If you need to melt more and keep dipping, do that. Some might ask about “white chocolate” besides the fact there is no such thing, you could use white chips to garnish or to dip but it is thicker and will discolor quickly with the dark truffle centers being dipped into it. But….you can do it, don’t say I didn’t warn you 🙂

Dip in small batches and let set up in the fridge to avoid the dreaded ‘out of temper’ mess. Dip when it is cool and in a cool kitchen to help set chocolate faster.

Bottom line…HAVE FUN! don’t be discouraged, even the mess up tastes great and frankly some of the greatest dessert creations of all time came from someone trying to fix a mess up.

Let the truffle making begin!!!

The possibilities are endless