Truffles

Every single homemade chocolate truffle is a masterpiece. That beautiful exterior coated with salty nuts or a dusting of chocolate coating holds within it a moment of bliss in the form of creamy, melt-in-your-mouth dark chocolate. Something so sublime should take hours of work to perfect, right? Hardly. The truth is truffles are dead simple to make. A little cream and some good-quality chocolate will give you fail-proof chocolate truffles at home. Traditional truffles are made with bittersweet chocolate and no sugar added. If you want them sweeter, try using semi-sweet chocolate instead.

Know the ratio: This recipe makes a ganache using a 2:1 ratio of chocolate to cream. We recommend weighing the ingredients for best results.
Seek out good chocolate: Look for high-quality chocolate in the 60 to 70% range. Avoid chips or bars that can have hardening agents.
Use whipping cream or heavy whipping crema: Heavy cream is sometimes labeled whipping cream or heavy whipping cream. There’s a small but distinct difference between the two (whipping cream being 30 to 35% milk fat, and heavy cream being 36% milk fat). Either can be used for making truffles.

8 oz 60% chocolate
½cup heavy cream

Garnish Suggestions:
finely chopped nuts (hazelnut, pecan or pitachio) 
Dutch cocoa powder
chocolate sprinkles
melted chocolate

Finely chop the chocolate, a serrated knife will do this quickly and efficiently. Transfer the chocolate to a medium bowl.

Heat the cream. Heat the cream over low heat in a small saucepan until steaming. Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate and set aside for 5 minutes.

Whisk the cream and chocolate together until smooth and shiny.

Pour the ganache into a shallow pan or baking dish, such as an 8x8" baking dish. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.

Use a Tbsp. or small cookie scoop to portion the ganache into 1 oz portions (about 2 Tbsp. each). Roll the balls between gloved hands until smooth and place on a plate. Refrigerate for a few minutes while preparing the coatings.

For best results, pour the coatings into small dishes or bowls. Dip and roll the truffles in the coatings.

These truffles keep best in the refrigerator. Remove from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before serving. They'll tast better at room temperature.

Truffles can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.

Makes 12 (1 oz) truffles.