Home-made chocolates are always handy to have in the house, especially at Christmas. If the kids are around, I normally try to get them involved in making these truffles. However, the yield is somewhat reduced as the chocolate ends up all over their faces. These truffles are a lovely homemade gift for friends and family. If you’re going to a Christmas gathering, put some in a pretty box and tie it up with a ribbon. Or simply hand them round as you watch a Christmas movie together. You can make a non-boozy version by using orange juice to soak the dried fruit.
Mold these truffles with a teaspoon - like a quenelle, or roll them into neat balls with your hands, use a melon baller, or pipe the chocolate mixture into lengths on silicone or greaseproof paper then, when set, cut them into 3-4cm sticks. You may need to melt some additional chocolate for dipping (on top of the 125g), you can never quite tell how much will stick to the truffles as you dip.
A quick note about the Dorset-made alcohol element here. Black Cow Christmas Spirit (blackcow.co.uk) has all the flavours of a Christmas pudding - brown sugar, currants, figs, raisins, orange zest, lemon zest, cinnamon and vanilla - macerated in their Pure Milk Vodka™. It’s like Christmas in a glass! If you can’t get hold of this Dorset spirit then use whatever you have to hand such as rum, brandy, Cointreau...whatever takes your fancy.
325g good-quality 70% dark chocolate, finely chopped (reserve 125g for coating)
160g double cream
100g unsalted, softened butter
50g mixed peel and raisins, chopped finely
75ml Black Cow Christmas Spirit
50-60g good-quality cocoa powder
Method
Soak the dried fruit in the Black Cow Christmas Spirit or chosen alcohol (use orange juice if doing non-boozy version) for a couple of hours, or overnight.
Bring the cream to the boil in a pan. Remove from the heat, gradually whisk in 200g of chocolate until it has melted, and the mixture is smooth. Stir in the butter and the alcohol-soaked fruits.
Transfer the mixture into a bowl and leave to cool in the fridge for about an hour to an hour and a half, until firm enough to spoon into rough shapes. See my note above about whether you roll, shape or pipe. Line a tray with clingfilm and set out your truffles on the clingfilm. Leave to set in the fridge until firm.
Melt the remaining dark chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring every so often until completely liquid. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for a few minutes.
Sift the cocoa powder onto a tray, have a third clean tray ready for the finished truffles. Using a thin skewer or cocktail stick, dip the truffles quickly into the melted chocolate, ensuring as much excess as possible drains off, put them into the cocoa powder, shaking the tray so they become coated.
When you have about 10-12 coated, shake off the excess cocoa with your hands and transfer to the clean tray. Store in the fridge in a container lined with kitchen paper until required. Bring them out of the fridge half an hour before serving. Don't keep them for more than a month (as if!).
