Chocolate Truffles

At Christmas and other special occasions I like to make this chocolaty treat. These truffles are rich and decadent. Made from chocolate, butter, sugar, and rum, what's not to love? They're simple to make but your hands will be messy and the process is time-consuming. I usually double the recipe.

Chocolate Truffles

• 2/3 cup butter
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 1/4 cup icing sugar
• 6 squares semi-sweet chocolate
• 1 tsp instant coffee
• 1 tbs rum
• chocolate wafer crumbs

1. Melt the chocolate. I use the microwave for this. The recipe calls for cooling the chocolate but I usually just do this first and let it stand until I'm ready for the next part.
2. Cream the butter; blend in the egg yolk and sugar. Add in the chocolate, coffee, and rum. Mix well.
3. Chill until it is firm, about 3-4 hours.
4. Spoon out mixture into chocolate crumbs to roughly coat the mixture so it doesn't stick to your hands. Form each spoonful into a ball-shape or any other desired shape. Roll the ball in the wafer crumbs to coat thoroughly. Drizzle with additional melted chocolate if desired.
5. Chill completed balls for 2 hours. Store refrigerated or frozen in an airtight container.

The truffles will soften at room temperature so if you're serving them in a hot room a chilled bowl might be advised. At one party I just put ice cubes in a bowl and put the truffle bowl into the ice bowl; that worked well.