December 19, 2011
Posted by Michelle
No Bake Holiday Gifts
I don’t like to bake. You know that about me. It requires following directions very closely and that’s something I’m just not good at. My husband always has to supervise. I do it because it leads to delicious treats, but honestly I’d rather not. This time of year that puts me in a difficult position… I want to make some sort of holiday gift for our coworkers, my daughter’s day care teachers, and the one neighbor we actually know. I usually suck it up and bake but this year I wasn’t really interested. Last year we made chocolate chip cookies and they were terrific! But batch after batch… ugh, it just sounded like too much effort.
Then I saw the perfect idea. I don’t remember where, but that doesn’t matter. I spotted a recipe for truffles. Could I, the cook who screws up all-things-baked, handle something so fancy and sophisticated as truffles?! I read the recipe… I judged it. Truffles have been parading around and being so superior, so extra-ordinary, so… uppity! I just assumed they were hard to make. You know… the kind of recipe where it is like “melt the chocolate until it is shiny but not one millisecond longer or you will burn it making it inedible but using it one millisecond too soon will result in an underdone disaster.” Turns out truffles have been misleading us. They’ve been prancing around like they’re all awesome but really they’re simple just like cookies… no no, even more simple than that. Stupid simple. Yeah, truffles, I said it.
Now, I won’t lie… truffles take a good amount of time but they’re very easy to make. It would be a great thing to make on a date or with your kid, actually. Or as holiday gifts so that everyone you give them too will think you’re way more awesome than you are. That’s my favorite kind of gift to give.
Chocolate Truffles With Sea Salt
This recipe is from The Pioneer Woman
- 8 ounces, weight (up To 9 Oz.) Good Semisweet Chocolate (I used Ghirardelli)
- 8 ounces, weight (up To 9 Oz.) Good Bittersweet Chocolate
- 1 can (14 Oz) Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
- 8 ounces, weight Semisweet Chocolate for melting (The original recipe called for milk chocolate but I’m not a fan — you use whatever you want. White chocolate, although totally blasphemous, would work too. Oh, and chips melt better for this.)
- Sea Salt
Heat the semisweet and bittersweet chocolates (the first two on the list… not the other one at the bottom where I suggest chips) and condensed milk in a double boiler (see the photo below) over medium low heat until chocolate is melted.
Stir. You’ll know when it is done when it is creamy and kind of gooey — you’re actually making a ganache (see the photo below). Stir in vanilla (you could have fun and use another kind of extract if you want — peppermint would be great).
Remove from heat, cover and refrigerate for two hours. I refrigerated over night because I didn’t have time to do the whole thing in one night. That was fine, but it did require letting it soften up just a tad. The first batch I made, I put the bowl on the counter for a couple hours and that did the trick. The second batch, I put it in the microwave for 10 second intervals until it was soft enough. You don’t need it to be super soft — just soft enough that you can pull a hunk off with a knife or spoon.
Roll into balls. The chocolate might feel pretty solid but once it hits your warm hands it melts pretty quickly. Roll them fast! Any size you want… I rolled my first batch to about the size of a quarter and my second I made smaller (I needed more pieces). Roll them all out and put them on a non-stick surface — non-stick baking sheet, a silpat, wax paper, etc.
Next melt that other chocolate (the chips or whatever you got). I put the chips in a bowl and microwaved it for 15 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until it was all melty. You could also do a double boiler again if you would like. Every so often you might need to pop it back in the microwave to softern up… try to keep it really liquidy.
Roll the balls in the melted chocolate. A fork works well for this as the chocolate can drip through the prongs. Toothpicks are also great. Once rolled, put back on the baking sheet and spring with a little sea salt. Not into sea salt? Use some fine sprinkles or coarse sugar.
Put the tray in the fridge for about an hour or until the chocolate is set. Then… well, either package them up as gifts or have a seat on the couch for a delicious solo dessert.
These truffles were fantastic. The center is creamy. The salt adds this great contrast to the bittersweet chocolate. Amazing. And I made them! I still can’t believe I didn’t F this up.
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