From:           Char Rice
  Subject:        Chocolate Truffles
  To:             Cooking
  
CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES I
Chef: Maurice Bizzarri

French-style chocolate confectionery
For those of you who are crazy enough about chocolate to go to the extremes that I do,
here is the recipe for the chocolate truffles that I make.  The formula is taken from Paul
Bocuse's French Cooking, but the directions are my own.

INGREDIENTS (5 pounds of truffles)
3 lb chocolate (semi-sweet or semi-bittersweet)
4 cups very heavy cream
1/2 lb sweet butter (i.e. unsalted butter)
cocoa powder

PROCEDURE
1)  Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler.  Do not cook the chocolate. This
should be done SLOWLY over minimum heat.

2)  Boil the cream.  Once the chocolate is completely melted, and the cream just boiled,
combine in the top of the double boiler.

3)  Take off the top pan from the water, and (off heat) mix until completely combined. 
Keep stirring until it is relatively cool.  Allow to sit until it is cool enough to put into a
refrigerator.

4)  Refrigerate overnight (NO SHORT CUTS HERE!!!).

5)  The next morning, melt this wonderful mixture again in a double boiler.  When it is
completely melted again, mix in the butter until it is completely absorbed.  Whip, either
with a hand whisk or a very slow electric gizmo, until the butter is completely absorbed
and the mixture is cool again. This can take an hour or longer, depending upon the
chocolate, etc.  Let cool, and refrigerate
overnight once more (this is not as critical as the first cooling; a few hours will be
enough).
6)  Heat once again, and whip until cool. Refrigerate until it is thick enough to pipe
through a pastry bag.  Using a half-inch nozzle, make little balls on a big piece of
parchment paper that has cocoa powder spread on it.  Roll in the powder.Keep chilled
until just before serving.  Let them return to just above room temperature before eating.

NOTES
If you like Grand Marnier or Kahlua or rum or whatever in your chocolate, the last
melting (step 6) is the time to add.  I think it's a small but forgivable sin myself. I
recommend Guittard chocolate.  You can buy their semisweet chips in 12 ounce bags. 
You can also buy it in 10 pound bars.  You can also buy big bars of Guittards "French
Vanilla Semi bittersweet" which is so good you might eat all of it before you cook with
it.  Guittard makes five types of bittersweet if you like you chocolate really bitter Use
genuine, real-live, honest "heavy cream" and not ultra-pasteurized whipping cream.
Try a wholesale dairy. I only use Challenge sweet butter. Under no circumstances should
you use anything but unsalted butter in this recipe. I use Hershey's Cocoa.  Still the best
for my taste.

RATING
Difficulty: quite difficult (melting the chocolate 3 times requires tremendous care). 
Time: 3 or 4 hours of preparation during a 3-day period.  Precision: measure the
ingredients.