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Makes
A whole mess of wee little truffles
Author Notes
You seriously do not want to know how much white chocolate I went through this weekend. I am not (NOT) showing my hubby the grocery bill. I have discovered that I am not, if fact, a natural confectionary, but after several (ok, many) trials and errors, I think I've nailed it down. Of course, I have what is possibly the worst head cold in the history of mankind, so it's not completely out of the question that I have made something that tastes like beef stew. I wouldn't know, although the husband assures me they taste just delightful. That being said, when I get sick, he treats me like a wounded rhinocerous on the plains of Africa, backing up slowly and avoiding eye contact so he might just be placating me..... The original base recipe for the truffle came from the ghiradelli website (see above part about me not being a candy-maker!).
Things I have learned this weekend: adding vodka-based alcohol to truffle fillings ensures that it will not set up. Substituting coconut milk for heavy cream in a 1:1 ratio also does not work. Feel free to snigger at me at any point during this paragraph by the way. White chocolate is a persnickety substance and will seize, freeze, melt and behave in ways that are quite irritating when you're forking over 3.50/bar. Head colds are not conducive to tasting anything. Hot toddies are a wonderful thing. But perhaps most importantly, the food52 community was there for me in my time of need - and is helping me to become a better cook. Thanks all!
—Niknud
Ingredients
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1/3 cup
heavy cream
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2 tablespoons
coconut milk (the fatty part from the top of the can)
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1 tablespoon
unsalted butter
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8 ounces
white chocolate
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4 teaspoons
finely ground dried, unsweetened coconut (use a spice grinder if possible)
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2 teaspoons
finely zested lemon peel
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2 teaspoons
limoncello
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* Truffle Coating **
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1/3 cup
powdered sugar
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2-3 tablespoons
finely ground dried, unsweetened coconut (use a sprice grinder if possible)
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1 tablespoon
finely zested lemon peel
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8 ounces
white chocolate
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1 teaspoon
crisco (if needed)
Directions
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In a small pan, heat the coconut milk and heavy cream until bubbles just being to break the surface. Add the butter and stir until melted. Remove from heat and add the white chocolate, stirring until melted. Add the coconut, lemon zest and limoncello and stir to combine. Put in the freezer until it sets up - it will not harden all the way but become workable.
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While your filling is chilling out in the freezer, combine the first three coating ingredients in a shallow pan or on a plate.
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When the filling has set up enough to hold its shape for a time, roll approx 1 tsp amounts into balls between your hands and roll in the coating. Place on a parchment paper-lined baking pan and return to the freezer to re-chill.
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While the filling is firming up, melt the white chocolate slowly in a glass bowl set over a small pan of warm water. If your chocolate is too thick, try thinning it out with a teaspoon of Crisco (thanks, drbabs!) Using a fork, gently lower the balls into the white chocolate and coat. They get smushy fast, so you want to be expeditious here. Return to the freezer until the chocolate sets. If you have mini-muffin tin liners, I would use them for storing the truffles. They look cute and it keeps them from bumping up against each other.
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Notes (several): Although they taste better at room temperature, you will want to store these in the fridge until a little while before serving. Additionally, looking back, I would have been better served using a candy mold. Alas, I do not own a candy mold, so I made them in this way. However, if you have one I would recommend using it. And last, but certainly not least, a big shout out to drbabs for giving me the trick of thinning out my white chocolate coating with a teaspoon of shortening - saved the day!
Full-time working wife and mother of two small boys whose obsessive need to cook delicious food is threatening to take over what little free time I have. I grew up in a family of serious cookers but didn't learn to cook myself until I got married and got out of the military and discovered the joys of micro-graters, ethiopian food, immersion blenders and watching my husband roll around on the floor after four servings of pulled pork tamales (with real lard!) complaining that he's so full he can't feel his legs. Trying to graduate from novice cooker to ranked amateur. The days of 'the biscuit incident of aught five' as my husband refers to it are long past but I still haven't tried my hand at paella so I'm a work in progress!
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