Recipe Time: Valentines Truffles

I decided to make my team at work chocolate truffles for Valentines Day. I took a community ed class on truffle making a year ago, and I discovered how easy and delecious it is to make them yourself. I also went full on Martha Stewart and made little boxes and tags to package them with, and they turned out adorable! Here's what I do:

Chocolate Truffles - makes about 24

• 8 oz. good quality chocolate (dark, milk, whatever your preference is)
• 1/3 c. cream
• Depending on your preference, extra chocolate to dip them in, or fun stuff to roll them in (nuts, toasted coconut, bashed up candy, cookies, cocoa powder...whatever) 

1. Melt the chocolate in a microwave safe container in your microwave at 50% power for 1 minute. Stir and repeat. 
2.  Add the cream and let sit for 2-3 minutes.
3. Stir, and if the chocolate still isn't melted microwave for an additional 15-30 seconds until it's all melted. Keep a close eye on everything while you're microwaving. If you burn your chocolate, the party's over.
4. Put your chocolate mixture in the fridge for 1 hour, or until solid enough to scoop
5. Using a small melon baller, or a teaspoon, scoop the chocolate into approx 1 inch balls, and quickly roll them between your palms until they are nicely shaped. You want to try and minimize the amount of rolling you do so as not to start melting the chocolate. Just try and work quickly. 
6. This next part depends on what you want to do - if you're dipping your truffles in chocolate, put them in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to firm up again after all the scooping and rolling. If not, proceed to the next step!
7. If you're not dipping your truffles, then roll them around in your toppings, place on a wax paper covered try and chill until serving time. 
8. If you're dipping your truffles, than melt your chocolate, stab a truffle with a toothpick, and dip away. Place on a wax paper covered sheet to harden, then chill until serving

The fun part about truffle making is that you can get really creative. You can experiment with different types of chocolate, you can add flavorings, you can dip them in chocolate, then roll them in stuff, then drizzle them with more chocolate! You can dip and sprinkle and drizzle in any combination to your heart's content! In the picture above, I did one chocolate-covered one, one rolled in dutch-process cocoa, one dipped in chocolate, then rolled in bashed up malted milk balls, and one rolled in bashed up Andes mints, then drizzled with more chocolate.