I've made these truffles a few times and they always turn out great.
1/2 pound good bittersweet chocolate (I use Ghiradelli)
1/2 pound good semisweet chocolate (I use Ghiradelli)
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons orange flavored liqueur, optional (recommended: Grand Marnier)
1 tablespoon prepared coffee (I don't drink coffee so I substitute Kahlua)
1/2 teaspoon good vanilla extract
Chop the chocolates finely with a sharp knife. Place them in a heat-proof mixing bowl.
Heat the cream in a small saucepan until it just boils. Turn off the heat and allow the cream to sit for 20 seconds to slightly cool.
Pour the cream through a fine-meshed sieve into the bowl with the chocolate.
With a wire whisk, slowly stir the cream and chocolates together until the chocolate is completely melted.
Whisk in the orange flavored liqueur, if using, coffee, and vanilla.
Set aside at room temperature for at least 1 hour. (Sometimes I put this in the refrigerator for a little while because it takes mine longer than 1 hour to set. The mixture needs to be soft enough for you to roll into balls so you have to be careful not to leave it in the refrigerator too long .If you do then you have to let it set at room temperature for awhile to become soft enough. Another recipe I have says to put the mixture in an 8 x 8 in glass baking dish so that it sets more evenly.)
With 2 teaspoons (or a small scoop or melon baller) spoon round balls of the chocolate mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Roll each ball of chocolate in your hands (I use latex free gloves) to roughly make it round.
Here's where you can be creative. Have some small bowls ready with confectioner's sugar, cocoa powder, chopped nuts, finely chopped chocolate, or whatever you can think of to dip the truffles in. You can also melt some chocolate to dip them in but you need to keep the chocolate at 90 - 92 degrees.
These will keep refrigerated for weeks, but they taste better if you serve them at room temperature.
This is supposed to make 60 truffles but of course it depends on what size you make them. I had about 40 of them with the last batch I made.
Yes, these are pretty easy to make but can be time consuming. I have made the mixture one day and let it set at room temperature until the next day when I had time to roll them. It also can be messy but as Alton Brown says "You will be rewarded".
Enjoy!!!!
