Want To Know My Secret Recipe For Mouthwatering Truffles? Read On ....
Nov 15 '05
The Bottom Line Easy to make, delicious to eat ...
Say the word ‘truffle’ to any person that is addicted to chocolate and you might catch them drooling. When you look up the word truffle in the dictionary there are several meanings - it’s either an edible fungus [saprophyte] or a powdered chocolate coated delicacy. Needless to say, I’m referring to the latter here. Truffles can cost an arm and a leg if you buy them in the upscale chocolate stores but why bother? You can make them at home for a lot less, have something that looks like you spent hours and hours creating and will have every soccer mom green with envy when you pull out a serving tray covered with these. And don’t worry, even if you have trouble navigating around the kitchen, let alone baking, you can make these without any major problems.
What You Need ...
4 1/2 ounces of melted butter
9 ounces of crushed graham crackers
[you can substitute any type of cookie or wafer cookie instead of graham crackers, I’ve even used the non-iced animal crackers when I was in a pinch]
4 tablespoon honey
4 tablespoons semi sweet cocoa
[you can use any type of cocoa powder you want, it all depends on how sweet you want it to be]
4 tablespoons shredded coconut, crushed peanuts or almonds
[pick one of these or substitute 4 tablespoons of something else]
Take the cookies or wafers that you are working with and crush them well, you can have some small chunks but you want this stuff busted up. Don’t crush it until it is a powder, you do want a little bit of crunch when you bite into them. Melt the butter slowly in a large pot - you want something that is large enough that you can mix the rest of the ingredients in. Let the butter cool off a little but not to the point where it starts to harden. Add the crushed cookies, honey and powdered items and mix well. Once everything is combined you need to press it out on to a cookie sheet. I suggest lining it with some type of parchment paper so you can get it out easily and it cuts down on the clean up time. Once you have it evenly spread you are going to want to score the top so you get them divided up into one and a half inch squares. This will determine how large your truffles will be - if you want huge ones make the squares larger. Pop the tray into the refrigerator for about a half hour to an hour until it is somewhat hard.
When the mix has cooled off and started to harden you will want to pull the tray out and use a flat edge spatula [metal works best] to cut through the mixture. This will make it easier to work with when you get ready to roll them out into balls. You want to try to get the mix chilled the whole way through but not so that it is completely solid. I usually toss the tray back into the refrigerator for another fifteen minutes after I have cut them the whole way through. This is where the fun starts - pull out the tray and start removing the squares. Roll them into balls with your hands then into the coating of your choice. You can use hot cocoa mix, shredded coconut, crushed peanuts, Oreo cookies [with the center cream removed], festive sprinkles, mini chocolate or peanut butter chips - what ever you like. When you have them coated just drop them into mini baking cups and you are done. These can be made a few days in advance of a party and hold their shape well as long as they are kept cool. Putting them in the refrigerator will keep them for about a week but they might be hard as a rock so make sure you cover them well and allow them to come to room temperature before you serve them.
Some people like to add alcohol to their truffle mix, this is nice if you are having an all adult type of party. Please remember that this does have honey in it so do not serve or let smaller children eat them. If you are going to add any type of alcohol to this mix then cut back on the amount of honey that you are using - take off two tablespoons and add two tablespoons of what ever alcohol you like. Rum and anything “spiced” usually tastes great. For chocolate lovers you can use crushed up Oreo cookies then roll the truffle into melted chocolate, allow it to set for a couple of minutes then roll that into some shaved chocolate. If that doesn’t satisfy their sweet tooth, nothing will.
Once you start playing around with different flavor combinations you’ll find a few that you really like making. These are a nice treat for a party, special occasion or anniversary and they are so easy to make that you’ll have a hard time convincing people otherwise. This is also a sure fire way for guys to get out of the doghouse. Forget to pick up the dry cleaning? Add too much soap to the dishwasher and flood the kitchen? Forget your significant others birthday? If you have about an hour and a half to get creative then you can make these truffles with all your sweeties favorite ingredients. You can make these for Valentine’s Day by rolling them in some tinted shredded coconut or heart sprinkles; for Halloween, use orange or black coconut on the outside but use red cookies inside and you can top them off with spooky sprinkles. See, you can make these for any occasion and in almost any type of color. The only limit you have when it comes to making truffles are the ones you set so get creative, don’t be afraid to try new combinations and make sure you give each and every batch a taste test!
As always, thanks for the read!
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2005 Freak369
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