Hazelnut truffles

If there's ever an "appropriate" time for making and eating chocolate truffles, it must be now, during the holidays.  This is the moment to make a batch of these little chocolate orbs that exemplify the magic that is chocolate and cream melded together.

A year ago, I made truffles for the first time during Christmas.  I made them plain and flavored some with Grand Marnier.  The truffles made nice gifts, a lovely grown-up dessert at the end of dinner, and a wonderful treat to savor and indulge in with someone special.

This year, I tried the hazelnut variety.  Besides orange and mint, I love nuts, particularly hazelnuts, with chocolate.  Chocolate truffles are little more than chocolate ganache - a combination of chocolate and heavy cream - at their simplest form.  In this case, add hazelnut liqueur in the form of Frangelico, for hazelnut flavor.  Roll the truffles in chopped, toasted hazelnuts to amp up the flavor and to add some texture.  If you prefer your truffles smooth all-round, you could simply roll them in unsweetened cocoa powder but I really like the chopped nuts in this case.

These truffles are dark, rich, slightly nutty, and smooth (just make sure to bring them fully up to room temperature before serving).  Using a combination of bittersweet and semisweet chocolate (not to mention the liqueur, which isn't over-powering in this recipe) gives them a mature taste.  They're right up my alley since I prefer dark chocolate now that I'm a "grownup", although I must say that I think hazelnut is one ingredient that marries really well with milk chocolate.  But when it comes to homemade truffles, I'd stick with the dark; milk chocolate could be tricky since it tends to stay soft, so you'd need to use less cream to chocolate ratio, and it could be too sweet for most people.

When I buy chocolate truffles, I love the kind encased in a hard chocolate shell.  I've yet to venture into the daunting territory of tempering chocolate (which you'd need to do to achieve that shiny, hard chocolate coating) and I think I'll leave it to the pros.  But this simple homemade version is also decadent and delicious, a real treat for the holidays.  You can get creative with the toppings.  I like covering the smooth truffles with crunchy nuts to accent the flavor here - it's also an easy alternative to getting that contrast in texture (plus, it keeps your fingers clean too).

I suppose that aside from Christmas, truffles are great for Valentine's Day too (another lovely holiday and one that will be here before we know it!).  I also packed a few of these truffles for a friend's birthday.  Makes me feel like a little candy maker!