Howsewears

I'm not a big Valentine's Day person, but I do like to make chocolate truffles. My MIL gave me a "professional" mold several years ago, and it's one of my favorite kitchen toys.

First, make the ganache. I like plain chocolate, but I've also added liquors like Triple Sec or Chambourd. Of course, you HAVE to use good chocolate. I like Brandywine Wilbur chocolate, and since I live in the town where it's made, it's easy to procure.

Melt the chocolate, and then line the mold.

Here, I missed a photo with just the chocolate lining. After the mold is lined, I put it in the freezer to harden. The ganache is then put into the lined cups, as seen in the three on the left.

Once the cups are filled, I spread a generous layer of melted chocolate on the top, scrape off with a dough scraper, then freeze.

Hopefully, they all unmold beautifully.

Of course, there's usually chocolate left over, so I cover a variety of goodies. This is a peanut butter Ritz sandwich, which is my FAVE to cover in chocolate. If I'm really ambitious, I make homemade marshmallows for HubbyDoc (they're his FAVES), and if I'm even MORE ambitious, I cut them out with a heart cookie cutter and cover them. He likes that.

I just want you all to know that I NEVER eat while I'm baking.

So, thanks to my SCAL Pals, I re-learned how to post a pic of my SCUT file after several *snafoos*. I know there are a lot of beautiful hearts out there, but this is must my rendition, just in time for Valentine's Day.


*This heart is no longer available for free. To purchase, go to www.diecutdesigner.com after April 23, 2011. Thanks. Tami