Saffron Truffles for #HandCraftedEdibles

In an effort to make all of my holiday gifts this year, we are sharing recipes for hand-crafted edibles. Over the course of twelve weeks, we'll be sharing recipes that you can make at home to give to friends and loved ones, or things to serve at holiday parties. We hope you'll follow along for inspiration. You can find out more information, including the schedule: here.

This week, we are letting out our inner chocolatiers shine, sharing all sorts of recipes with chocolate.

Here's what we're posting this week...

Amy's Cooking Adventures shared 10+ Homemade Candies
Fantastical Sharing of Recipes created Salted Chocolate Cookie Butter Bark
Cookaholic Wife cooked Peanut Butter M&M Bark
Making Miracles made White Chocolate Peppermint Fudge
Christmas Tree Lane posted Dark Chocolate Pomegranate Bark
A Day in the Life on the Farm wrote about Fruit and Nut Clusters
Culinary Adventures with Camilla rolled some Saffron Truffles

Next week - week 11 - check back for our recipes to inspire you as we let our mad cookie baking skillz show. Don't forget to check out our #handcraftededibles pinterest board.

Strega-Spiked Saffron Truffles

makes approximately 5 dozen truffles

I used dark chocolate, folded in some saffron threads and spiked it with Liquore Strega, a saffron liqueur from Italy. O dio! If you're unfamiliar with Strega: click to read more.

Ingredients

3-1/4 C 72% cacao chocolate, chopped
2 C organic heavy cream
1 pinch of saffron threads
3 T butter, softened
2 T Liquore Strega

Procedure
Place chopped chocolate, saffron threads, and Strega in a large mixing bowl. In a medium saucepan, bring cream to a boil. Pour boiling cream over the chocolate. Let sit for three minutes, then whisk until smooth. Stir in butter.

Refrigerate until firm - at least two hours. I left mine overnight.

Line a cookie sheet or tray with parchment paper or foil.

With a tablespoon or tablespoon scoop, scoop chilled truffle ganache from your bowl and place on the lined tray.

Refrigerate for a minimum of 15 minutes. (I let them chill for about 30 minutes.)

For chocolate-dipped truffles...how to temper chocolate...
Place half of your chipped chocolate (I didn't measure, but you can just repeat the process if you run out of chocolate) in a double-boiler and, over low heat, warm until melted. Remove from heat and stir in the other half of the chocolate. Set aside until the chocolate begins to lose its shine; it's beginning to crystallize. Then, return the chocolate to the double-boiler and warm, over very low heat, until smooth and glossy.

Dip chilled truffles in the melted chocolate, one at a time. You may use a candy dipping tool, but I just use a two-toothpick combo. Dip the truffle quickly into the melted chocolate and shake off the excess. Place on the parchment-lined tray and use another toothpick to nudge the truffle off of the toothpick. Dip the toothpick back into the melted chocolate and use a dab of chocolate to cover up any imperfections.