Mmmm.... Bacon!

Really? Is there any better food than bacon? I bet you're thinking no! But guess what? There is!

What if I said... maple bacon truffles? Oh yeah! They're pretty much as awesome as they sound!

As promised in my last post, I spent this evening slaving over... my counter (That doesn't have the same ring to it...) making truffles! But not just any truffles, nope! I made 4 varieties:

• Triple chocolate truffle: I started off with plain milk chocolate truffles, dipped in dark chocolate and drizzled with a little bit of white chocolate - this one was for the picky chocolate eater in my family.
• Maple bacon truffle: maple flavoured milk chocolate truffle, dipped in dark chocolate and sprinkled with a bit of crumbled bacon.
• Berry explosion truffle: milk chocolate truffle with a tiny amount of berry mush in the middle, dipped in dark chocolate - I swear it taste better than it sounds!
• Coffee truffle: milk chocolate truffle with instant coffee granules mixed in, dipped in dark chocolate and topped with instant coffee. 

The recipe for the truffles is really simple and I got it from the allrecipes.com website. It makes about 35 truffles:

Ingredients:

1. 12 ounces chocolate (any kind - I used milk), chopped
2. 1/3 cup heavy cream
3. 1 tsp flavouring if desired (vanilla, maple syrup, etc.)

• Chocolate coating: a lot of chocolate!

Added ingredients

• Maple bacon truffle: 1/2 tsp maple syrup (this was the flavouring listed above), 2 tsp bacon (crumbled) and extra for topping
• Coffee truffle: 2 tsp instant coffee and extra for topping
• Berry truffle: defrosted berries mashed into a mush (that's a technical term)

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine chocolate and cream. Cook, stirring, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.
2. Remove from heat and whisk in flavouring/added ingredients. Pour into a small dish and refrigerate until set, but not hard, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Form balls.

 Berry explosion truffle: create a little well in the middle of the truffle ball (I used the back of a small measuring spoon) and spoon berry mush in

3. Chocolate coating: melt chocolate in microwave, allow to cool slightly. Dip ball in chocolate to coat completely. Top with desired garnish. Allow to harden on wax or parchment paper.

This recipe is really versatile in that you can basically mix in any ingredient you want (instant coffee, toffee, bacon, etc.) and you can add whatever flavour you want. In my case, I made the chocolate/cream mixture then divided it into 4 batches and mixed in the individual flavours/added ingredients.

Now, this is the important part! If you read anything, read this! If you plan to make these the maple bacon or berry explosion truffles, use more ingredients than I did! I've tried all the truffles and they taste good - the triple chocolate and coffee truffles turned out fantastic - but the others needed a bigger punch of flavour! The Berry explosion, needed more berry in the middle (make a fairly large well!) and the maple bacon had a good maple level, but it needed more bacon! So if you plan to try these out on your own, go pretty wild with the flavouring!

I love this recipe because it's so versatile. Also, it makes you feel like a pretty wicked chocolatier! No matter what, so long as you use good quality chocolate, your truffles are going to taste fantastic! So why not go crazy and add flavours you might not expect inside a truffle? You'll be surprised at how good some of these things can taste!

'Til next time!