Step 1:

1.   Pre-chill your molds. I recommend silicon molds because they are the easiest for removing your truffles without melting or cracking them.

2.   Place your small pot onto the stovetop, and add about 2 inches / 5 cm of water. Bring to light boil, lower heat to just steam or very light simmer. Do this before you place your bowl with the chocolate ingredients on top (step 6 below).

3.   Measure your cocoa powder or solid block of cocoa, which you grate or cut into small chunks (this makes it easier to melt the solid cacao at a lower temperature without burning your cocoa).

4.   Using a kitchen scale, carefully measure all the other ingredients

5.   Place them all into a glass or metal bowl that fits over a small pot to make your bain marie / double boiler. NOTE: Your bowl should be large/wide enough that the steam will not cause condensing water to drip into the chocolate mixture. Be careful, however that the fit of the top bowl or pot is loose enough to allow steam to escape from the bottom pot so that there is no pressure buildup in the bottom pot.

Step 2:

6.   Place your bowl with all the ingredients on top of your simmering pot. Make sure the water is well below your bowl.

7.   Using a silicone spatula or whisk, slowly and constantly stir all your ingredients until the cocoa is melted and the ingredients are well combined. If it seems to be getting too hot, remove your bowl from the heat and continue stirring until everything is melted and you have a rich glossy mixture.

Step 3:

8.   Get your molds from the freezer and place on counter.

9.   With your 1 tbsp measuring scoop, place exactly 1 tbsp into each mold spot.

10.   OPTIONAL: at this point you can sprinkle ½ tsp of your favorite chopped nuts. I use chopped walnuts or 1 whole pecan half as decoration.

11.   Place the mold(s) into the freezer and let set for a minimum of 30 minutes – 1 hour, or until solid.

12.   When your truffles have solidified, remove carefully from mold, and place in a glass container.

13.   Store unused truffles in an airtight glass container in the freezer until you want to serve the truffles. Take out of freezer just before you want to serve them. It will only take a couple of minutes for the truffles to get to serving temperature. This is NOT a TEMPERED CHOCOLATE and will melt if left at room temperature for too long.

14.   You will notice white specks of fat on your truffles, this is called a bloom. This is normal for untempered chocolate, but this does not affect the taste.