Truffles. Photo courtesy of mhaithaca

Any true chocoholic has spent a lot more time then they’d care to admit either pressing their noses against the front window of a chocolaterie, or drooling over a beautiful glass display case, housing the most beloved and cherished chocolaty treat of all time – truffles. 

Invented in 1625 by John Labarge, the humble chocolate truffle is traditionally a sphere like entity with a chocolate ganache center, encompassed by more chocolate and dusted with cocoa powder. However, history has seen several changes made to this cute confectionery – cream, nuts, liqueurs, berries, nougat, toffee, caramel, marshmallow, even wasabi has made its way into the recipes and hearts of chocolate lovers around the world. 

But one need not wander a chocolate shop dreamily, wishing for lots of money to throw down on a $4 or $5 taste of heaven. In fact, these delightful delicacies can be made right in the comfort of your own home at very little expense. 

THE BASIC TRUFFLE:

The trick is to begin with something simple, like a plain chocolate truffle, nothing fancy, but still sinfully good. Then later, once you have perfected your truffle technique, you can add different extracts and flavours to modify the original recipe. 

Ingredients:

- 12 ounces of chopped or broken bittersweet chocolate 
- 1/3 cup of cream (heavy cream is ideal, but ordinary cream will suffice) 
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

photo courtesy of photojenni

Method:

1. Heat cream and chocolate together in a saucepan over a medium heat. Stir constantly until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture luxuriously smooth.
2. Remove from heat.
3. Add vanilla extract and whisk, whisk, whisk!
4. Pour into a new container or dish and leave to cool in refrigerator for approximately 1 hour, until sufficiently cooled, but not hard.
5. Roll into balls and roll in the topping of your choice.
6. (TIP: When rolling truffles, keep placing your hands on a package of crushed ice to keep your hands cool. This helps avoid melting the truffles into gooey messes.)

And there you have it – truffles galore right in your very own kitchen! Also, truffles make excellent gifts if packaged in tissue paper and presented in a pretty little box. Nothing says love quite like a homemade truffle (and nothing tastes quite as sweet either)!

This giveaway is open to US residents only.

How to enter (required): Visit a chocolate manufacturer’s website from the ones listed below and then come back and leave a comment telling us the name of the chocolate manufacturer you visited and the name of your favorite product! Leave a new comment for each chocolate manufacturer you visit.

Example: “MARS: I love Fling Chocolate in hazelnut.” 

The giveaway ends on August 25, 2009 at 8pm, Pacific Standard Time. 

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UPDATE: are you one of the winners? check out the list!

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IMPORTANT: Due to hot temperatures, some manufacturers will have to wait till the end of September to send out the prizes.

*Please make sure you leave a comment for each additional entry so you get credited.
*Also, please make sure you typed in the correct email address.
*The winners will be announced via e-mail and have 2 days to get back to us or other name will be chosen.
*Incomplete entries will be disqualified & deleted.

I just want to say THANK YOU to all our sponsors for offering these delicious chocolate prizes! I listed them below in random order. Good luck, my friends! And tweet about this giveaway to the ones you love!

ROXY CHOCSMITH

Winners: 3

Prizes: one 12 pc. box each; the box is comprised of a dozen assorted handmade chocolate truffles, a good cross section of Roxy Chocsmith’s most popular and unique flavors.

Website: RoxyChocsmith.com

CHALMERS GANACHE

Winners: 4

Prizes: 1 trio set each. The stylish set includes three 8.25 oz. jars of Chalmers Ganache – may include: original Luxe Dark, Ultra Mint, and Mucho Mayan Spice [flavors may vary], all made with the finest European cocoas and natural ingredients and presented in a lush brown sueded gift box tied with Chalmers blue grosgrain ribbon. Suggested retail price for the set is around $30. The set makes a perfect hostess or business gift or treat for your favorite chocoholic.

Website: ChalmersGanache.com

NAVITAS NATURALS

Winners: 3

Prizes: 1 package (8oz) of the organic Sweet Cacao Nibs each. Navitas Naturals’ Sweet Cacao Nibs are a delicious snack and they also add bold flavor and crunchy texture to recipes. The organic cacao beans are hand-selected for quality in the rainforests of Peru and then peeled and partially ground to form small “nibs.” The nibs are rolled in Cacao Paste and lightly mixed with organic sugar cane juice. Raw cacao is one of the world’s best sources of antioxidants, the richest food source of magnesium, and offers an array of essential minerals and nutrients. All ingredients are certified organic, kosher, vegan and raw.

Website: NavitasNaturals.com

BLOOMSBERRY & CO

Winners: 5

Prizes: a 2 bars sampler set each.

Dr. Chocolate is all natural premium Dark chocolate 55% cocoa. Emergency Chocolate is all natural premium Milk chocolate 34% cocoa.

Website: Bloomsberryusa.com

BITTERSWEET ORIGINS

Winners: 5

Prizes: Puerto Plata. Bittersweet makes microbatches of chocolate, starting from roasting of the beans.  This 75% bar from the Dominican Republic is simply the organic cacao plus organic cane juice, creating a bar with a subtle berry flavor.
50 grams
ingredients: organic cocoa mass, organic evaporated cane juice

Website: BittersweetOrigins.com

MARS SNACKFOOD

Winners: 1

Prizes: 3 of the FLING Chocolate multipack boxes in milk chocolate, dark chocolate and hazelnut. 

Website: FlingChocolate.com

VIVANI

Winners: 6

Prizes: 1 tin per winner. Each tin holds two full size chocolate bars and the tin itself has a copy of the original work of the artist and makes a nice collectible.

Website: VivaniChocolate.com