Chocolate-Raspberry Truffles

I call them chocolate-raspberry truffles.  My friends and relatives call them "the candy things", "raspberry fudge", "the chocolates", "those things that you make".

They have asked me about them when talking about an upcoming party at my house--"Will you have those things that you make?"

When I'm invited to a friend's house and I ask if I can bring something--"Bring the chocolates."

When I'm hosting a party, about to serve dinner--"Where are the candy things?  I want one before they're all gone."

Or, commenting on a friend's facebook post this week, (which had nothing to do with my cooking) her response to my comment--"I love your raspberry fudge!"

Today's Playlist

• "How Far We've Come"...Matchbox Twenty
• "Here Comes the Sun"...The Beatles
• "Your Surrender"...Neon Trees
• "Sweet Child O' Mine"...Guns N' Roses
• "You Give Love a Bad Name"...Bon Jovi
• "Jerk It Out"...Caesars
• "Song 2"...Blur

Chocolate-Raspberry Truffles

Filling ingredients:

• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam
• 
  

For coating:

• 2 cups white chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon shortening
• colored sugar (optional)

Gather the filling ingredients.

That's right!  Only four ingredients.

Place the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl.  Cut up the butter and place it on top.  Drizzle with the cream.

Microwave on HIGH (uncovered) for one minute.  Stir.  Microwave on HIGH for one more minute.  Stir until all of the chocolate chips have melted.

Stir in the seedless raspberry jam.

Line a 9 x 13 baking pan with parchment paper. Pour the filling mixture onto the parchment.

Spread it to an even thickness of about 1/2-inch.  

I doubled the recipe and used a half-sheet pan.  You can see by the left side of the picture that I didn't quite spread the mixture all the way to the end.  I didn't want to spread it too thin.

Don't stress if you can't spread your truffle mixture all the way to the edge.  It's not a runny mixture that will spread on its own so it will stay where you want it to.

Place the pan into your freezer for 15 to 20 minutes so that the mixture will harden.

Right before you remove the frozen mixture from the freezer, prepare the coating.  Place the white chocolate chips into a microwave-safe bowl.  Add the shortening.

Microwave (uncovered) on HIGH for one minute.  Stir to melt the chips.  Depending upon the strength of your microwave, one minute may be enough.  After stirring, if the chips aren't all melted, microwave for an additional 30 seconds.  Stir until all of the chips have melted.

Remove the frozen truffle mixture from your freezer.  Lift up the parchment to remove the mixture from the pan.

Time to work quickly before the mixture begins to thaw.  The pressure is on!

Using the biggest, sharpest knife that you have, chop the frozen truffle mixture into smaller pieces.  I cut off a large slab (on the left side) and put the remaining piece back into the freezer.

You ask why?  Because it will quickly thaw, and I'm about to dip it into warm white chocolate.  If it's frozen solid, it's easier to dip.  Not to mention that when the dark filling starts to melt as you're dipping it in the white chocolate, the white chocolate will soon be streaked with dark chocolate.

Now that you're feeling the pressure, carry on.

Chop the frozen chocolate into strips, approximately 1-inch wide.

Cut the strips into tiny squares, approximately 1-inch square.

Start dipping!

Drop the squares, one at a time, into the chocolate.  Press it down with a fork until completely submerged.  Lift it with the fork, drag the fork on the side of the bowl to remove the excess chocolate, and place the truffle onto a sheet of waxed paper.

You need to work quickly, which is the reason why I did not have time to take pictures of the submerge-and-lift process.

Had I stopped to take a photo--even for 20 seconds-- the dark chocolate would have melted into the warm white chocolate.

So I stopped to take a photo of the truffle after I had lifted it up from its white chocolate bath and in the 15 seconds or so that it took me to snap a photo, the chocolate froze to the fork.

Kind of like in the movie, A Christmas Story, when Schwartz triple-dog-dared Flick to lick a frozen flagpole and his tongue got stuck.

I had to pry the frozen truffle off of the fork.

Here it is.  Not pretty.  

But it still tasted good!

Sprinkle the truffles with colored sugar, if desired.  And to keep up the pressure, you have to sprinkle the sugar on immediately after you put the truffle onto the waxed paper, because once the white chocolate hardens, the sugar won't stick.

And because of the frozen filling, that white chocolate coating is going to harden rather quickly.

Don't let the pressure get to you.  These treats are so. worth. it.

Store in your refrigerator, but serve at room temperature.

 Enjoy!

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