How to make truffles

This guide was written originally for a friend of mine. I’ve cleaned it up and made it suitable for human consumption. One few thing to remember before I begin: this isn’t tempered chocolate. It will melt rapidly at room temperature.

Truffle Centers:

• 10 oz dark chocolate
• 3 oz butter
• ¹⁄₄ cup liquor of choice
• 1 cup heavy cream

Using a double boiler, melt the 10 oz of dark chocolate. The higher the cocoa mass of the chocolate, the better the centers will turn out. I try to use %70 when I can find it. Make sure to keep stirring the chocolate so it doesn’t burn. Once the chocolate has melted and is smooth, add the 3 oz of butter. Once the butter is mixed in, add the cream. Keep stirring – make sure the mixture is even.

Finally, add the liquor. I like to use Bailey’s Irish Cream or Khaluha, but I have used rum and whiskey in the past. The liquor is really for a very subtle flavor, and you should use what you like.

When it’s all mixed in properly, pour the mixture into a Pyrex measuring cup or similar heat-resistant piece of cookware. Then pop it into the freezer and wait for 4 hours.

Yes. Hours. If needed, you can keep it in there longer. The idea is to give the centers time to set up, so you can make little balls out of them in the next step…

Preparing the Centers:

Prepare a few large trays by covering them with wax paper and making sure they will fit in the fridge. You will need them in a moment. Remove the Pyrex container from the freezer, get your mellon baller out, and start making little balls. Honestly, the smaller the better (within reason).

You may need to warm the mellon baller in warm water to prevent the centers from sticking too much.

Arrange the centers you have scooped out onto the trays with the wax paper. Try to keep things as neat as possible. You can do multiple layers on a try using more wax paper, but remember that for the final steps, you will need lots of flat space in the fridge. Put the trays with the centers in the fridge. They will need to stay there for about 8 or 12 hours.

Go take a nap or something.

Covering the Truffles

Again, using a double boiler, melt a bunch of dark chocolate. I really don’t know how much, but it’s a lot, and it’s most likely going to be more than you think you need. I almost always melt too little and have to make more in the middle of this process. The other thing to keep in mind is that over time, even on a double boiler, the chocolate will start to burn. It’s slow, and you won’t really notice it at first, but it will happen, so try to work quickly.

Not too quickly, though. You don’t want your kitchen to look like a bomb site.

Once the chocolate is melted, take the trays of centers out of the fridge. Pour melted chocolate on them with a spoon – just enough to cover the centers. Your goal here is to use as little chocolate as possible, while still covering the centers. The idea at the end is that you can pop the whole thing in your mouth, or at most, two bites. It takes some practice, but it’s not impossible. Hey, I learned it. So can you.

Put the covered centers back into the fridge. About an hour later they will be ready to start eating if you’re done with this guide and sick of being in the kitchen. Make sure the dark chocolate on the outside is solid, otherwise this is going to be a mess. If you really want to work on presentation, keep reading.

If you have the desire, you can take the centers off the wax paper, flip them over, and cover the backs. This is a nice touch which I usually can’t be bothered with, but of course, my truffles aren’t pretty by any stretch of the imagination. They just taste good. Other suggestions:

• Roll truffles in cocoa powder
• Put a drop of melted white chocolate on the top of each
• Put an almond or other nut on the top of each

Just use your imagination.