Home-made chocolate truffles!

[turquoisedude]

I am the first to admit that I am hopeless at making most candies or confections at home. I mess up rice krispie squares, that's how bad I am!! LOL
Nonetheless, I figured I had nothing much to lose by trying, so I attempted some chocolate truffles for Hubby for Valentine's day. Three good reasons for this: I don't have a lot of money to spend on Valentine's this year; Hubby loves chocolate; I am pushing to get a 1956 Frigidaire dishwasher that turned up in Hamilton Ontario recently (thanks Mike!!!)
Here's the recipe from an ancient BH & G Holiday cooking magazine that was given to me by a friend's stepmother:
6 oz semisweet chocolate (I used dark chocolate chips)
1/4 cup butter or margarine
3 tablespoons whipping cream
1 beaten egg yolk
3 tablespoons liqueur or spirit (rum or brandy)
Cocoa powder, chocolate sprinkles, ground nuts or coconut

Start by combining the chocolate, butter or margarine, and cream in a small, heavy saucepan.

 

[turquoisedude]

Heat them over very low heat until the chocolate is melted; takes about 10 minutes.

 

[turquoisedude]

When melted, pour about half the cooked mixture over the well-beaten egg yolk. Combine well and return to the pan. Continue to cook over medium heat for about 3 minutes or until the mixture is slightly thickened.

 

[turquoisedude]

Remove from heat, stir in the liqueur or spirits. Transfer to a small bowl and chill completely until the mixture is cool and smooth, stirring occaisionally. This takes about an hour and a half.

 

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Beat the chilled mixture for about 2 minutes with mixer at medium speed; the mixture should be slightly fluffy.
Chill the mixture for another 15 minutes or until the mixture holds its shape.

 

[turquoisedude]

Drop rounded spoonfuls of the mixture on to a wax-paper lined baking sheet. Chill firm (about 30 minutes)

 

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Roll the mixture into smooth balls, then in desired garnish. I used cocoa powder (other suggestions in the recipe were chocolate sprinkles, nuts, or coconut - all sound yummy!)

 

[turquoisedude]

Et Voila!

The finished truffles, presented in a heart-shaped tin from the local Dollarama!
Hope he likes them... I will post pictures of what he threw at me when I told him about the dishwasher... LOL

 

[mixfinder]

I has to be good

if the recipe lets you use a mixer!

 

[aldspinboy]

Hey paul not much of a chocolate person, but they look very, very nice.
Your speckled smoothtop is nice... people like that because it hides marks an less dirty looking compared to a non speckled smoothtops.
Hey what is that dishwasher, picture please.
How many balls did you role he he.

Darren k.

 

[petek]

They look delish.... Can't wait to see this dishwasher.

btw if you're looking for really good chocolate CHEAP...
At WalMart in Canada they carry some huge bars of Belgian chocolate around 350g and they're about $3.98. Milk, regular, dark, hazlenut.. all are really good,,
I think the name is Waterbridge. I live in fear that they discontinue carrying them. I don't know if the regular Walmarts carry them our Super WalMart does.

 

[turquoisedude]

The dishwasher

Why am I not surprised that the dishwasher generated as much interest as the truffles?? LOL
Here is a rare glimpse into the 'modern' kitchen in the condo in Montreal. Hubby's rule is supreme here... The idea of matched pink appliances was dismissed LONG ago...
The dishwasher is a 1994 Moffat - it was a portable unit that I bought from a co-worker whose parent's won it in a contest and did not need it. I bought it in 1996 and we used it as a portable until 2001 when we moved to the current dwelling. I built it in all by myself!!

 

[turquoisedude]

Money shot

Do they say that about a dishwasher tub and racks??
Moffat is an old Canadian brand name that was gobbled up by a company called Camco who built GE and Hotpoint appliances here in Canada. More specifically, Camco's dishwasher plant was right here in Montreal (probably still is, too).
It's GE clone all the way - lower arm and pop-up tower, small wash arm on the top. This one still had the raised plate rack on the lower rack to allow for the wash tower to clear it. That's been gone for a few years now, IIRC. The wash tub is plastic.
It is a MOL model; we had some motor issues with it when we first got it, but a cleaning seemed to solve that.
Overall, it's a good performer and I am nowhere near as fussy about what I put into this one as say, oh I don't know, a certain GE pull-out in Ogden.

 

[turquoisedude]

Chocolate tip

Pete, I will check out the WalMart in Magog tomorrow to see if they have the Belgian chocolate. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[petek]

we had the BOL model of that dw,, the GE version builders special when our Calgary house was built. Ours was dreadful and noisy and I made a big stink everyday until I finally got my Miele to replace it LOL