December, Recipe for Truffles: Monday Blog Post

Truffles cooling in my cold garage

Newest News:

If you’re like me, you’re looking at the calendar and
going, what happened? It’s December 9th already? Wha???? Anyway, my
Christmas prep is abbreviated this year. Just the string of lights on the eves
outside, plus the little wooden Christmas sign in the flowerpot near the
sidewalk. Inside, we have the tree up, an angel on top, and pretty much nothing
else. Very minimalist. I did make my traditional truffles. I think I’m going to
make a batch of cookies. I send these to my brother, my daughter and her ex. I
have mailed out my Christmas cards, but again, it’s an abbreviated list.

As a Christmas gift, I’ll give you the recipe for the
truffles. I got this recipe from the Martha Stewart Living magazine years ago
and I’ve loved it from the beginning. Use the best chocolate you can for the
best treats. I use a teaspoon measuring spoon to scoop the interior as I don’t
have a miniature scoop. A cookie dough scoop is too big, you only want about
half of that. I always double this recipe as I like to give them to friends,
family, and even the mail person, garbage truck driver, and my newspaper
delivery person. Enjoy.

From Martha Stewart Living

Classic Truffles

Makes about 4 dozen.

Martha’s note: Using a 2 ¼ inch ice-cream scoop is the
easiest way to form truffles, but two spoons will also work.

Ingredients

1 cup heavy cream

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 teaspoons light corn syrup

1 pound finely chopped semisweet chocolate, plus 12
ounces for dipping

1 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted.

In
small saucepan, bring cream, butter, and corn syrup to a full boil over medium
heat. Turn off heat. Add 1 pound chocolate; gently swirl pan to cover chocolate
with cream, but do not stir. Let stand, undisturbed, 5 minutes.Slowly
whisk until combined. Transfer mixture to a large bowl; refrigerate, stiffing
every 15 minutes. (This really is an important step!)After
45 minutes, mixture will thicken quickly, so stir every 3 to 5 minutes until
thick enough to scoop, 10 to 20 minutes more. (This step could take longer but
is also important. The whisking and stirring make the truffle centers delightfully
smooth and melt in your mouth.)  Using two
spoons or a small ice-cream scoop, form into 1-inch balls; transfer to a
parchment or wax paper lined baking sheet. (I do scoop, but then roll the ball
of ganache in my hands to make a smoother ball. It’s up to you but warning, my
method is extremely messy.)4.
Chill until firm, but not hard, about 10 minutes. Remove from refrigerator;
roll in palms to form a ball, (skip if you’ve already rolled them) and press
gently with fingers to create irregular shapes. Chill until ready to dip, up to
1 week. Place remaining 12 ounces chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of
simmering water; still occasionally until chocolate melts. Remove from heat.Place
cocoa in a small bowl. Remove centers from refrigerator. Using one hand, dip
one center into melted chocolate, then roll around in your hand to coat evenly,
letting excess drip back into the pan. Place truffle in cocoa. With your clean
hand, cover truffle with cocoa. Let sit in bowl 20 seconds. (Note: I drop the
cold centers in the melted chocolate one at a time then pick them out with a
fork. I use a second fork to tap excess chocolate from the covered center, then
place on a wax paper lined baking sheet. I skip the cocoa powder step all
together. No one has ever complained. The cocoa is supposed to make the candy
truffle look like a real truffle, but again, no one in my circle cares about
that.)Lift
out, set on a wax paper lined baking sheet. Repeat, one at a time, with
remaining truffles. If your kitchen is warm, refrigerate 5 minutes to set. You
can store truffles in an airtight container up to 1 week at cool room temperature.
(I store mine in the refrigerator. They can last longer that way, if no one is
sneaking into the container and taking the truffles. To serve, bring back up to
room temp for the best chocolate flavor.)

If you have leftover melted chocolate, dump some dried
fruit (cranberry, raisin, apricot,) and nuts, (walnut, sliced almond) or even
crushed peppermint candy canes, whatever you have, into the melted chocolate,
stir to coat, and pour out onto wax paper. When cooled and hardened, you now
have a wonderful, home-made chocolate bark.

Giveaways:

The Christmas giveaway is now open! For my giveaway I’m featuring an ebook copy of Slave Elf and a $10 Amazon gift card. There are 21 other great prizes available and a $72 Grand Prize in PayPal cash. I hope you can stop in and try for a prize here.

Where will I Be?:

Saturday I’m at the Mesa Book Festival. The date is December 14th from 10am – 5pm and the location has changed to 225 E Main St, Mesa. This is the Benedictine University, for those familiar with Mesa. I am sharing a booth space with the wonderful Marsha Ward. The site only promotes the author registering the table, so you’ll only see Marsha’s name, not mine. But I promise, I’ll be there. You can find all the details and a map at https://anthology.org/category/mesa-book-festival/.

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My 2020 Calendar, which I’ve titled Arizona Reflections, is now available. I love doing these calendars. The beautiful pictures of Arizona wildlife, insects, reptiles, and landscapes relaxes me every time I look at them. The wall calendar has both U.S. and Canadian holidays listed and blocks for keeping track of appointments. You can find the calendar for purchase at: http://www.lulu.com/content/legacy-lulustudio-calendar/arizona-impressions/25183877. Alternatively, you can go to my website, at my Books and Other Products page and it’s the first thing you see. I hope you enjoy it.

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