Baking is amazingly therapeutic. If I’m stressed out, it calms me down. If I’m upset, it cheers me up. If I need some time with friends, it has a way of bringing them together. I can tailor the recipes I choose to the mood I’m in. Day already going pretty well? A short recipe with a quick result makes it even better. Day going pretty rough? I turn to something more involved that I can get lost in.

So it should come as no surprise that on Friday, I needed a recipe that would take a long time and where 3 of the 4 ingredients were chocolate. Enter: Dark Chocolate Truffles.

You could speed this one up by strategically chilling different stages in the fridge, but I liked having the long breaks to putter and draw and look through other cookbooks.

This is another one out of my Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook, supposedly a treat enjoyed at Honeydukes in Hogsmeade. I’m slowly working my way up to the plan of cooking a true Harry Potter feast some night in the near future.

Anyways, start by melting the 12oz of chocolate with the heavy cream in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 30 second intervals on 50% power, stirring after each interval, until smooth.
Allow the chocolate to stiffen at room temperature until you can manipulate it with your hands. This could take more than an hour, so if you’re pressed for time, the fridge is a good option here, as long as you try to avoid condensation (it ruins the chocolate) by only using it for 10ish minutes.

Once you can handle it, roll the chocolate into 1 1/2 inch balls and place on parchment paper. Put back in the fridge to harden completely.When the chocolate is firm, use two forks to dip and coat in the 10 oz of melted chocolate. I just melted it in the microwave again, using the same method. Place back on the parchment paper and allow to harden.When truffles are completely hard, roll in cocoa powder to coat the outside.Place in an airtight container and store at room temperature or in the fridge.I like chocolate cold (I have no idea why, but I’ve always kept my chocolate bars in the fridge), so I chilled them. But there’s no reason to think anything bad would happen if you didn’t.

Another pro-tip: I used two different chocolates for the filling and the coating. The filling was darker (70%) while the coating, still dark, was just a little less (60%). This was not necessarily a strategic move, as I was buying Whole Foods out of their bittersweet baking chocolate, but I do think the contrast makes them a little more interesting.

If you’re really feeling creative, while the coating is hardening, sprinkle each with a little flaky sea salt. I thought of this too late, but salt and chocolate are pretty much the best combination in existence.

Anyways, though there are only a few ingredients, truffles are pretty time consuming. Also, the results are always crowdpleasers, so have a plan for getting rid of these. Mine is dessert for the Pats game today.

Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Truffles

Ingredients:

• 12 oz bittersweet chocolate
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 10 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted
• cocoa powder, for dusting

Directions:

1. In a microwave safe bowl, combine the 12 oz of chocolate with the heavy cream. Microwave on 50% power for 30 second intervals, stirring after each, until smooth.
2. Allow mixture to cool at room temperature until stiff enough to manipulate with your hands. Pull off pieces of chocolate and roll into 1 1/2 inch balls, placing on parchment paper. Let chocolate firm up completely before proceeding.
3. When firm, dip chocolate balls into melted chocolate to coat using two forks, and place back on parchment paper. Allow coating to harden completely at room temperature, or pop in the fridge for 10 minutes to speed up the process.
4. When coating is hardened, roll each truffle in cocoa powder to coat.