Recipe: Charles Chocolates Bittersweet Chocolate Truffles

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From Denny: From CBS' Chow.com comes an easy chocolate truffle recipe. Give it a try when you want to impress someone and with little effort! So simple the children can help.

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What to Buy: We love Guittard Chocolate Compnay’s 72% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate; available in small wafers which are perfect for melting. You can find it in some groceries, and online.

Special Equipment: A melon baller, also known as a Parisienne scoop, is perfect for scooping truffle-size balls of ganache. You could also use a cookie scoop. Both are available at Cooking.com.

Ingredients:

1 cup organic heavy cream or whipping cream

1 pound bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 whole vanilla bean

8 ounces unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions:

In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat and set aside. Place chopped chocolate into a heatproof bowl.

Split the vanilla bean lengthwise, and use the back of a paring knife to scrape the vanilla seeds into the cream. Let steep for 10 minutes, then return the cream to a gentle simmer over medium heat.
Pour the hot cream over the finely chopped chocolate and let sit for 5 minutes.

Whisk the chocolate and cream mixture together until very smooth. This is referred to as ganache, a mixture of chocolate and cream.
Pour ganache into a shallow 8-by-8-inch baking dish. Cover and refrigerate for at least 5 hours or overnight.

Using a small melon baller or a small teaspoon, scoop a small ball of ganache into your hand and roll between your palms until somewhat smooth and round. Place ganache balls on a baking sheet until they are all rolled. They should be approximately 1 inch in diameter.

Place cocoa powder in a shallow bowl or pan. Roll the truffles in cocoa powder to coat.

Truffles may be stored for up to two weeks at a cool room temperature (55 to 65 degrees) in an airtight container.

Note: Do not refrigerate or freeze the truffles; this damages the texture of the creamy ganache.