Cappuccino Truffles

I've made truffles for Christmas for the past 8 years or so. I like to try new flavors. Some work, some don't. Greatest hits include dark chocolate cardamom, dark chocolate salted caramel, milk chocolate cinnamon, and white chocolate orange and cardamom.

This year I thought I'd make what I'm going to call cappuccino truffles. I've done dark chocolate coffee truffles before, and they were good, but not "Oh-my-god-I-must-make-these-again" good. This time I'll be using white chocolate - hence cappuccino truffles. Milk-y er and sweeter. Personally I prefer dark chocolate to white or milk chocolate, but it's fun to try new things.

Here's hoping they work!

I found various recipes on line, use butter, use an egg, roast the white chocolate etc. but I'm going to go for the simplest version I can.

I used this recipe as a starting point.

• 3/4 US cup / 6 fl. oz. / 180 ml whipping cream
• 1 table spoon ground coffee
• 14 oz / 400g white chocolate
• 2 table spoons kahlua

I amended this by using 200 ml double cream, omitting the kahlua, and using instant espresso powder.

So, a simple ganache.

Chop the chocolate finely, so so very finely. This is so that the chocolate melts quickly and evenly.

Heat cream till it reaches the boil and rises up the side of the pan, take off heat and pour straight over the chocolate. I put the espresso powder in with the cream to allow it to infuse. I wouldn't next time, as only some of it mixed in with the cream, and some formed a small solid ball that I had to scoop out.

Let sit for 1 minute.

At this point it will look terrible; it will come together. Stir till smooth.

Pour into prepared tray or chocolate molds.

These truffles will take at least 3 hours in a fridge to cool sand set.

Once the truffle are set, you're ready to finish them.

Some people use a teaspoon or melon baller to scoop out truffle mix. If you want the truffle to be smooth and round, you're going to want to roll them gently in your hands. I'm "lucky" enough to always have cold hands, so I use a sharp knife and cut the set truffle mix into strips and then cubes before rolling them into shape. If it's a warm day, you'll probably want the chill the truffles for 10 minutes in the fridge in between cutting them and rolling them into balls.

You could decorate the truffles in cocoa powder, chocolate flakes, an artistic drizzle of chocolate over the top - whatever takes your fancy.

I like to make extra work for myself and dipped the truffles in melted chocolate.

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Break 300 g of your chosen variety of chocolate into a heat proof bowl, and place over a smaller pan of barely simmering water (bain marie/ double boiler). Keep a few pieces of chocolate back.

Once the chocolate in the bowl has melted, remove from the pan and place on your work surface next to a lined tray that you're going to put the truffles on. Put the remaining chocolate pieces into the melted chocolate and stir till smooth.

Using one fork, dip one truffle at a time into the melted chocolate. Make sure the truffle is total coated, the remove from the melted chocolate and allow excess chcolate to drip off.

Use a second fork to push the truffle onto the lined tray.

I've also chosen to top each truffle with a chocolate coated coffee bean. This mimics the design of the classic Nipples of Venus (Capezzoli di Venere) truffle. Venus Nipples are usually a brandy-soaked-chestnut-filled chocolate, but I hope you'll allow me this departure from the classic.

I'm doing some of the truffles coated in white chocolate, and some coated in dark chocolate. This way people can choose between a very white chocolate truffle, or a contrasting combination.

My official taster @costopher gave these the thumbs up, and I hope you find them a fun treat to make :)

Thanks for having a look!