Dark Chocolate Truffles

More About This Recipe

• The first time I made truffles, it was quite by accident. I was baking these awesome, but complicated, cupcakes that were topped with both buttercream and ganache, and I had excess ganache left over. It was late at night, so I just stuck the ganache into the fridge. The next day, I had hardened ganache … and on a whim, I rolled it into balls and then in some cocoa powder. Voila! Truffles.
  
  At the time, I thought I had made something truffle-like. But as it turns out, that’s really what truffles are: hardened ganache – a simple mixture of heavy cream, chocolate and seasonings.
  
  The method for these Dark Chocolate Truffles is one that I learned back in December when I made some Peppermint Truffles from a recipe for a holiday party. It’s as easy as can be.
  
  Heat the heavy cream to boiling and then pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for 10 minutes, and then whisk into submission (and by that, I mean whisk until it’s smooth). Add some vanilla extract, stir and your truffle ganache is almost done.
  
  Once the ganache is chilled and hardened, roll it into balls and then roll those balls in cocoa powder. Done!
  
  Now, if you wanted to get a little fancier, you could skip the cocoa powder coating and instead dip the ganache balls in melted chocolate and allow to cool on a wax paper-lined baking sheet. That would give the truffles a fabulous chocolate shell. Or you could also trade the cocoa powder for finely chopped nuts or sweetened coconut.
  
  However you do it, you can’t help but feel like you’ve done something special when you make these. Truffles are impressive and beautiful. And heck, they’re awesome.
  
  Best of all? These will cost a fraction of the price of those fancy chocolates – and you can make ‘em with love. (Hey, it’s almost Valentine’s Day … of course, there is going to be a hint of cheesiness in a truffle post!)
  
  Sarah W. Caron (aka scaron) is a food writer, editor and blogger who writes about family-friendly foods and raising a healthy family at Sarah’s Cucina Bella.
  
  Have you ever made truffles? Tell us about it!