Sinful Chocolate Truffles

Last night my wrists needed a break from knitting, so I decided to use the Ghiradelli chocolate I've been hoarding since February to make truffles. I intended to make these for Valentine's Day, but as I was single this year and suffering from from a wicked wisdom tooth infection that week, I wasn't feeling especially motivated to cook, bake, or eat much of anything. Now my mouth is healed and in need of chocolate, and it seemed like the perfect time to get cookin'

I haven't made truffles in about 3 years, and I can't recall where I found my last recipe, so a little googling led me to a Joy of Baking article where I learned that truffles were intended to look like actual truffle mushrooms in the dirt. That's not especially appetizing, but it made me feel better about the organic, non-uniform shape of my truffles. Even when I use a melon baller to shape them they come out looking slightly misshapen.

This time I made three different flavors, almond, mint, and raspberry. Yum!

Here is what I did, adapted from a Ghiradelli and Food Network recipe:

Ghiradelli Sinful Chocolate Truffles

Ingredients

1/3 C Milk

7 Tbsp Butter

1 C Semi-Sweet Ghiradelli Chocolate Chips

1C Bittersweet Ghiradelli Chocolate Chips

1 tsp mint extract (optional)

2 Tbsp Chambord (optional)

1/4 C Raw Almonds (optional)

1/3 C Dark Chocolate cocoa powder

1. Combine milk and butter in a saucepan over low heat. Stir often and heat to boiling.

2. Toast raw almonds in a dry pan over high heat. Pay close attention, as they can burn very quickly. You will know they are done as soon as you can smell them. I find that toasting nuts really brings out the flavor.

3. Pulverize toasted almonds in a food processor (I used my little Magic Bullet). Set them aside.

4. Pour boiling milk mixture over chocolate chips in a mixing bowl. Stir to combine and melt chocolate. You may need to microwave the mixture for a very short period of time to get all the lumps out.

5. At this point I divided the chocolate mixture into three different bowls and flavored each separately. The above measurements for mint extract, Chambord, and the almonds are approximate. I didn't actually measure anything; I flavored each mixture to taste. Be sure to reserve some almonds for coating the truffles.

6. Set your chocolate mixtures aside to harden. About thirty minutes in the refrigerator did the trick for me.

7. Dip a melon baller in a glass of warm water and scoop out balls of each chocolate mixture. Drop the balls into a small bowl or lipped plate of coating. I coated the almond mixture in the finely chopped almonds and the mint and raspberry mixtures in dark chocolate cocoa powder. You may wish to clean your tools in between flavors. This is the messiest yet most fun part of the process.

8. I store the truffles in a wax paper-coated container in the refridgerator. That is, if there are any leftovers.

If I use this recipe again, I think I will use cream instead of a mixture of butter and milk. These candies tasted great to everyone else, but I would do something differently next time. I dislike buttery chocolate, and I tasted the butter especially in the almond truffles. I don't usually keep cream or even half and half in the house, but I suppose it would be worth buying for this recipe. Actually, maybe next time I will try using silken tofu and exclusively dark chocolate to make vegan truffles. I bet my friend Marietta has a great recipe for raw vegan chocolate truffles. Now that should be tasty!

Worldwide Knit in Public Day

Today is Worldwide Knit in Public Day. Although I knit in public just about every day during my lunch break at work, at a LYS, a coffee shop, and sometimes even a bar, I felt compelled to represent my fellow crafters by checking out some new yarny stomping grounds with one of my knitting groups, the Northwest NJ Knitters. We met at the Panera in Phillipsburg and headed to Bethlehem, PA to visit two yarn shops and have lunch. Bethlehem is pretty close to New Jersey, just a hop, skip, and a jump over the Delaware River.

The first shop we visited, Kraemer Yarns in Nazareth, had their own yarn line, which seemed to dominate their stock. While browsing this store we discovered one lone skein of The Sanguine Gryphon, some Dream in Color, lots of baby yarn (yawn) and pondered the usefulness of sock blanks. Not for me, thanks. Even though I think she was kidding, I liked Jeanne's suggestion of adding an afterthought heel, a toe, and a seam instead of actually knitting from the blank as intended. Overall this was a pretty cute store. There were several tables for knitters to sit at, and the staff was very helpful. I did buy two skeins of yarn (Kraemer's own wool/silk/silver blend undyed sock yarn and some Conjoined Creations laceweight soysilk in the colorway "Lonely Bull"--I kid you not) and some buttons (wood with little sheepies on them), but I'm not sure if I'd make the trek out there again.

Next we had lunch at the Apollo Grill in Bethlehem, PA. I don't usually quote the teeth-grittingly annoying Rachel Ray, but YUM-O! I had fish tacos with salsa fresca and guacamole, and some of us split a bottle of Sea Glass Savignon Blanc, a yummy fresh-tasting (i.e. herbal/vegetal/citrus--not very sweet) white wine from Santa Barbara County. Barbara (no relation to the country in CA), who lives in Allentown, told us that the Apollo has a pretty popular happy hour. From the classy ambiance, yummy food/drink, and extensive appetizer menu, I can see why! Too bad my office is so very far east.

Here's my sock in progress (SIP) with my food:


That sock sure did get around! I think she may have a story to tell...

Our final stop of the day was Knitter's Edge, also in Bethlehem. Despite being momentarily disturbed by the building's resemblance to a funeral home (sorry, but I couldn't get that association out of my head!) I had a good time there. The open space and natural light in this store is phenomenal. Even with a storm rolling in, there was plenty of light streaming in the gigantic bay window that framed the cozy sit-and-knit area. I took more pictures for my Sock Knitter's Anonymous WWKIP Day Scavenger Hunt, and if I hadn't specified otherwise it would look like we were sitting in someone's living room! This store had a pretty large selection of different weights and fibers (too much babyand novelty yarn IMHO but I am probably alone in that thought), but there wasn't a whole lot that grabbed me. That was probably a good thing, because I still managed to find some sock and lace yarn that I couldn't live without. Some of it was even on sale! I probably would return to this store, especially if they were having a sale! Or perhaps to pick up a sweater quantity of that Plymouth Llama Silk...or a skein of the Eco Cashmere...

Here is the day's haul:

The two skeins on the left are the previously mentioned yarn from Kraemer's, the four skeins in the middle are Plymouth Happy Feet (on sale for $3 a piece!), next is an au natural skein of Plymouth Baby Alpaca Lace and two lovely skeins of Prism Merino Mia, which I could not put down. That picture does not do the color justice, so here's another!



That brown and blue/green combo slays me every time.

If we didn't get hit with such a rain storm in the late afternoon and evening, I would have gotten more fun pictures of my sock, but I still have quite a few. Perhaps I will share them tomorrow.