Truffles

Especially For Stephen!!

Truffle recipe:

250g icing sugar
3 Tbsp cocoa
125g softened butter
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Combine icing sugar and cocoa in food processor, add butter and vanilla essence. Process until smooth. Alternatively, if you're me, you could melt the butter, mis everything together, and freeze it, stirring occasionally, to make a crunchy mixture.

Divide into thirds. Roll one third in ground nuts, mix 2Tbsp candied peel in with another third and roll in cocoa, and wrap the other third around red glace cherries, and put on tin foil - drizzle melted white chocolate around/over them - you'll need about 3/4 cup white chocolate for about 12 truffles.

The other mixture I used - the righ one - was 1/4 cup butter, 3 Tbsp sugar, 9oz dark choc and 1 cup heavy cream. Heat cream, butter and sugar to gentle boil, remove, add choc, stand 30 sec, whisk. Place in bowl of ice water. Beat mixture until thick and holds its shape. Pipe 1 inch mounds, and freeze for 15min. Roll gently into balls, with hands dusted in icing sugar. You're then supposed to refrigerate for 10min before rolling in toppings, but I didn't. And it recommends you store these ones in the fridge :)

I have had such a busy evening! Got home 7.30, since then have made cards and stuff, seen a friend, cooked and eaten tea, cleaned the kitchen, made shortbread, vacuumed the house...and I still have to clean the toilet, go for a walk down Franklin Rd and somehow cram all my stuff into my bags so I can leave for Chch tomorrow. Might be rather hard.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Lara