Truffles for Dummies

Today is my post for Secret Recipe Club. This month I had Sid's Sea Palm Cooking. I'd been planning on making her yogurt biscuits for weeks. But then we ate all our yogurt and then I took my sweet time making and/or buying more. So I started to look where I always look when I need a default recipe--the sweet stuff. Sid's got several delicious recipes I'd like to try including several Danish recipes. I have a strong streak of Swedish ancestry and those Scandinavian dishes always tempt me a bit. But what I settled on will be less of a shock for all of you--Truffles Truffles Truffles. They were just so easy and so good. It was ridiculous. Also--super cute. Perfect for a party or a little gift for a friend.  As you know, our family loves chocolate. And I think that the truffle may be my favorite of all. It's creamy and chocolatey of course. But it's also small. I have a deep and twisted (well, not really that twisted; I just like them a lot) thing for small desserts.

You'll notice I covered some in pink coconut. That's because I made a baby shower cake last week and had leftover coconut, but I was thinking that you could totally go green on the coconut for St. Patrick's Day.

Here's what you do:
-Just add some sweetened coconut to a Ziploc bag.
-Add 1-2 drops green (or whatever color) food coloring.
-Then shake the bag around and voila. Happy St. Patrick's Day

Truffles for Dummies
adapted from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
Makes: about 20 smallish truffles
Prep time: 10 minutes
Eat time: 12 seconds
Cost: $1.40 (that's about $.07/truffle)
chocolate: .90, cream: .25, dusting cocoa: .25

4 oz chocolate, chopped (or chips) (I used 60% Ghiradelli, which is my favorite, but you can use semi-sweet or even white chocolate instead--be sure to use good quality white chocolate or it won't work)
4 oz cream
cocoa for dusting, or chopped nuts or coconut or mints or powdered sugar or whatever

Heat your cream until almost boiling. Pour over chocolate. Let sit for a few minutes. Then whisk together until smooth--it'll take a minute. This is a nice thick ganache. Now let it cool for several hours (at least three) in the fridge.

When you're ready to make the truffles, have whatever toppings prepared that you want to roll your truffles in (worst use of prepositions in a sentence ever--please forgive).

I used cocoa, coconut, raw cashews, and some powdered sugar (not pictured). On the bottom right is the chilled ganache, ready to be rolled.

Take your chilled ganache out and use a tiny scoop (I used a melon scoop, but a very small cookie scoop would have been better) to scoop it out. If you don't have a scoop, use a spoon or something and roll very quickly with your hands. It will be messy (but don't worry, you can lick your hands off at the end). Work quickly because it will melt into your hands. Don't worry about getting perfect circles--circular-ish things are fine. Drop those little balls into your dusting stations and roll them around. And then put them in the fridge to chill again if you wish. They'll stay solid at room temp, but I like them better straight out of the fridge--they're firmer.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

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