The Truffle Trials
Ah, chocolate. It is so delicious. Just thinking about it makes you want some right now, doesn’t it?
My youngest was reading C.S. Lewis’ The Horse and His Boy when truffles came up. I admitted to making truffles once when she was less than a month old. For some reason, I was upset so while I made the truffles, I ate the truffles. I discovered that I lost a small diamond in my engagement ring. I really don’t know where I lost it or even if I lost it that day. It was just that it was that moment when I discovered it was missing. I feared that I had eaten my diamond. My day was just getting worse.
Sometime during the night, I woke to feed the baby and couldn’t get back to sleep. I was having terrible pains and could not get comfortable. My husband thought I might be having a heart attack, but I disagreed. It was the first day of his vacation, of course, so he spent most of the morning convincing me that I needed to go see a doctor. An afternoon appointment was made. Long story, short, I needed my gallbladder removed. Through a CAT scan other things were found to be wrong with me including a cyst on my thyroid. I ended up having two surgeries in six months. That, I told my girls, was my experience with truffles.
They stared at me wide eyed. Wow. What a story.
“So, do you think we can make them?”
“I suppose we can try.” I agreed because I was starting to think a lot about chocolates.
I bought the supplies, and we set about making truffles. The first step I said was to remove my rings. Better safe than sorry, I always say, except that I promptly forgot. Luckily, all went well and no diamonds were lost in the making of these truffles.
That was a few weeks ago and all still seems well. Everyone enjoyed the truffles, including me. We also made rosettes for the first time. They were delicious also. I have been on a mission to introduce my children to different foods that I enjoyed as a child from my Swiss and Norwegian grandparents. I went to a Swiss bakery for a few Swiss pastries and cookies, including braetzli. A friend has the tins for sandbakkels so we will try them next. At Thanksgiving and Christmas, we enjoy lefse, so I feel I have a good start.
Do you have any special treats that you enjoy making?
Here is our truffle recipe if you care to indulge.
Recipe
¾ cup cream
5 Tbsp. butter
12 oz. pkg. chocolate chips
½ tsp. vanilla or another flavoring of your choice
You may coat with powdered sugar, cocoa, coconut, finely chopped nuts, etc. We just ate them as they were.
In a medium saucepan, heat cream and butter to boiling. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until smooth. Add flavoring. Cover top of pan with several layers of paper towels, and chill in the refrigerator at least three hours, stirring occasionally, until mixture is stiff. Now, form into balls. Work quickly as this is messy. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Enjoy!
2 Replies to “The Truffle Trials”
Michelle, I have never made truffles. I have saved your recipe and will have to try making them sometime. I have made (shaped) sandbakkles a number of times. Our daughter Nancy’s mother-in-law is Norwegian and she mixes up the dough every year just before Christmas. But she needs help in shaping them, so Nancy and I, and sometimes Nancy’s sister-in-law meet at Charmaine’s and kind of make a little party out of it. A couple of years ago Matt and Kui were here at Christmas time so Kui helped us make Sandbakkles. She was always so excited to try something new, and really enjoyed it. Charmaine also makes lefse every year and shares it with the family, friends, and neighbors, so I have eaten that a number of times, and love it.
It sounds like you had fun with the sandbakkles. I will let you know how our adventure goes when we make them. 🙂 I wish I would have paid more attention to these specialties when I was a kid. It is fun to share new things with family and friends. Thanks for sharing!