Tis the Season, #12 -- Chocolate Truffles

A super easy, delicious holiday treat.  This recipe for Chocolate Truffles comes from page 72 of the March 1981 Gourmet Magazine.  I have modified it from time to time by using semisweet chocolate chips that are already small as opposed to chopping up a brick of hard chocolate.  Also I have used the microwave instead of the stove top to melt and mix the chocolate and heavy cream and to soften the butter.

Chocolate Truffles

Ingredients

1 lb of semisweet chocolate [four 4 oz packages] broken into bits or high quality semisweet chocolate chips [one and a third 12 oz packages]
3/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons of heavy cream
5 Tablespoons unsalted butter cut into bits and softened
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa in small separate bowl

1.  Put the semisweet chocolate bits or chips in a heatproof bowl.  
2.  In a saucepan or in the microwave oven heat the cream to a boil. 
3.  Pour the hot cream over the chocolate bits and stir vigorously until the chocolate is all melted and blended into the cream.  If the chocolate does entirely melt by mixing with the hot cream, it is possible to use the microwave "melt" option to complete the process. Be sure to stir the mixture after removing it from the microwave.
4.  Beat in the unsalted butter until well combined.  The microwave trick could be tried here also if the butter is too hard and cold to melt completely into the chocolate and cream mixture.

[Steps 1 through 4 could be done with a mixer but it is easy to do with a wooden spoon or silicon spatula.]

The messy step, forming and dusting the chocolate balls in unsweetened cocoa

5.  Chill for at least 1 hour.  Can be chilled overnight.
6.  Form the mixture into approximately 1-inch balls and roll in unsweetened cocoa.  Shake off excess cocoa.
7.  Put in little paper cups, then store in a lidded container.

 

The truffles can be served chilled or at room temperature.  They keep longer if kept in a lidded container in the fridge.  

Should make between 60 and 90 truffles depending on the size of the balls.

Apples, part 2

Sorted apples going into a bowl

What are we doing with all those apples we picked off our little tree?  We began sorting, preparing (peeling and coring) and cooking the apples for applesauce today.  Others will be made into pies, some we will eat, because although they are tart they are also sweet and very acceptable for eating as it turns out.  We won’t make all the applesauce at once but we have done 5 batches today.  As they cook the apples are filling the house with a heavenly aroma and the warm applesauce (with whipped cream) is yummy.

Easy Plain Old Fashioned Applesauce*

Ingredients:
½ cup water
7 cups of cored and peeled apples
½ cup sugar


For a spicy alternative add ¼ teaspoon cinnamon and a little nutmeg with the sugar.

1.  Core, peel and quarter apples.  
2.  Bring ½ cup of water to a boil in a large pot.  Add the apples. 
3.  Cover and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.  

4.  Remove from the heat and add ½ cup sugar.  
5.  Mix the sugar thoroughly into the cooked apples.  
6.  Let stand for a few minutes then pour or ladle into clean freezer containers or glass canning jars.  
7.  Put lids on the containers, label with the date and freeze or refrigerate.  

I’m not sure how long it will last in the refrigerator because ours will get eaten up quickly but the frozen applesauce should be good for a year.  


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*The original recipe can be found in a 1963 edition McCall's Cook Book, page 280