Assorted Truffles

Oh.my.god.  These are DELICIOUS!  Rich and melt-in-your-mouth...look and taste like the pros made them...and probably a bazillion calories (so good thing you can only eat a little before the richness is too much!).  But here's the kicker...truffles are actually really EASY to make!  I was pleasantly surprised :).  I'm pretty sure that these and cakeballs will be staple desserts year round.  The beauty of it is that the possibilities are endless and can be changed to match the season.  I considered doing egg nog truffles (substitute the heavy cream with egg nog and spike it with rum) and strawberry (add strawberry preserves) but those got the axe because I don't like egg nog and strawberry felt to Spring for me.  Perhaps Strawberry for Valentine's Day ;).

What follows is a picture of my finished truffles and rough estimates of the flavorings and toppings that I added to create each. 

Family - Be prepared for these delicious morsels to rock your world on Christmas Day.  PS:  Stephen I took special care to make sure that the flavors stayed separated during the making process and there was minimal chance of nut contamination!

Assorted Truffles
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Ingredients

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/4 cup sugar

For the Chocolate: cocoa powder for topping

For the Peppermint Crunch: 1/2 tsp peppermint extract for ganache; 1/2 cup crushed peppermint candy canes for topping

For the French Vanilla Coffee: 1 1/2 tsp powdered Folgers French Vanilla Cappucino mix OR 3/4 tsp instant coffee + 1/2 tsp vanilla extract for ganache; powdered sugar for topping

For the Peanut Butter Chocolate: 1 Tbsp peanut butter for ganache; 1/2 cup crushed peanuts for topping

Directions

1. Bring the cream and sugar to a boil over low heat, pour over the chocolate and stir until smooth.
2. Separated mine into different bowls; one for each flavor.
3. Add respective flavoring to ganache and then cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours (or overnight)
4. Use melon ball scoop or spoon to scoop out some ganache.  Roll (using fingertips) into walnut size balls.  (You don't want to handle  the ganache too much because it will melt and make your hands a mess.  It's okay at this point to be a bit misshapen because you can reshape it after it's rolled in the topping.)
5. Optional: If desired, freeze balls at this point and then prepare chocolate coating in double broiler.  To coat, dip ball in chocolate using a fork.  Sprinkle desired topping over tuffle and then place on a wax paper lined cookie sheet and put in fridge to set.
6. Roll in desired topping and chill until ready to serve.

Source: A Christine's Kitchen Chronicles Original inspired by Sing For Your Supper