Last-minute Christmas Present: Home-made Truffles recipe

 

 THERE IS STILL TIME! If you need a last minute Christmas present, that will impress your relatives and will have an individual or personalized touch, this is for you! 

 Attention: Takes a minimum of 4 hours to harden; drying over night is advised! Truffle Ingredients (approx. 40 chocolates): 

• 200g - 250g of Biscuits, Sponge Fingers and/or Cake left-overs 
• Half cup of Water 
• Half cup of Oil 
• 70g cocoa powder 
• 70g icing sugar 
• 300g baking chocolate (dark) 

Optional: 3 Tbs Amaretto or Rum (if you want more, then reduce the water) OR 50g of Minty chocolates OR 15 drops of Vanilla Essence OR whatever else takes your fancy.  

Some Decoration Suggestions: 

- Walnut Halves or Almonds 

- Baking Chocolate (Maybe White Chocolate for a nice contrast) 

- Cocoa Powder 

- Sprinkles (Hundreds and Thousands or Flakes) 

- Crushed Nuts 

- Dried Chili 

- Coconut (Powder or Flakes) 

- Glacier Cherries 

Preparation: 

Crush the Sponge Fingers, Biscuits and/or Cake into Almond-sized pieces and put into a bowl. Weigh the Icing sugar, cocoa powder, water and oil and add to the bowl. Now either use your hands or an electric mixer with dough hooks to thoroughly mix the ingredients together. At this point you can add the Amaretto OR Rum OR Vanilla Essence OR broken up Minty Chocolates! 

 After boiling water and pouring into a large bowl, put broken up chocolate inside a smaller bowl and place it into the larger bowl to melt the chocolate, occasionally stirring to quicken the melting process. After it is completely melted, add to the mix and mash into a fairly firm dough. Scoop out the mix and wrap up with cling film or aluminium foil and put into the fridge. 

Depending on how much time you have (overnight hardening is advised!) cool down the mix, till it is hard enough to remain in shape, while soft enough to be rolled into shape. Taking the mix out of the fridge, use a knife to cut into smaller bits and clean hands to roll into truffle-sized balls (see pictures below) and place onto a plate or baking tray. After another cool down they are ready to be eaten. The only thing missing now is the decoration.

   

Depending on your taste you can either just roll them in cocoa powder, sprinkles, flakes, crushed nuts or coconut powder/flakes. You can also melt more baking chocolate, which will however require another cool down period (minimum 1 hour)! For dark chocolate, you drop the balls into the melted chocolate and take them out with the help of a fork (to let excess chocolate drop off) and a spoon (to help lift it onto a flat and non-stick surface). Afterwards you can decorate it with almonds, walnuts or cherries. For white chocolate, you take a large spoon (or squeezy bottle or a piping bag) to treacle or draw patterns in white on the chocolates.

 

After decorating, place the truffles into little bon bon cases (or mini-muffin cases) and wrap up either in a box or tin. There you've made your own delicious chocolates and an easy DIY present (below)!