Chocolate Truffles

With Valentines coming and all the hype of giving the perfect gift for men and women alike, I give what I give best…..a home cooked meal.  Part of our Valentine’s meal was these lovely truffles.  I have been taught that chocolate is one of the 5 major food groups and should be included with every meal.  In the food pyramid that we are taught in school of healthy meals I think it is located between fruits and vegetables.  Nothing says fancy chocolate like a truffle.  You can pay several dollars apiece for store-bought truffles.  These I made with everything I had at home.  I didn’t need to buy a single ingredient. 

This is two days in a row with cookbooks from Martha.  I must be in the “M” section of the public library where I am finding these cookbooks.  I like this cookbook much better than the one from yesterday.  If you are wondering why it is for one simple reason….pictures.  Glorious pictures for almost every recipe in the cookbook.  I like seeing what I am supposed to be making.  I really need to take a food styling class to figure out how they take all of those pictures.  Although I will say that the picture that I took of the finished truffles looks pretty darn good.  Let’s pretend I am a food stylist for a minute and oh and ah over it.

The Ruling:  I thought they were great, not too sweet.  However you need to be a fan of dark chocolate.  How many fans of dark chocolate do I have in my house……umm….that would be one.  Next time I might use a milk chocolate and see what happens.  For ease of preparation this got a gold star.  It really did not take too long and the fact that my oldest son’s girlfriend stirred them for me over the ice bath was a bonus.  She may have been bored to death….but I sure appreciate it.  You see, we make her work for her meals around here! (just kidding)  I only rolled ours in the pistachios and did not bother with the cocoa powder and the peanut brittle.  I also did not have brandy so I used an orange flavored liqueur that I had on hand.

Chocolate Truffles, page 258

Ingredients:

• 2 ounces roasted, salted pistachios, chopped
• 2 tablespoons best-quality unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder
• 2 ounces peanut brittle, finely chopped
• 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, preferably 61% cacao, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon brandy

Directions:

1. Prepare an ice-water bath.  Line a baking sheet with parchment.  Place pistachios, cocoa powder, and brittle in separate bowls.  Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl,  Bring milk and butter just to a simmer in a saucepan; pour over chocolate, and whisk until smooth.  Whisk in brandy.
2. Set bowl in ice bath; whisk constantly, scraping sides of bowl, until mixture is thick enough to scoop with a spoon, about 5 minutes.  Use a mini ice-cream scoop (or a teaspoon) to form mixture into balls, dropping them into a coating as you go; roll to cover.
3. Transfer to prepared baking sheet and refrigerate until set, at least 10 minutes. (Truffles will keep up to 1 week in the refrigerator; store in a single layer in an airtight container.)

To Joyful, Simplified Living,

 MS. Simplicity

 MS. Simplicity, also known as Melissa Schmalenberger  operates her business as I Did it with MS. Simplicity.  She is a Professional Organizer based out of Fargo, ND and her website can be found at www.ididit-fargo.com .  Need to contact MS. Simplicity privately, you can email her at melissa@ididit-fargo.com.

Tags: 365 Clever Cookbooks, chocolate truffles, family, food, life moms, Martha Stewart