Friday night a few friends of mine were gathering to celebrate my good friend Tracy's birthday. Tracy had asked me to make something which I was happy to do since any excuse for me to bake is a good one. She picked the restaurant Trece in Dallas, so I thought the obvious dessert would be truffles - Truffles for Tracy's birthday at Trece, hah. Since we were going to a restaurant it can be tricky when someone brings dessert from outside, most places aren't so welcome to the idea and it can be a little awkward. I thought truffles were a good option since they are small and can be easily passed around the table in a box, also it is more polite to the restaurant since you aren't leaving a big mess for them to clean up and you don't need to ask for any extra plates or silverware. I made the White Chocolate Lemon Truffles along with a new recipe for Coco Balsamic Truffles with a Wink of Cherry, this way I had a dark chocolate truffle and a white chocolate truffle. They were a big hit, and everyone loved the packaging. I hope you guys like it. The original recipe was one I found from Design Sponge by Kristine Sitko, however I did adapt it a bit... I am sure her recipe as she has it is amazing as well.
Ingredients:
- 1 13oz bag of dark chocolate chips (the best you can find)
- 1/4 cup of heavy cream
- 1/3 cup of Balsamic Vinegar
- 1/2 cup of sifted powdered sugar
- 2 1/2 tablespoons of dried cherries
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder for dusting
Directions:
- Put the balsamic and cherries into a small pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 min. Remove cherries and set balsamic aside to cool.
- Melt chocolate and cream in a double boiler or a heat proof glass bowl over a pot filled with water, making sure the water is hot, not boiling. Place melted chocolate in a small bowl and add the cooled balsamic (you should have about 2 1/2 tablespoons of this to add, you can add a little more depending on your preference) Mix well. Cool in the fridge for about 1 hour. let sit at room temperature for 1 hour, until firm but moldable.
- Roll mixture into one inch balls and place on a parchment lined tray. Pour cocoa powder into a shallow dish and rolls balls to cover. Server immediately or store in an airtight container up to one week.
Balsamic and cherries simmering in a small pot together
Adding the powdered sugar
all done, ready for the fridge
I got a round box and a square box from Michaels Craft store along with mini treat liners to hold each truffle individually... easy and affordable.
I wrote the flavors of the two different types of truffles on normal paper tags and attached them using my wax "K" stamp that I have had for years.
I had a big stack of cake liners which worked perfectly to separate the layers of truffles. I was able to do 2 layers but depending on the size of your box you might be able to fit 3. If you don't have cake liners, just cut some parchment paper and place a sheet in between each layers so they don't collapse on each other.
I used normal hemp that you can find anywhere for the wrapping, that way it stayed rustic and chic without a whole bunch of fuss. Or you can separate the flavors into brown paper bags that I also found at the craft store and sealed them with colored masking tape, very cute.
