French Chocolate Truffles

In the mid 1980's I taught several classes in chocolate cookery. One of the favorites in those classes was truffles. A real truffle is a fungus (although quite different from mushrooms) that grows just underground. Specially trained pigs are used to ferret out the truffles for harvest. Truffles are prized for sauces and embellishments because of their marvelous fragrance and texture. Chocolate truffles simply share the shape and size of real truffles - about the size of a small walnut with a slightly rough surface and a brown to black color. These particular chocolate truffles are based on a recipe of Maida Heatter, Book of Great Chocolate Desserts, Knopf, 1980.

Ingredients

Melt 6 ounces chocolate. Add butter, stir until melted. Stir a bit of chocolate mixture into yolks, then mix into chocolate. Cook over double-boiler for 2 minutes, with stirring. Stir in peppermint, place bowl in ice water, and stir until firm. Divide into 20 mounds on waxed paper or foil. When mixture is firm, roll in cocoa, then ground chocolate. Dry at room temperature overnight. Cover tightly for a day or two, or freeze for longer storage.
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