My Grandmother's Truffles

by Stephanie Zonis

My Grandmother's Truffles

Makes about 30-35 truffles

My maternal grandmother was not especially big on cooking. She made very good soup, though, and she made truffles quite similar to these (I've modified the recipe). Because these are easy enough for kids to help with, they were the first candy I ever learned to make. I usually roll these in chocolate sprinkles, but you can use sprinkles of different colors (a mix of orange and chocolate looks great for Halloween), chopped nuts, flaked coconut, or nonpareil sprinkles.

These will keep for at least a week in the refrigerator, if stored airtight; they also freeze beautifully. Serve in individual paper candy or truffle cups to dress them up a bit. If you wish, you can substitute a liqueur for the vanilla. Like to use your microwave? Look for the instructions at the end of the recipe.

1 can (14-15 ozs.) sweetened condensed milk
3 squares (3 ozs.) unsweetened chocolate, halved
Few grains salt
1 Tbsp. vanilla
About 1 c. chocolate sprinkles

In medium heatproof bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk, chocolate, and salt. Place over simmering water on low heat (water should not touch bottom of bowl). Cook 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally (initially) but more frequently toward end of cooking time. Mixture will thin at first, then thicken substantially. Scrape bottom and sides of bowl with rubber spatula several times during cooking period. Mixture is ready if it is very thick and mounds softly when dropped from a spoon.

Remove from heat and hot water. Stir in vanilla (this will thin the mixture slightly). Scrape truffle base into small bowl. Chill at least 4 hours, covering tightly when cold.

To form truffles, use two teaspoons or a small cookie scoop. Form balls of the truffle base about 1" in diameter, and roll to coat in the chocolate sprinkles.

Note: To make these in the microwave, you'll need to chop the chocolate coarsely. Place the chopped chocolate, sweetened condensed milk, and salt in a medium microwaveable bowl. Microwave at 50% (medium) power for 2-1/2 minutes. Stir very thoroughly, for at least one minute; scrape bottom and sides of bowl with rubber spatula. Return to microwave and heat at 50% (medium) power about 1-1/2 minutes longer. Remove and stir as above; mixture will be thin as you start stirring, but should thicken considerably as you continue to stir. Check for doneness, chill, and form into truffles as above. Please note that I have a 700 watt microwave, and your timing may vary. Be careful, though; this can scorch or overcook easily.

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This page created October 1998

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