Chocolate Ganache Filled Chocolate Truffles

Amazing - makes about 4 large truffles. They could use to be smaller, though... I can see this recipe making 7-8 normal sized chocolates.

Ingredients

• ~6oz (1c) chocolate
  
• 3tbsp half-and-half
  
• skim milk as needed
  

Reserving a tablespoon of chocolate chips, melt the remainder in the microwave using 30 second bursts and stirring well between each iteration. Once they're FAIRLY melted, just stir them and let the residual heat melt them the rest of the way - don't overcook. Divide the chocolate into two equal portions in different bowls. Heat the half-and-half in the microwave until it's just warm to the touch. Add it to one of the bowls and stir well. It should look a little watery for a second and then thicken into a ganache. Using a DIFFERENT spoon, stir the reserved tablespoon of chocolate chips into the OTHER bowl. This is your tempered chocolate shell. It doesn't matter if it doesn't all melt, but try to get most of the chips dissolved.

Depending on the thickness of the ganache, you can now use a melon baller or small ice-cream scoop to scoop out little blobs of chocolate onto a piece of waxed paper. If the ganache is too liquidy, chill it in the fridge until it gets a little more solid. (If you do chill it, make sure to come by and stir it every five to ten minutes so that it doesn't cool unevenly). Place the blobs of chocolate in the freezer for 20 minutes.

Check on the tempered chocolate, making sure it stays melty. Alton Brown recommends putting the bowl on top of a heating pad turned to low. Just make sure not to let it get too hot.

Now take the blobs out of the freezer. You kind of have to move quickly - take a toothpick and dunk each one in the melted tempered chocolate, then put the truffle on a sheet of waxed paper. Twist the toothpick to get it out of the chocolate, and then you can add a little dab of extra chocolate to cover up any hole it leaves. Do this for each of them. Let them cool for 10 minutes or so on the counter, and then put them in the fridge until they set completely. Then you can take them out and they won't melt all over.

Thoughts: This was a test of a basic truffle recipe. I sort of made up the process, but combined it with some knowledge about the science of tempering chocolate. These turned out GREAT. In the future, it would be easy to add flavors to the chocolates. When you heat the half-and-half, just steep some lavender in it for a while, then filter out the lavender. Or try earl grey. Or orange extract. I'm also thinking that I might sprinkle some sea salt on top of the truffles. Make sure that you make them smallish - mine were fairly large, and they're a little much for one person. You kind of have to split them in half and share.

Disaster Index: 1/10