“Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans”- John Lennon
I am a planner. I make plans . I love making them. In college , when the exam dates were announced, others would start reading. I’d make plans to read. I’d buy highlighters and bookmarks. I’d make timetables and put up post-its . And I’d be too tired from all the planning for studies to actually study. That would only happen two days before the exam.
Now that I’m older (how I wish I could say grown up!) , I haven’t changed much. At any given time , I m making great in-detail plans.. plans to travel , plans to train further, plans to lose weight … you get my drift..And I mean hours of research on the subjects , memos all around the place , phone calls and discussions.. but too few of my plans see the light of day !
The reason I’m telling you all this is, I had lofty plans for this December as well. I had this huge array of Christmas-y recipes that I wanted to try and put upon the blog. Also wanted to make some special food gifts for family and friends. But busy weeks at work , a couple of mini-vacations and some household repairs later , here I am. A week away from the holiday and with no time on my hands at all !
That’s why I made these vodka truffles. They are truffles. Firmed up ganache. Not reinventing the wheel here or anything. But I love truffles. So simple , so versatile , so decadent.
Did you know why truffles are called so ? These were first created in the 1920s when an apprentice of a famous French Chef was attempting to make a pastry cream, he accidentally poured hot cream into a bowl of chocolate chunks rather than the bowl of egg and sugar. When he rolled the hardened mixture into balls and covered them in cocoa powder, he was struck by their resemblance to the truffle mushrooms. What a happy and lucky accident !
Truffles need only two basic ingredients , cream and chocolate . Flavourings , additions and coverings are completely optional. I have added a little butter to add a shine to the truffles , the liquor to make them more cheerful ( and because I was making them for a friend who loves her liquor chocolates ) and coated them with cocoa powder for the original truffle appearance.
I have made these vodka truffles without the booze earlier .. one word to describe them .. luxurious. While I haven’t tasted these boozed up ones , I am told they tasted “out of this world” . I have used vodka because that was what I had at hand , but you can add any liquor of your choice , or coffee for added bitterness. Or just leave the alcohol out. You could also coat with chopped nuts if you like the crunch with the creamy . I have also tapered this recipe to make 12 truffles . But you can double , triple , halve depending on how much you need. I wouldn’t make half the recipe though… unless you are making them only for yourself !
Vodka truffles
Ingredients
- 125 grams dark or semisweet chocolate
- 50 grams or about 1/4 cup cream
- 14 grams or 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp vodka or liquor of your choice optional
- cocoa powder to coat
Instructions
- Chop up your chocolate as small and even as possible. Place in a small bowl.
- Heat the cream and butter together until it bubbles up.
- Pour the cream-butter over the chocolate, covering the chocolate as much as possible . Let stand for a minute covered.
- Mix until all the chocolate has melted and mixed.
- Add the vodka and mix well. The ganache will be quite liquid now. Let it rest at room temperature for upto 6 hours or overnight
- It ll be firm enough to roll after the resting time. Take tablespoonfuls of the ganache and roll up with your hands. You can butter or oil your hands for smoother handling.
- Roll in cocoa powder.
- Your truffles are ready!
Notes
When something this easy is this delicious , I am obviously a fan for life. These make perfect little after-dinner sweet bites or candy gifts. If you haven’t tried making truffles so far , you should try them. If you have made them , you should try these boozy vodka truffles. In the Christmas “spirit” of things !