Yummy@Home Chocolate Truffes - So Easy to Make, Who Knew?

So I don't have that much time to cook, but every so often my sweet tooth overcomes me and I get the urge to make my own sugary delight.

Now, given my oven has a tendency to cook at a different temperature from what the display says...baking is out of the question.

Enter my attempt to make my own truffles!

I was inspired by my friend Thomas - a part-time soon-to-be Cordon Bleu trained chef and part-time private equity master who recently made delicious truffles using decadent Scharffen Berger chocolate.

For my attempt, I decided to go with less expensive chocolate as I always try to minimize the collateral damage on my first try to make anything. You never know, right?

Now I'm not the most precise person so after looking at several online recipes I decided to just eyeball it:

Here is a simple list of ingredients:

• 1 bag of chocolate chips (any kind is fine, but I'm partial to dark chocolate so I picked Ghiradelli's 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chips)
• 1 cup of heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons of pure vanilla
• 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
• any kind of toppings (chopped nuts, coconut flakes, cocoa powder...)
  

Now in between commercials for Gossip Girl, I set about the easy steps towards making delicious truffles.

1. Pour chocolate chips in a large mixing bowl
   
2. Heat cream and butter to a boil
3. Add vanilla
4. As soon as mixture is boiling- pour over chocolate and let it stand for around 5 minutes
   
5. Whisk chocolate and cream mixture till smooth
6. Refrigerate until mixture solidifies - this is called ganache (it will take a couple of hours or overnight is often best)
   

Toppings - I toasted hazelnuts and coconut flakes (which by the way taste great as a snack too!). Just popped them on a baking sheet for approx 5 minutes.

I put my oven at around 350 degrees- but like I said I'm not sure if that really was the temperature. This is not an exacting science, so just keep an eye on them to make sure they don't burn.

Rolling the truffles - be forewarned, this is a messy exercise that will likely leave your fingers smelling like chocolate for days. But who's complaining about that, right?

1. Take a small spoon (or melon scooper if you have one - I don't, I mean really, who does?)
2. Scoop out small round sized pieces of ganache using your hands to mold it into round nuggets
3. Roll chocolate ball in topping - it is easier if you place toppings on different plates to keep from mixing.
4. Place on parchment lined tray so they don't stick and refrigerate until cool.
5. Serve at room temperature

So this is a really really simple version of truffles. Now that I've made the most basic kind, next time I will experiment with other flavors - instead of the 2 tbspoons of vanilla - maybe I'll substitute with mint. Or rum, or grand marnier, or orange liqueur? Or coffee of course!

The possibilities are endless...

If only my waistline agreed.

P.S. This would be a great gift to bring to a dinner party or get together.