The Hip Hostess

Looking for a St. Patrick’s Day treat that doesn’t involve green dye?  These Baileys Irish Cream Truffles are just the thing.  Don’t be intimidated by homemade truffles – they are actually very easy to make and outrageously good.  Serve these with coffee after dinner and your friends will swoon.  They are extremely rich so you probably only need to make a few per person, but make more so you have leftovers.  You won’t be sorry.

Baileys Irish Cream Truffles

¼ C. heavy (whipping) cream
2 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 ½ Tbs. confectioners’ sugar
8 ounces high quality bittersweet chocolate (70% cacao), chopped
1/8 C. Baileys Irish cream
unsweetened cocoa powder

 1.       Combine the cream, butter and sugar in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil over medium heat.  Remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate to the cream, stirring until the chocolate has melted completely.  Do not put the saucepan back on the heat – the chocolate will seize.

 2.       Heat the Baileys in a small bowl or ramekin for 20 seconds.  Stir the Baileys into the chocolate mixture until fully incorporated.  Pour the mixture into a medium bowl and chill in the refrigerator until firm, about 4 hours or overnight.

3.       If the mixture is not pliable when you remove it from the refrigerator, let it stand at room temperature for about 20 minutes.  Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper or plastic wrap.  Using an extra small spring-loaded scoop or melon baller, scoop the chocolate mixture out into small round balls, about ¾” in diameter, onto the prepared cookie sheet.  Cover with plastic wrap and return to the refrigerator for 10 minutes to harden. 

4.       Place the cocoa powder in a small bowl.  Coat your hands with cocoa powder so the truffles don’t stick.  Roll each truffle in the palm of your hands to form round balls.  Place each truffle, one at a time, in the cocoa powder and gently shake the bowl to cover the truffle with cocoa.  Chill the truffles and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.  Serve at room temperature.

 Makes about 2 dozen truffles.

• The recipe can easily be doubled to make 4 dozen truffles
• Use the highest quality chocolate you can find, such as Valrhona
• You can substitute semisweet chocolate if you prefer
• If you prefer sweeter truffles you can substitute additional confectioners’ sugar instead of cacao to coat the truffles (the unsweetened cocoa gives the truffles an initial bitter chocolate taste but it is a great contrast to the creamy filling once you continue to chew the truffles)
• Use a serrated knife to chop the chocolate
• Don’t worry about trying to make your truffles perfectly round or perfectly uniform – you want them to look homemade!